OF ORNAMENTAL TREES. 193 



Delaware, planted since the Bevolution,* 

 show what they can do in a short time ; and 

 a small and thriving one at Bartram, fourteen 

 years planted, contain some above forty feet 

 high. This species is one of the handsomest, 

 whether considered with regard to its noble 

 size, its beautiful form, its peculiar elegant 

 leaves, both in outline and hue, or its fre- 

 quently grotesquely-twisted branches. Sin- 

 gly, in the landscape, I know of no other 

 tree that can be compared with it. I would 

 desire to see no better emulation in garden- 

 ing than in a desire to possess the best white- 

 oak. The grounds of Bartram and Spring- 

 brook are equally enriched in this respect ; 

 the former having one eighty-five feet high 

 by thirteen feet in circumference, and Mr. 



* In reference to this avenue, Mr. Cope has kindly 

 obtained for me the following information from Mr. Sa- 

 muel Breck: "This estate was purchased by my father 

 about 1796. The only access to it was by a lane on the 

 east side, that goes down to the Delaware. This being 

 a roundabout way, he purchased an outlet on the turn- 

 pike ; and, having considerable taste for rural adornment, 

 planted and arranged the avenue, aided and assisted by 

 Frederick Pursh, then in his employ (who was also gar- 

 dener to W. Hamilton, at the Woodlands), in 1797." 



17 



