CHAPTER XII 



Bartram's Cypress The Cypress of New Bern The Cypress of 

 Painters' Arboretum The Elgin Yews The H addon Yews. 



Bartram' Cypress 



Until the early summer of 1920, when a severe storm laid it low, 

 one of the chief objects of interest in Bartram's Garden, Philadelphia, 

 Penn., was his famous cypress, which he brought as a sapling from 

 Delaware, more than a century and a half ago. Looking about to 

 find a switch for his horse, it is said, he pulled up the tiny cypress, but 

 instead of using it for that purpose, carried it home and planted it, 

 prophesying that it would "grow to a great height." The prediction 

 was fulfilled, as it attained to more than one hundred and fifty feet, 

 with a girth of seven feet. Long a noted tree, it had been protected 

 by an iron railing from the depredations of relic hunters. 



The Cypress of New Bern 



A short distance from the edge of the Neuse River, at New Bern, 

 N. C, is a fine old cypress formerly owned by Governor Spaight of 

 that State. 



The tree's age is uncertain, but it was probably well grown before 

 the first Swiss settlers arrived from Berne. There is a tradition that 

 the first boat ever built in those waters was fashioned beneath its 

 shade, and then launched into the river. It was in Revolutionary 

 days, as one of its admirers observes, that "the tree became a 

 personality." 



In 1781, following the defeat of General Gates by Cornwallis, 

 General Nathaniel Greene, who saved the American army at the 

 Brandywine, came to New Bern to consult with Governor Spaight. 

 The Army of the South was a wreck, and without funds nothing could 

 be done to rescue it. General Greene and the Governor met under 

 the cypress to discuss the matter, and there the latter pledged the 

 resources of the State, as well as his own private means to meet the 

 emergency. 



Success quickly followed the reorganization of the army, and the 

 British were defeated at Eutaw Springs. 



After becoming President, Washington made a visit to New 

 Bern, and on being told the story of the cypress, walked over to the 

 spot and rested under its shade, his intimate friendship with General 

 Green probably serving to emphasize his interest in that memorable 

 conference. 



67 



