Germantown Old and New; Its Rare and Notable Plants

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1904 edition. Excerpt: ...and Musgrave streets were twin specimens, one now surviving, exceeding this height, and finely formed. Near the Suicide's Grave, north of Rabbit lane, George Redles informed me there is a specially fine specimen. In the Wissahickon, near Thorp's lane, I measured a slender specimen 80 feet in height, but the finest plants of this species I know were those measured for me by Joseph Heacock, two plants growing near Media, each three feet in diameter and 80 feet high. About home we have numerous and exceedingly fine specimens of juniper (juniperus virginiana). Amost whereever one goes these may be observed--along the borders of Wissahickon, at Bummers' Cave on Stenton avenue, on Chew street north of Johnson street, a place known to Ellwood Johnson as Vinegar Hill, and at Tulpehocken street and Wingohocken creek. This latter tree has a trunk 3 feet in diameter and is 35 feet high. A short time ago it was a healthy, beautiful specimen, but now it is partly or wholly dead, a plant when in its prime approached in my knowledge only by two like it which grow on Sumneytown pike, near Indian Creek Meeting. At Roberts Le Boutillier's on East Washington lane, and elsewhere near, there are many other specimens worthy of record, but space and time details and elaboration forbid. The deep frost of last winter played havoc with many plants, partly or wholly destroying box, ivy and other evergreens not usually affected. The celebrated evergreen magnolia (magnolia grandiflora) at Lippincott's, Broad and Sansom streets, Philadelphia, entirely dropped its leaves; in manyponds all the fish were killed, and losses in other directions one may not yet undertake to estimate. Untouched, however, we have many box-bordered...