46 
The Garden Magazine , March, 1921 
ment, they have attempted to form knees for aerating purposes 
by sending them up through the asphalt. As rapidly as formed, 
the knees have been worn off level with the surface of the 
pavement by the feet of park pedestrians. The summit of the 
hill is crowned by the mansion built by Mr. Pratt after his pur- 
chase in 1799 of the Robert Morris estate, “Old Vineyard 
Hill,” which he renamed “Lemon Hill.” 
In the old house which stood here, Robert Morris resided 
from 1770 to 1798; and a number of Pines, still flourishing in 
1888, were probably planted by him. A large Tulip-tree 
near by was measured by the writer in 1888 and was found to be 
thirteen feet one inch in circumference; making its diameter 
about four feet eight inches; with a spread of one hundred and 
seven feet ten inches. 
Mr. Pratt improved the place and introduced the culture of 
foreign Grapes, but with no great success. He secured 
Walnuts, Hawthorns, Hazels, and fruit trees from England; 
from Maryland a great variety of rare seeds and roots; also 
some panniers of trees and shrubs; and directed by letter that 
“the most beautiful wild flowers of the woods” should be 
transplanted to his grounds. By 1830 Lemon Hill was a 
marvel of horticulture. Rare flowers, native and exotic, were 
in the collection. There were Tea plants, Coffee trees, Sugar- 
cane, Pepper trees and a full line of Orange, Citron, Shaddock, 
Bergamot, Pomegranate, and Fig trees. The range of green- 
houses was sixteen by two hundred and twenty-five feet and 
was said to be “ the finest range of glass for the preservation of 
plants on this continent” at that time. 
Mount Pleasant, better known as Chamouni, across from the 
Falls of the Schuylkill, is noted for a mansion built in 1802 by 
George Plumstead, a merchant of Philadelphia in the India 
trade. The house commands a grand prospect of rocky hills, 
deep glens, dark woodlands, and the silvery reaches of the 
Schuylkill River. On the summit of this hill stood three forest 
trees of large size, a Black Walnut, a Chestnut, and a Tulip 
tree. In 1888 the Chestnut tree measured nineteen feet in 
circumference and the Tulip tree fourteen feet. To some 
minds they have suggested the famous meeting of the three 
allied sovereigns in Hyde Park after Napoleon’s fall. Do 
they not better suggest the enduring companionship of three 
other and nobler patriots? The Black Walnut with its rich 
wood, Morris; the Chestnut, with its broad-spreading branches, 
Jefferson; the Tulip tree, the noblest of all the forest trees of 
America, Washington. 
“ the Great of Earth, 
Great not by kingly birth 
Great in their well proved worth — 
Firm hearts, and true,” 
LARGE WHITE OAK 
This notable specimen stands at the head of Lansdowne Valley, 
surrounded by formal planting of Rhododendrons and other Shrubs 
