July 5, 1SS8. J 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
3 
plenty by division after flowering in May, while reptans will root 
readily if the runners are pegged on the surface of the soil, and 
may also be increased by division. 
Every person who takes an interest in the cultivation of these 
plants should, I consider, take an interest in making the best 
possible display of them also. I>y this I mean that they ought not 
to be content by merely purchasing a plant and letting it do its 
best. That is not gardening in its truest motives, nor is it likely 
that the best results will be forthcoming for such scanty pains. Let 
all who grow plants make the most of the space at command, and 
few plants form a better starting point than these Phloxes. An 
amateur may buy one plant, and in three years it may make a nice 
tuft, but if he had put in say fifty cuttings each year in the 
manner I have described above, and only succeeded in rooting half 
of them, and potted them singly in small pots, what a grand stock 
of such things he may possess ! But amateu-s will wonder of what 
■service such a stock may be to themselves, but I will explain. 
These Alpine Phloxes require to be seen in large spreading masses 
several feet across, and to quickly obtain these handsome floral 
-carpets they should be increased freely. Established in small pots, 
and planted out about 6 or 8 inches apart each way, they would soon 
form a mass of colour such as is rarely seen, and make the garden a 
perfect paradise. Take Phlox Nelsoni and Vivid, and treat them 
-as suggested, what a lovely picture they would make, especially if 
-planted on a rocky surface, such as a rockery border ; the effect 
-would be natural and most pleasing, and by adopting this course 
-throughout what a rich and varied display one could easily obtain 
>by first ascertaining the best plants for such a purpose. 
AUBRIE CHS. 
Another group of easily grown Alpines are the Aubrietias. 
These, however, have been referred to so recently in the pages of 
the Journal by “ A Londoner ” that it would appear superfluous to 
-say more. I cannot refrain from drawing attention to the happy 
result so clearly set forth in the illustration there given. Of two 
plants Iris pumila ccerulea, with Aubrietias nestling at its base, 
what more natural or what more beautiful than that charming 
-combination, and yet but one of the many equally charming which 
may, and which really ought to be, of more common occurrence in 
■our midst. After all it is not an endless variety which gives the 
■effect, but the few carefully studied and -judiciously blended to¬ 
gether.—J. H. E. 
ORTON HALL. 
Orton Hall, about two miles from Peterborough, is the seat of the 
•dowager Marchioness of Huntly, a great lover of plants, who has 
-collected many hardy species on the Alps and elsewhere for 
•establishing at home. The rockeries and borders are filled with 
hardy flowers, and the grass, where the lawn is not closely 
machined, is in places full of bulbs. When these push up in myriads in 
"the spring, followed closely with hardy Orchises, which abound, a stroll 
?round the semi-dressed grounds is very enjoyable. The grounds are, 
however, always “furnished,” and are perhaps never more beautiful 
than when the numerous and fine Conifers are wreathed with fleecy 
-snow, or resemble fountains and cones of silver by the hoar frost 
■glistening on every spray and leaf. The late Marquis of Huntly was a 
great planter, and as the soil is good most of the trees have made 
•splendid growth, and Conifers are thus the commanding feature of 
Orton. 
When going north a few weeks ago on a visit to Belvoir it may be 
remembered I called on Mr. Harding, the gardener, and we spent a few 
■pleasant hours among the Conifers, ascertaining the heights of some in 
a, very simple and certain manner. As tbe plan adopted may be worth 
making more generally known, a sketch of the home-made appliance is 
•given in fig. 1. Mr. Harding’s tree measurer on the right of the 
figure consists of a staff 6 feet long pointed for pressing into the ground. 
To the centre of the staff a piece of half-inch board 12 inches wide and 
•exactly square is affixed with screws. The diagonal cross lath is 3 feet 
long and perfectly straight. It may be fixed or moveable ; if the latter, 
a small batten being screwed on the board for it to rest on when in 
■use. The plumb line is indispensable, as no correct measurement could 
be had without it. The plumb-bob may be about the size of a small 
walnut, the string passing through its centre, then knotted to make all 
secure. 
