36 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
improvement of the grounds. It is estimated that about $1,500 
an acre will be required. In South Park a winding roadway is 
to be built and important construction work on the river front 
has begun. A sand pump has been purchased and more than 
1,000,000 cubic yards of sand and earth will be required to 
build the roadways and dykes which the park commission has 
in view. The plans of the commission include the building 
of the roadway up and down the west bank of the river ; the 
filling in of an athletic field ; the construction of two lagoons, 
and the building of a retaining wall on the east bank of the 
river. Nelson Brothers will also prepare plans for the new 
city cemetery at Des Moines, and the work of improvement 
will be begun at once. The area of the grounds is 190 acres, 
but only 60 acres are to be improved at present. They have 
also been retained by the Street Car Company, of Des Moines, 
to improve their Traction Park, known as Ingersoll Park. 
The improvements will extend over a period of several years. 
William Falconer, superintendent of the Bureau of Parks, 
Pittsburgh, Pa., has tendered his resignation to take effect May 
1. He will become superintendent of Allegheny Cemetery, 
where he succeeds John Pershing, who has filled the office for 
nearly thirty years. Mr. Falconer went to Pittsburg in 1896 
to become superintendent of Schenley Park, and the small 
parks about the city and was subsequently made superinten- 
dent of the Bureau of Parks. He has made the Pittsburg 
parks and Phipps Conservatory famous throughout the coun- 
try by his expert management, and his peculiar fitness for his 
position has kept him at the head of the park system through 
several political changes of officials. Mr. Falconer was a grad- 
uate of Kew Gardens and was formerly director of the Botan- 
ical Gardens at Flarvard University. Immediately before be- 
ing called to Pittsburg he was in charge of the estates of the 
late Charles A. Dana. Before beginning active work at Alle- 
ghey Cemetery Mr. Falconer will visit other cemeteries 
throughout the country. 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
Eucalypti in Stockton, Cal. 
Prof. MeClatchie’s publication, issued by our Forest De- 
partment, is an excellent guide to the Eucalypts. I give a 
few comparative measurements taken five feet above ground 
on trees growing on the Stockton State Hospital grounds. The 
trees are all about the same age, from 35 to 40 years — could 
not find out exactly. 
Eucalyptus globulus, circumference 5 ft. 2 in. to 9 ft. 3 in., 
height 70 to no ft.; Eucalyptus tereticornis, circumference 4 
ft. 6 in. to 7 ft. 2 in., height 80 to 90 ft. ; Eucalyptus rostrata, 
circumference 4 ft. to 5 ft. 3 in., height 40 to 70 ft. ; Eucalyptus 
goniocalyx circumference 4 ft. to 6 ft., height 40 to 50 ft. ; 
Eucalyptus macrovyncha, circumference 3 ft. 2 in., height 35 
ft. ; Eucalyptus viminalis, circumference 6 ft. 5 in., height 
85 ft. ; Eucalyptus paniculata, circumference 6 ft. 10 in., height 
1 15 ft.; Casuarina equisetifolia, circumference 3 ft. 6 in. to 
4 ft. 7 in., height 80 to 90 ft. ; Araucaria, Bidwillii, circumfer- 
ence 3 ft., height 50 ft.; Pinus Sabiniana, circumference 6 ft. 
to 7 ft. 6 in., height 80 to 90 ft.; Cupressus macrocarpa, cir- 
cumference 5 ft. 2 in. to 6 ft. 5 in., height 70 to 80 ft.; Sequoia 
gigantea, circumference 3 ft., height 40 ft. ; Sequoia semper- 
virens, circumference 2 ft. 6 in., height 50 ft. ; Librocedrus 
decurrens, circumference 3 ft., height 40 ft. ; Ulmus fulva, 
circumference 3 ft. 6 in. to 4 ft. 6 in., height 50 ft. ; Ulmus 
Americana, circumference 9 ft. 3 in., height 70 ft. ; Ulmus 
campestris, circumference 7 ft. 9 in., height 60 ft. 
All Eucalypts named suffer in very cold winters ; the coldest 
experienced in the last ten years was one night in 1898 — 17“ 
Fahrenheit — but we have nearly every year a few nights down 
to 20 0 Fahrenheit. One-year-old Eucalypts will freeze down 
to the ground, but sprout readily the next spring. Eucalyptus 
globulus, rostrata and viminalis show the best frost resistance, 
but there are a few tender specimens among all. 
Pinus Sabiniana has about the same amount of wood as 
the largest Eucalypts, but shows full maturity, although very 
healthy, while the most Eucalypts promise to grow many 
years yet. 
The elms show about three-fourths the amount of wood 
growth, and a few are almost equal. Casuarinas and Cupres- 
sus macrocarpa show about two-thirds the amount of wood 
growth. W. Vortriede. 
* * 5j£ 
Apropos of the facts cited by Mr. Jensen (“J. J.") on page 
18 of the last issue of this journal, relative to the use of the 
Eucalyptus tree in the United States, I beg leave to call 
attention to an interesting fact mentioned by a California 
correspondent in the Improvement department of this issue. 
He says that 500 Eucalyptus trees were planted on a country 
road .outside of the city of Stockton, Cal., which is a little 
farther north than San Francisco. I confess that this state- 
ment was in the nature of a surprise to me, as I did not know 
any variety thrived so far north. However, an expert grower, 
such as Mr. Reimers, would not countenance the planting of 
500 trees of any species or variety unless adapted to con- 
ditions in the proposed location. Frances Copley Seavey. 
* * * 
Truck for Removing Surplus Dirt. 
Dr. N. B. S., Hagerstown, Md., writes: We want a truck 
to remove earth from newly made graves. Our superintend- 
ent thinks it should be about 3x5 feet, with wheels having 
five or six-inch tires. Can you inform me where such a 
truck can be had, or recommend some way to remove the 
surplus dirt? 
* * * 
Answer by Frank Enrich, Detroit, Mich. : Your correspond- 
ent will have to have some special truck or cart built to meet 
his requirements, and I do not know of anything in the mar- 
ket which answers his description. On ordinary good turf, a 
4-in. tire is sufficient for the wheels ; of course, five or six 
inches is better, but not necessary. Personally, I do not favor 
the use of carts or trucks, to be hauled by horse, to take away 
surplus ground from the graves. I prefer the old-fashioned 
way of wheeling board and barrow to the nearest drive and 
from there to the dump. We use a grave cabinet which holds 
just enough dirt to refill the grave; the surplus is wheeled 
away at once. It is neatly gotten up, portable, in four sections, 
and during service it serves excellently to receive evergreen 
boughs and floral decorations, and when removed from the 
lot leaves the turf clean. 
Answer by W. N. Rudd, Chicago: Your correspondent 
will find the truck he speaks of cumbersome and unwieldy. 
We use a canvas 14 ft. square to receive the excavated dirt. 
After the grave is filled the balance is taken to the edge of 
the section in wheelbarrows and then loaded into two-wheeled 
horse dump-carts, hauled away and dumped where . needed. 
For much of the work in the grounds we find what is called 
a handy wagon very convenient. It is a low wagon with 
6-inch tired wheels, the front axle being 12 inches shorter 
than the rear. The wagon practically rolls 24 inches wide 
every time it passes over a drive. In reasonably dry weather 
it can be driven over the sod without damage, but if it is 
allowed to stand on the sod with the horse hitched to it, holes 
will soon be tramped through. We prefer the kind with solid 
wooden wheels in preference to the metal wheels. 
