Landscape gardening, as a fine art, met with a severe check in America by the sudden death of Andrew Jackson Downing over a quarter of a century ago. There may have been men in the profession as highly cultured and as equal in ability as he, but none seemed to have the power to transmit enthusiasm to others to such an extent. The love for tasteful grounds has not been so catching since his day, but that it is not dead but merely sleeping may be evidenced by a drive any day in the suburbs of any of our large cities. Such a drive we took late in September around the comparatively new settlement at Bryn Mawr, which, though in Delaware county, is a suburb of Philadelphia. Here a large number of eminent Philadelphians have erected dwellings, with gardens extending from one to twenty or more acres, some of them of course evidencing mere expenditure without taste, which will afford no lasting pleasure; but others - and many more than might be expected - illustrating some of the best principles of garden art, and which will give results growing in beauty as the years pass away.

In many of these hasty calls we found numbers of intelligent gardeners, with from one to two, or a dozen or more hands employed under them, with a commendable rivalry among them to improve themselves, and have increased pleasure in gardening by those who employ them. The earliest of these modern settlers is Charles Wheeler. His grounds, designed by Charles H. Miller, the landscape gardener of Fairmount Park, are a model of artistic grace. The trees and shrubs have now had time to grow, and the taste of the designer becomes more and more apparent. The grounds are kept in admirable order by Mr. Dewar, the gardener. A much more recent garden - in fact only six years since it was farm land - is Wootton, the country residence of Mr. George W. Childs, the well-known proprietor of the Public Ledger. As we are able to avail ourselves of some views that appeared recently in Ashmead's History of Delaware County, we will give a more extended account of Wootton, hoping to get similar views of others in the future.

Wootton; the Residence of Geo. W. Childs.

Wootton, as the estate is called, was so named from one of the seats of the Duke of Buckingham in England. On a visit to England some years ago Mr. and Mrs. Childs were hospitably entertained by the Duke at that place. The landscape beauties of the spot made a great impression on the honored guests, and it was a nice tribute to the hospitality of the entertainers that Mr. Childs should buy and name a country place in memory of the good time enjoyed in the old world.

The entrance to the grounds is seen in the right-hand corner of the picture, and is adorned by a porter's lodge, at present occupied by Mr. John M. Hughes, chief gardener, whose tasteful hand has made it a veritable bank of flowers. The walls are covered by the Ampelopsis Veitchii, while between the windows and in every corner banks of flowers, ferns and leaf plants ornament the walls. On entering the wide carriage road we get at once a view of the dwelling house, which is situated on a gentle eminence, reached by a winding carriage road of easy grade that passes over the bridge seen in the left-hand picture. The beautiful stable seen in the left-hand picture is also in view from the entrance. Those accustomed to the best specimens of landscape gardening might here think of that rule which would not present two such fine views simultaneously; but remembering the newness of the work, the whole having been started since 1880, the planting will be closely examined, and found planned to remove this criticism as the trees grow up. The comparative newness of the planting also prevents the beautiful effects from dense masses of growth, which in older places are so effective in dividing and varying scenes." Here few things have had time to grow into each other.

One might be tempted in some instances to introduce a few common things to thicken, temporarily, till the more valuable things grow. The bridge across the stream is taken advantage of to make a special beauty spot. Dense masses of flowering shrubs, flowering plants and ornamental grasses are on the back of the parapets, and through these masses the stream wanders. The effect is extremely beautiful. As in all efforts at landscape gardening we often find that in producing one effect we mar another, and one result here is to apparently narrow the roadway at this point, which of course was not in the original design. Mr. Childs has wisely avoided a too frequent error in country seats, namely, making the dwelling three or more stories high. Where there is plenty of room to spread out, mere height is a violation of propriety. This house, though not lofty, is very roomy, and so proportioned that we think most artists would call it a model of good taste. We have here also a specimen of a disputed point in American landscape gardening, the parapet wall around the house. We may grant that where there is much purely natural scenery, and in connection with many styles of architecture, they are out of place, and a mere sloping terrace of grass much preferable.

But in this case the universal verdict would be that the effect is charming. Besides the actual comfort and room for flower culture which the plateau affords around the house, the gradation from the architectural to the natural features which the parapet wall affords is just what the true artist would desire. On this terrace, among other rare plants, are two fine specimens of the ra Bonaparte plants, - curious as well as rare from the narrow, slender trunks rising from huge, bottle-like bases. Mr. Childs is fond of the very pleasant practice of having his guests plant memorial trees, and on this plateau is a purple beech set out by Madame Nillson, and there are other pretty trees planted by General Grant, Serator Bayard, Thomas Hughes, Robert Winthrop, Hamilton Fish, and others. The original design for this part of the ground was, in the main, we believe, the work of Mr. Miller. In 1883 other grounds were purchased and taken into the ornamental grounds, and these, with the improvement and care of the older portion, have since been under Mr. Hughes' charge. In this newer portion we find the vegetable garden, greenhouses, forcing houses and other departments requiring concentrated care and oversight.

It is interesting to note that cut flowers, once a necessity chiefly with those who had no living plants or conservatories, have become essentials to every cultivated home, and here quite a large rose-house was being built to furnish the family the floral queen through the winter months. The vegetable garden was a special treat to us, especially from the profusion of old-fashioned hardy herbaceous plants, which filled box-edged borders as in "ye olden time." A beautilul hedge of Japan privet divides a well-kept rosary from the kitchen garden, and the stables are screened by a well-arranged "stumpery" made from the roots of the forest trees that a few years ago occupied the ground.

The water for the plant houses, stables and other offices is pumped from an adjacent spring, very cheaply by means of an overshot wheel. That required for the mansion house is pumped by means of an Erricson engine, which does its work in a thorough manner.

The illuminating gas required about the building is manufactured at a comparatively low figure from gasoline.

A very pretty feature of the utility department is the dairy, of which an illustration appears on the top of the picture. This is built of pure white quartz, and set over a perennial spring, the water flowing to the floor over a huge and beautiful shell brought from Japan by General Grant. The floor is paved with encaustic tile, and the whole is "just too lovely for anything." One might fancy that even sour cream would taste sweet if from a beautiful room like this.

With the author of" Suburban Home Grounds," the subject of our frontispiece, and these illustrations of good landscape gardening, we have a good landscape gardening number. We hope it will stimulate effort in that direction, as much of the pleasure of gardening dwells in beautiful grounds.