June 13, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



233 



American Parks. 



DRUID HILL PARK, BALTIMORE. 



THE beautiful city of Baltimore, in addition to its admirable 

 situation at the head-waters of Chesapeake Bay, has 

 agreeable undulations of surface, which give variety to its 

 streets and importance to its monuments. With wise fore- 

 thought, more than thirty years ago, one of the finest pleasure- 

 grounds in the United States was acquired by the city in a 

 forest of noble trees that have been growing from time 

 immemorial, with the right conditions to attain perfection. 



This forest has since been maintained as a place of rec- 

 reation for its inhabitants to the lasting honorof the city which 

 it adorns. The seven hundred acres of timber-land which 

 constitute the present park, before their purchase by the city, 

 had been for more than a hundred years in possession of the 

 Rogers family, and the trees received the care bestowed on a 

 valued private estate and grew to their present great size and 

 beauty under the careful protection of their owners. 



In 1689 Lord Baltimore deeded to Thomas Durbin a tract of 

 350 acres, called Hab-nab-alt-a- Venture. Of this, 150 acres, 

 alter passing through several hands, were deeded to Dr. George 

 Buchanan in 1 741, and two hundred acres had come in another 

 line to Nicholas Rogers in 1716, which portion was willed to his 

 daughter Eleanor, who married Dr. George Buchanan. Another 

 tract, called The Level, of two hundred acres, was also in- 

 herited by Dr. George Buchanan, so that in his and his wife's 

 estate there were 750 acres of valuable land on which he made 

 his home, and to which, out of respect for its mighty Oaks, he 

 gave the appropriate name of Druid Hill, which it still bears. 

 In 1750 Dr. Buchanan died and was interred in the little ceme- 

 tery, which, by the conditions of the purchase, still remains 

 undisturbed within the park-enclosure. Under the English 

 custom of primogeniture, his eldest son Lloyd inherited Druid 

 Hill and left it to his only child, a daughter, who married her 

 cousin Nicholas Rogers, and thus the property went into 

 the Rogers family. It was from Lloyd N. Rogers, son of this 

 marriage, that the park was purchased by the city of Baltimore 

 in i860. The last proprietor was an eccentric person, who was 

 morbidly anxious to preserve the trees about him, and who 

 carefully guarded them and jealously excluded all intruders 

 who might do harm. The property was thus in admirable con- 

 dition when acquired by the city, and almost the only work 

 necessary was to open roads through it, so as to make its 

 beauties accessible to the public. 



The history of the purchase of the park is of practical inter- 

 est to other towns desirous of obtaining parks at small cost to 

 the municipality. At the time of its acquisition, in i860, Balti- 

 more was half-developed, and was in no condition to impose 

 added taxes upon its people, and the system of street-railways 

 was about to be introduced, under the difficulty of a wide 

 diversity of opinion as to the profit of this enterprise. The 

 fare on these railroads was established at an average of five 

 cents per capita, but no bonus was exacted from the company 

 for the use of the city streets. Therefore, when the ordinance 

 creating the passenger-railways was presented for the approval 

 of the Hon. Thomas Swann, then Mayor, he wisely insisted, as 

 a condition of the franchise, that one-fifth of the gross receipts 

 should go into the treasury as a fund for the park-purchase. 

 To illustrate the practical working of this plan, it may be suf- 

 ficient to say that for the first year the bonus paid into the city 

 treasury amounted to $33,000, and that the increase soon 

 showed promise of a revenue from $50,000 to $75,000 yearly 

 from this source. Since the introduction of the electric cars, 

 the revenue, which in 1868 was about $S4,ooo, has become 

 much greater, as travel has greatly increased, and nine per 

 cent, is the park tax now exacted from the road, Thus, on 

 delivering into the hands of the people this princely acquisi- 

 tion, not only was no bill of cost presented, but the property 

 was provided with an income for its future maintenance. 

 •Exclusive of improvements, the cost in 1868 had been about 

 $51 1,000. 



