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March 5, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 





Boxes in Which Plants Were Shipped to the Dingee PIace» SanU Giiz» Cal. 



Easter Lilies. 



Lent has arrived and this reminds us 

 that if you can see the buds in the tops 

 of your Easter lily shoots so as to count 

 them, you are all right. If you cannot 

 do so, hurry your plants on a little. Of 

 course, we may get some warm weather 

 in April to send them along, but on the 

 other hand we may not, so it is well to 

 be on the safe side. Any plants which 

 are hopelessly late had better be held 

 back for Memorial day, or allowed to 

 flower naturally. There is always a call 

 for a few lilies for funeral and other 

 work. They are particularly useful to 

 the retail country florist, who is often 

 called upon to furnish floral designs at 

 short notice. 



DESIGN FOR LARGE SHIELD. 



I am desirous of making a very large 

 shield on a large lawn. Will you please 

 publish directions as to how to get the 

 dimensions, etc.f E. S. 



E. S. gives very meager information 

 of what he expects to carry out. He 

 does not say whether this shield is for a 

 coat of arms or the conventional design; 

 Inor does he give any dimensions of his 

 lawn. 



Presuming he wants to display the na- 

 tional colors, the design on page 8 

 could be used, the size being adjusted to 

 the dimensions of the place where it is 

 to be carried out. 



For a very large shield verbenas could 

 be used to good advantage, as they bloom 

 during the entire season and can easily 

 be kept in their places by an occasional 

 pinching along the lines where the col- 

 ors separate. A border of the golden 

 pyrfetbrum around the entire bed would 

 look quite well. 



Another arrangement for a bed on a 

 smaller scale would be santolina or dwarf 

 sweet alyssum for white, Alternanthera 

 amcena for red and ageratum or Lobelia 

 Crystal Palace for blue. 



Alois Fret. 



McAlestee, Okla. — Fire destroyed the 

 boiler-shed and potting-shed at the 

 Weaver & Miller greenhouse February 22. 

 The loss was about $400. Good work by 

 the fire department prevented losg on- the 

 greenhouses. 



MOVING LARGE PLANTS. 



Probably the most remarkable plant 

 pilgrimage this country has ever seen was 

 that ordered by W. J. Dingee, when he 

 decided to move his home from Redwood 

 City to Santa Cruz, Cal. But a few 

 months ago the land shown in the ac- 

 companying pictures was bare of tree or 

 shrub growth, while now it is dotted 

 with groups of fine specimen ornamentals 

 and ii^ a short time the work of planting 

 will be completed. All these trees and 

 plants were brought from Redwood City, 

 a distance of about 100 miles, and they 

 filled over twenty freight cars. 



The large palm seen at the right in 

 the lower view is forty-five feet tall 

 and when crated for shipment weighed 

 fifty tons. It made the journey on two 

 flat cars, being too long for one car. 

 The smaller palm seen at the left is 

 twenty-five feet tall and weighed sixteen 

 tons. Both are Jubsea spectabilis. In 

 preparing these huge palms for removal, 

 no effort was spared to prevent root dis- 

 turbance. The largest palm was in a tub 

 twenty feet square and twelve feet deep. 

 It was, of course, built around the palm 

 in the ground. Trenches were dug and 

 the sides connected. Then a tunnel was 

 run underneath and one plank of the 

 bottom secured in position and blocked 

 up. This process was repeated until the 

 bottom was complete. Then an immense 

 crate was built oq to the box so as to 

 enclose the whole palm, and numerous 



jack-screws lifted it to the ground level. 

 The most delicate part of the job was 

 lowering the structure to a horizontal 

 position and loading it on the cars. Trou- 

 ble developed en route, the crate when on 

 the cars reaching such a height that it 

 would not pass clear of the connecting 

 rods of the superstructure of one of the 

 railway bridges, but this was finally 

 overcome. At Santa Cruz a temporary 

 track was laid to the planting hole that 

 had been prepared and the great struc- 

 ture was slowly tilted and worked into 

 the hole and to an upright position, by 

 means of a heavy house mover's wind* 

 lass, heavy pulleys, etc. The crate and 

 box were then removed and the palm 

 guyed with wired rope. It is reported 

 that it cost $3,000 to move this palm 

 alone, -and it may not be an exaggerated 

 figure. The other large palm was han- 

 dled in the same manner, only the box 

 was smaller and the weight less. 



The smaller trees and shrubs were in 

 boxes suited to their size, care being 

 taken in. each case to secure such a gen- 

 erous ball of earth as to avoid any seri- 

 ous root disturbance. A gang of thirty 

 men was employed in digging and box- 

 ing the plants. They were loaded on cars 

 as rapidly as possible and sent on their 

 way at once. No water was given until 

 unloaded at Santa Cruz, when a soaking 

 was in order. 



In addition to the two large jubseas 

 mentioned, there were many other palms 

 of the sorts commonly planted in Cali- 

 fornia, such as draceenas, bamboos in 

 variety, English hollies, Italian cypresses, 

 Irish yews, pittosporums, euonymuses, 

 oranges, lemons, tree box, weeping elms, 

 weeping mulberries, and a host of others. 

 The entire contents of the conservatories 

 and greenhouses in Redwood City were 

 also transferred to Santa Cruz, where 

 new glass structures had been erected to 

 receive them. 



The plans for this extraordinary plant 

 moving were prepared by John McLaren, 

 superintendent of Golden Gate park, San 

 Francisco, and were ' executed under his 

 direction by William James, Mr. Din- 

 gee's gardener. 



So far none of the plants shows any 

 signs of damage as the result of removal 

 and it looks as though Mr. Dingee would 

 realize his desire to secure for his new 

 grounds in Santa Cruz the same mature 

 effect that he had at his former residence 

 in Redwood City. The new plafte con- 

 tains but eight acres and there seems to 

 be a great abundance of large subjects 

 for this space, especially as the residence, 

 yet to be built, will be a large one. 



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Partial View of Planting; on the Dingee Place^ Santa Cruz, GJ. 



