JOHN BARTRAM AND WILLIAM BARTRAM. 39 



tory. Here were reared such ^ : --nts as could not stand a Penn- 

 sylvania winter gathered in Fie : &la or the Carolinas, or sent 

 from Europe. In the grounds close to the river is a great im- 

 bedded rock, hewn flat, in which is cut a wide, deep groove. 

 This is the nether stone of John Bartram's cider mill. The 

 Botanic Garden remained in the possession of Colonel Carr till 

 about 1850, when it became the property of Mr. A. M. East- 

 wick. This gentleman had derived much pleasure from visit- 

 ing it as a boy, and was resolved to preserve it without the 

 sacrifice of a tree or a shrub. In 1853 a Handbook of Or- 

 namental Trees, by Mr. Thomas Meehan, was published, the 

 main purpose of which, as stated in its preface, was to de- 

 scribe the trees then in the Bartram garden. After Mr. East- 

 wick's death, the fate of the garden was for some time dubious. 

 His executors saw no duty but to get as much money out of 

 the estate as possible. About 1880 Prof. C. S. Sargent, of 

 Harvard University, obtained the promise of a private sub- 

 scription to buy the old garden, and a price was agreed upon, 

 but the executors withdrew from the agreement. In 1882 Mr. 

 Thomas Meehan became a member of the Common Council of 

 Philadelphia and at once introduced a scheme for small parks 

 for the city, in which the Bartram place was included. Re- 

 peated re-elections enabled him to follow the matter up, and 

 finally, in the spring of 1891, the city took possession of the 

 property, and put a superintendent in charge of it. The 

 great gale of September, 1875, an d some fifteen years of 

 neglect had had their effect among the trees, but many planted 

 by the botanist's own hands yet remain. It should be a source 

 of gratification to all cuitivators of science that this relic of 

 the beginnings of botany in America is now assured of preser- 

 vation. 



