O O T T O N . 



609 



with this, and every part is exquisitely green and neat. 

 The planting of trees and shrubbery has been so ar- 

 ranged as not to interfere with long prospects, yet the 

 lawn is sufficiently broken to do away with the quality 

 of sameness. Upon the right it is fringed with a strip, 

 some ten acres in extent, of natural woodland. Well 

 toward the foot it is crossed by a sparkling brook, which 

 has given opportunity for the graceful exercise of the 

 landscapist's art. It has been brought within bounds 

 by cemented walls ; artificial falls have been arranged — 

 permitted by the natural slope of the ground — over 

 which the water tumbles musically ; and rustic bridges 

 have been thrown over it, where roads or pathways cross- 

 Two buildings, each containing ornament and utility' 

 are deserving of especial mention. One just where the 

 lawn and forest meet, is where a crystal spring has been 

 given a beautiful housing. The other is the spring house, 

 built of white flint-stone, with tiled floors and stained 

 glass windows, a model for anyone who would build 

 a perfect dairy . 

 Although 

 seemingly too 

 beautiful for 

 practical use, 

 the spring 

 house com- 

 prises a milk- 

 r o o m and 

 work-room, 

 and here the 

 milk from a 

 number of 

 pure-bred A 1 - 

 derneys is dili- 

 gently cared 

 for. Near b y 

 is a small orna- 

 mental stone 

 house contain- 

 ing the water-power for sending the supply needed to 

 the extensive green-houses. Mr. Childs is an intelligent 

 floriculturist, and takes special pride and delight in his 

 roses. When the Society of American Florists visited 

 Wootton in the summer of 1886, they unanimously agreed 

 that his rose-house and rose collection were the finest 

 in the country. 



The mansion, well situated upon a rising knoll, is of 

 red brick, and is a good example of Queen Anne archi. 

 tecture, although not so extensive as to preclude the 

 idea of a home. It is fronted by a terrace, and this bor- 

 dered by a wall and railing of massive and artistically 

 cut stone, halt hid by trailing vines and ornamented by 

 vases of tropical plants. 



But to the trees. In connection with their planting 

 Mr.' Childs is establishing an arboretum of original 

 design and unique interest. Wootton has entertained 

 guests from every land — men and women famous in 

 every walk of life. Many of these have planted here 

 each a tree with their own hands, as a souvenir of their 



Greenhouses at "Wootton 



visit, and of their friendship with Wootton's most genial 

 and lovable master. 



An oak, fitting emblem of the man, was planted by 

 General Grant ; a tulip tree by Christine Nilsson ; a 

 Normandy pine by Nellie Grant Sartoris ; a Japan 

 maple by Henry Irving ; and others by Cannon Farrar, 

 Mrs. Grover Cleveland, Senator Bayard, Hon. Hamilton 

 Fish, Thomas Hughes ("Tom Brown at Rugby"), and 

 others whose names are household words in two lands 

 An interesting group is that of three trees, planted in 

 close proximity by three staunch friends, Chauncey M, 

 Depew, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Joseph M. Choate. 

 Probably no home in America has opened its hospitable 

 doors to more people who are really worth knowing, 

 than has this ; and this not because Mr. Childs has 

 sought to entertain social lions and notabilities, but 

 because his culture and broad humanity have endeared 

 him to all with whom he has come in contact, either in 

 the social or business relations of life. Of these mat 

 -.-^i ters, and of 



fetfes that have 

 been given 

 here to world- 

 famous guests, 

 it is hardly our 

 province to 

 speak. But 

 of another and 

 equally notable 

 class of enter- 

 tainments, held 

 here annually, 

 I wish to write. 

 Wootton i s a 

 farm as well as 

 a country seat. 

 A tract of land 

 under the high- 

 est state of cul- 

 tivation is devoted to showing how a farm, dairy and fruit 

 garden may be run. Commercial considerations do not 

 enter into the management of these, as all surplus pro- 

 ducts are given to hospitals and charitable organizations. 

 But they clearly afford Mr. Childs the right to call him- 

 self a farmer, and to give such Farmers' Club dinners 

 as are rarely heard of elsewhere. At these gatherings 

 Mr. Childs personally conducts his guests about the 

 place, showing what improvements have been made, 

 new structures erected, new stock added, etc. 



Everything that the intelligent and liberal use of 

 money can do to bring it to a high state of perfection, 

 has been done. It is little more than ten years since 

 Mr. Childs began the erection of Wootton, and then 

 without a definite purpose of bringing it to the elaborate 

 completeness that has been done. It might well stand 

 now as the finished work of a lifetime, instead of merely 

 the accomplishment of a decade of years. Much of 

 this is due to the careful work of the superintendent, 

 John M. Hughes, whose constant aim it is to let no 



