Mount Vernon and its associations, historical, biographical and pictorial . CtNTURV PLANT AND LEMON-TKEE. growth, and from them Washington selected two or were propagated from these by cuttings, until, at thetime of his death, they had become qiiite a grove in one endof the conservatory. Only one of these now remains. It wasstanding in the flower-garden when I was there in 1S58, bythe side of a fine century-plant, which was sent to Washingtonby a gentleman at Porto Pico, in 1798. The tree is aboutfifteen feet in height; and, though bearing fruit in abundance,shows signs of decay.
Mount Vernon and its associations, historical, biographical and pictorial . CtNTURV PLANT AND LEMON-TKEE. growth, and from them Washington selected two or were propagated from these by cuttings, until, at thetime of his death, they had become qiiite a grove in one endof the conservatory. Only one of these now remains. It wasstanding in the flower-garden when I was there in 1S58, bythe side of a fine century-plant, which was sent to Washingtonby a gentleman at Porto Pico, in 1798. The tree is aboutfifteen feet in height; and, though bearing fruit in abundance,shows signs of decay. At the junction of two of the principal avenues in the AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 145. VIEW IK THE FLOWLR-GAKDEN AT MOUNT VKKNON—THE5 SAGO PALM. llower-garden, I saw one other plant—and only one—that hadexperienced the fostering care of Washington. It was a SagoPalm, an East India production, from which is obtained thearticle of domestic nse known as pearl sago, a species of feculaor starch. It stands in a large tub in which flowers werel)looming; and its tufted leaves, like immense feathers, growingfrom the heavy stem seven feet from tlie ground, were freshand beautiful. The Lemon Tree, the Century Plant, and the Sago Palm,are all that remain of the movable plants which belonged toWashington, and were taken from the green-house when it 10 146 MOUNT VERNON was destroyed by fire in December, 1835, the same nightwhen the destructive element consumed more than five hun-dred buildings and other property valued at more than twentymillions of dollars, in the city of New York. The fire origi-nated in a defective flue connected with the conservatory, and
Size: 1581px × 1581px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorlossingb, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookyear1859