On October 19th, 1S60, Druid Hill Park was opened to the 

 public with appropriate ceremonies, the Street Railway Com- 

 pany making a voluntary contribution of a suitable structure 

 for the ceremonies of the occasion. So well laid out were the 

 grounds, that even then the park could be penetrated in all 

 directions by roads several miles in extent. Immediately after 

 this inauguration the commissioners began a systematic 

 course of operations, laying out the main avenue, the width 

 of which is thirty-two feet, permitting four carriages to drive 

 abreast ; widening the farm-roads to make them conve- 

 nient for carriages, bridging streams, cleansing the numerous 

 springs and making accessible the remote parts of the 



grounds. Mr. Havard Daniels, who had made the parks of 

 Europe a special study, was appointed landscape-gardener, 

 and even before the inauguration lie had accomplished much 

 to throw the park completely open to the public. Since then 

 many improvements have been made, and the park is the 

 pride and delight of the cheerful inhabitants of the gay Mary- 

 land city. 



The surface of the park is delightfully diversified. There 

 are shady ravines and smooth hill-slopes, from the summit of 

 which one has a broad outlook upon the picturesque groups 

 of trees, and the shadow-flecked grass between, where flocks 

 of Southdown sheep graze, guarded by collie and shepherd. 

 One charming feature of the wood is the free herd of deer, of 

 which two hundred are permitted to roam at large through its 

 precincts. More than sixteen miles of drives wind among the 

 fine old Oaks, and there are numerous bridle-paths and foot- 

 ways under their interlacing branches. Directly through the 

 park runs a flag-stone walk for the convenience of the resi- 

 dents of Woodbury, a manufacturing town beyond its gates. 

 There are sixteen lakes in the park. Druid Lake is the largest, 

 and is a fine sheet of water, from which a tall fountain throws 

 a lofty jet. This lake is artificial, and is practically a reservoir, 

 part of the Baltimore system of water-works. A smaller lake 

 is fed by a spring and is thronged with wild fowl. Another 

 pond is used for boating in summer and skating in wjnter, and 

 has, on an island in the centre, a picturesque little lodge. A 

 chain of four ponds makes an attractive feature in another part 

 of the park. 



Rustic shelters and summer-houses are scattered here and 

 there, and the old Maryland mansion-house of the Rogers 

 family still remains within the confines of the park, nobly situ- 

 ated upon a rising ground commanding an extended view, 

 with its verandas amplified to accommodate the public. 

 There are large conservatories and a Palm-house, and the 

 Maryland Building, erected by the state at the Centennial Exhi- 

 bition in Philadelphia, has been set up here, and serves as a 

 museum for relics having historic interest. 



The lakes and rushing streams of the park, and its hills and 

 pleasant meadows are of extraordinary beauty. Among the 

 forest-trees are many of Oaks, Sycamores, Tulips, Hicko- 

 ries and other deciduous trees, which fully equal any to 

 be found in the best public parks in the world. Even in win- 

 ter the spectacle of the huge trunks and great interlaced 

 branches is imposing, and the natural groupings on the broad 

 lawns are of infinite variety. Vistas cut through the woods 

 disclose views of the lake and the city, and from an elevated 

 part of the grounds called Prospect Hill there is an extended 

 prospect over the surrounding country. 



No park in this country rivals Druid Hill in natural advan- 

 tages, and it is to be hoped that future planting will not destroy 

 its present noble and dignified aspect. A disposition to spot 

 evergreens about under the old trees is unfortunate, since it 

 tends to destroy the natural repose and park-like beauty of the 

 scene, but this seems to be a universal failing among the 

 planters of parks, who, not satisfied with a natural arrange- 

 ment, seek to introduce something that is itself rare and beau- 

 tiful, but which lacks appropriateness in such a situation. The 

 setting of young evergreens among ancient Oaks and Hicko- 

 ries is a mistake, from a picturesque point of view, and can, I 

 fear, hardly be considered good forestry. An advance in pub- 

 lic taste has been shown, however, by a merciful removal of a 

 row of urns for flowers which once lined the main avenue, so 

 that wise ideas will probably in time prevail, and nothing be 

 allowed to mar the stately old-time dignity of these remarka- 

 ble trees and the perfect beauty of ancient Druid Hill. 



Hinfiham, Mass. M. C. RobllhlS. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



The Temple Flower Show. 



THE seventh great annual exhibition of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society was held in the gardens of the 

 Inner Temple, May 23d, 24th and 25th, and was a great 

 success, notwithstanding the exceptionally unfavorable 

 weather experienced in England for the week or so preced- 

 ing the show and the cold wet weather of the opening day. 

 The exhibits generally exceeded both in number and 

 quality those of previous years, and had the management 

 conceded all the space asked for by exhibitors the show 

 would probably have been as large again. 



It speaks well for the healthiness of horticulture in Eng- 

 land when an exhibition of Mich magnitude can be got 



