272 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ney and Edwin Forrest trees, two 

 cypress trees near the southern en- 

 trance to the gardens ; the Conger tree, 

 planted by the late Senator Conger of 

 Michigan, south of the east entrance; 

 the Hayes memorial tree, a rare native 

 oak, planted near the western gate by 

 Mr. Hayes when he was a member of 

 Congress ; the Palmer memorial tree, 

 a Japanese walnut, planted by Mr. 

 Palmer, the former public printer, 

 near the western gate ; the Bingham 

 memorial tree, a European hornbeam 

 bordering the south walk between First 

 and Second Streets; the Hoar and 

 Evarts memorial trees, two handsome 

 specimens of the Cedar of Lebanon, 

 planted by the late Senators Hoar and 

 Evarts along the south walk between 

 First and Second Streets ; the Holman 

 memorial tree, a superb Crimean fir, 

 planted about forty years ago by the 

 late Representative William S. Holman 

 of Indiana in the lawn near the west 

 door of the conservatory. 



The most interesting of these nature 

 monuments, however, grow in the 

 White House grounds. One of the 

 most notable of these is a stately Amer- 

 ican elm which was planted by John 

 Quincy Adams, during his incumbency 

 of that office. This tree is located on 

 a mound southeast of the White 

 House ; and it stands a conspicuous ob- 

 ject, towering above the surrounding 

 plantings of a later date in the grounds. 

 Another American elm growing near 

 the west entrance of the north roadway 

 approach to the White House was 

 planted by President Hayes in March, 

 1878, and a sweet gum tree in the lawn 

 northeast of the Executive Mansion 

 was planted by President Benjamin 

 Harrison in April, 1892. President 

 McKinley planted a scarlet oak in the 

 lawn west of the White House, border- 

 ing the walk which now leads to the 

 executive offices, and President Roose- 

 velt and Mrs. Roosevelt each planted a 

 fine specimen of fern-leaved beech in 

 the White House lawns, as memorials 

 to the "father of our country. 1 ' 



A Russo-American oak, planted 

 April 6, 1904, in the lawn east of the 

 west terrace of the White House, by 

 President Roosevelt and Secretaries 

 Hitchcock and Wilson, has an interest- 

 ing history. The tree is a lineal de- 

 scendant of a native American oak 

 which formerly grew above and over- 

 shadowed the old tomb of Washington 

 at Mt. Vernon. Acorns from this oak 

 were sent by Charles Sumner, while 

 he was a Senator of the United States, 

 to the Czar of Russia. 



Secretary Hitchcock, while Ambassa- 

 dor at the court of St. Petersburg, 

 made inquiry with respect to the dis- 

 position of the acorns sent by Sumner 

 to the czar and found that they had 

 been planted on what is known as Czar- 

 ina Island, which is included in the 

 superb surroundings of the czar's pal- 

 aces near Peterhof. There he found a 

 beautiful oak with a tablet at its base 

 bearing a Russian inscription, the trans- 

 lation of which is as follows : 



"The acorn planted here was taken 

 from an oak which shades the tomb of 

 the celebrated and never-to-be-forgot- 

 ten Washington; it is presented to his 

 imperial majesty, the emperor of all 

 the Russias, as a sign of the greatest 

 respect, by an American." 



Secretary Hitchcock gathered a 

 handful of acorns from under this his- 

 toric tree and sent them to Washington 

 for planting, and thus secured a few 

 oak saplings, one of which was set out 

 in the White House lawn. 



A beautiful specimen of the oriental 

 plane tree, originally planted in the Bo- 

 tanic Garden by direction of the late 

 Thaddeus Stevens, now forms one of 

 the chief forestry attractions in Lincoln 

 Park. The tree suffered in 1870 from 

 an overflow of the Potomac River, 

 which threatened its destruction, and it 

 was removed from the Botanic Garden 

 to the park, then an unimproved gov- 

 ernment reservation, and was planted 

 in what is now the center of Lincoln 

 Park. 



In 1872, when this park was graded 

 and improved with walks and orna- 

 mental plantings, a part of the plan 



