THE TREES OF FLUSHING. 



nized even by our national foe is shown 

 by the fact that during the British occu- 

 pation in 1777, the commanding officer, 

 Lord Howe, placed a guard at the gates 

 with strict orders that the Linnean nur- 

 series should not be invaded or dis- 

 turbed. 



Prince's nursery was thus the pioneer. 

 Then followed early in the century the 

 establishment of the Bloodgood nursery, 

 about 1798, by James Bloodgood, part of 

 which is now the nursery of Murray & 

 Keene, near Broadway station. Then fol- 

 lowed, in order of time the Parsons' nur- 

 sery, established in 1838 by Samuel Par- 

 sons. Mr. Parsons died in 1841, and his 

 sons, the well-known Parsons brothers, 

 have since made their nurseries famous in 

 two hemispheres. Parsons' nursery is as 

 well known today in Kew and in Ver- 

 sailles as in the City of New York. 



To the intelligent forethought of the 

 elder Prince, and to the generous liber- 

 ality of the Parsons brothers, Flushing 

 today owes her grand avenues of shade 

 trees and also her fame as the chief arbore- 

 tum of the Atlantic coast. 



The other nurseries, which we may 

 mention as part of the tree growing his- 

 tory of Flushing, are the Higgin's mu*- 

 sery, which was on the road to Bayside 

 and at one time was one of notable merit, 

 and the Kimber and the Winter nurseries, 

 all of which have long since disappeared. 



It is interesting to know and to remem- 

 ber when and by whom our different 

 streets were planted with lovely shade 

 trees which we are today enjoying. 



Nearly all the trees in lower Main street 

 and all those in Bridge street and Linneus 

 street were planted early in the century 

 by William Prince or came from his nur- 

 sery. The trees in Bowne avenue and ad- 

 joining streets were planted by the Par- 

 sons brothers in 1848 to 1852. The spe- 

 cially fine shade trees (many of them spe- 

 cimen trees) in Broadway, State street 

 Brewster avenue and Parsons avenue were 

 also planted by the Parsons brothers. 

 The two rows of tulip trees in Par- 

 sons avenue were planted by Mr. Samuel 

 B. Parsons 40 years ago. The trees 

 in Lawrence street, it is understood, 

 came from Prince's nursery, and were 

 planted by the late John W. Lawrence and 

 by his father. 



All honor to the noble citizens who 

 planted for posterity, and whose names are 

 thus associated with the improvement and 

 adornment of the well shaded streets of 

 Flushing! 



Of specimen trees we have many not- 

 able instances. By specimen trees I mean 

 examples of fine growth, development and 

 shapliness in any individual tree of what- 

 ever Kind. 



Of tulip trees we may mention two 

 magnificent specimens in the grounds of 



Mr. Robert Parsons, which give the name 

 to his residence, at once appropriate and 

 sonorous. These trees are seventy-five 

 feet high, three feet and more in diameter 

 at the base, and they are, without doubt, 

 the finest tulip trees on Long Island. 

 This noble pair did not come from any 

 nursery, but "were to the manor born." 



The European Linden. — The finest spe- 

 aimen of this familiar tree is to be found 

 in the grounds of Mr. Joseph K. Murray. 

 It is a perfect cone, a beautiful object to 

 the eye and a striking feature of the land- 

 scape. In the adjoining nursery of Messrs. 

 Murray and Keene we may mention a cut- 

 leaved drooping birch of exceptional size 

 and beauty. This is without doubt the 

 finest specimen of the kind in Flushing, 

 perhaps in the United States. 



The Beeches. — The many varieties of 

 this tree in Flushing are mostly imported 

 from England and Norway, though some 

 of our native beeches are standing and 

 growing where nature planted them, on 

 the hillside beyond the creek and in rear 

 of the old Remsen place. The finest spe- 

 cimen of the English beech is found on 

 the grounds of Mr. S. B. Parsons. A 

 cut-leaved beach also standing near in the 

 same grounds, is a noteworthy specimen 

 and a very beautiful tree. Also a drooping 

 beech, in the same enclosure, is to be 

 mentioned as a very choice specimen. 

 But of the drooping beech the largest and 

 most perfect specimen to be found in the 

 United States is in the grounds belonging 

 to Mr. Jackson and in the rear of the 

 residence of Mrs. Leavitt. Twenty years 

 ago, Sir Joseph Hooker, director of the 

 Kew Gardens, pronounced this tree the 

 finest of its kind, probably in the world. 



Another very perfect specimen of the 

 same kind, though much smaller, can be 

 seen in the grounds of Mr. James A. Ren- 

 wick. 



The maples, in all their many varieties, 

 constitute a large part of the shade trees 

 of Flushing. Of 'these varieties six are 

 native and some of them are very desir- 

 able, affording a dense shade in their 

 summer growth and the chief source of 

 the wealth of autumnal color which daz- 

 zles the eye of the stranger who visits the 

 town in October. Of the imported maples 

 the Japanese is the most conspicuous. 

 Under the skilful Japanese culture, innu- 

 merable hybrids have been developed, 

 and though dwarfed in size, the exquisite 

 shapes and colors of the foliage have ren- 

 dered the Japanese maples most popular 

 and valuable. These were first imported 

 by the Parsons brothers in 1854. 



The English Elm. — The best specimens 

 of this beautiful tree, next to those on 

 Boston Common, were growing in Flush- 

 ing until nine years ago, when they were 

 all attacked by the elm beetle, Galercuca, 

 and have now substantially disappeared 



