126 OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 
delphia had heard of it, and made a point of seeing it. 
Its successive proprietors seem each to have cherished 
the same enthusiasm that animated the first, and Wil¬ 
liam Hamilton, who visited abroad during the Revo¬ 
lution, added many rare plants and flowers, collected 
at this time, to its already well stocked gardens. 
Tradition has it that the Lombardy poplar was one of 
these, the Ginko another; and that there were several 
magnolias. 
John Bartram and Humphrey Marshall were both 
friends of the later Hamilton and much of his success 
may have been inspired by the counsel and advice of 
these two famous botanists. The natural style, which 
by his time was quite the rage, driving everything else 
before it, found an ardent advocate in him, and 
“Woodlands” was probably the best example of it that 
this country possessed at the close of the eighteenth 
century. Its trees were fine specimens and they were 
said to be arranged with great skill, producing care¬ 
fully considered effects. But we surely must wonder 
a bit at the “naturalness” of the following: “Walks 
unexpectedly ended where, as one stood, the vision 
beyond was through a square or oval opening of leaves 
that seemed a picture frame, so nicely were the 
boughs trimmed to secure the charming vistas afforded 
by the beautiful Schuylkill.” 
The first botanic garden in America, planted by 