In measuring the tree the staff is placed at a distance from it so 
that with the plumb exactly perpendicular, the cross lath points to the 
top of the tree, the person taking the “sight” resting on one knee or 
reclining to bring the eye to the bottom of the lath. Tbe lath is then 
drawn to the ground, where the end rests at C in the figure, or if the 
lath is fixed a string will answer the purpose of extending the sight line 
to the ground. From this point c to the centre of the trunk, not the 
face of it nearest the point, but the middle, will represent the actual 
height of the tree ; or to put the matter concisely, the horizontal line, 
A c, is equal to the vertical A b ; and if the tree were blown or cut 
down its top would follow the course shown by the curved line and rest 
at c. If a tree has several leaders, as Pinus excelsa and some others 
often have, the sight should be taken of the most central one, or 
nearest in perpendicular with the root of the tree, not a side branch 
that may happen to be a little taller, as the base line would then not 
give the true height of the specimen. On level ground it is easy to 
perceive that altitudes of a number of trees can be quickly ascertained. 
When the ground is irregular provision must be made for having the 
line level from the root of the tree, or A in the figure to C. The 
central board, it may be repeated, must be a true square, the per¬ 
fectly straight sighting lath resting across it exactly from corner to 
corner, as the least deviation will lead to error, and the weight must 
hang positively plumb, as not otherwise can the measurement be 
accurate. Any handy man can make an appliance of this kind—at 
least Mr. Harding made the one that answers its purpose so well. 
The sizes of a few of the Orton Conifers may now be given. Pinus 
Jeffreyi, several specimens, foliage a foot long, and straight trunks, the 
tallest 60 feet in height, girth 6 feet 3 inches. Wellingtonia gigantea, 
several over 60 feet high, the tallest 67 feet, girth 14 feet 6 inches, pro¬ 
duces cones in abundance, but as yet no fertile seed. Abies cephalonica, 
55 feet high, and 5 feet 6 inches in girth. ^ A. Pinsapo, 57 feet high, 
7 feet in girth, a good specimen. Abies Nordmanniana, 53 feet high, 
5 feet in girth, a beautiful tree, and has produced plenty of pones with 
seeds about 10 per cent, fertile. A. bracteatu, 3!) feet high, 5 feet 
3 inches in girth, a noble looking tree. A. amabilis, beautiful foli¬ 
age, resembling A. Nordmanniana, but more dense and silvery beneath, 
34 feet high, and 4 feet in girth. This species has not yet produced 
cones. A. Morinda (syn. Smithiana), with weeping habit, 51 feet high, 
and 5 feet girth. A. Douglasi, 65 feet hi^h, 7 feet 6 inches in giith. 
A. lasiocarpa (syn. concolor), a grand specimen, feathered to the ground, 
54 feet high, with trunk 7 feet 9 inches in girth, one of the best. A. 
grandis, 60 feet high, and 6 feet 3 inches in girth. A. pectinata, the 
common Silver Fir, 85 feet high, and 13 feet in girth, an old tree. A. 
FIG. L—MEASURING TREES. 
nobilis, 40 feet high. A. magnifica, 10 feet high, with glaucous foliage 
in the way of nobilis, but distinct from that beautiful kind. Cedrus 
Deodara, 44 feet high, with a good trunk, 7 feet 6 inches in girth. C. 
atlantica, a beautiful specimen, with glaucous foliage 56 feet high, and 
8 feet in girth, produces handsome cones in abundance. Cedars of 
Lebanon are also good, about 60 feet high. 
Libocedrus decurrens (known as Thuia gigantea) is represented by 
handsome specimens, the tallest 48 feet high, 6 feet 4 inches in girth ; 
small cones produced some years in abundance with fertile seed. Pinus 
excelsa, distinct, 59 feet high and 9 feet 3 inches in girth, has produced 
good seed. P. Sabiniana, 55 feet high and 7 feet 9 inches in girth. 
P. macrocarpa, handsome foliage, 51 feet high and 8 feet in girth. 
P. ponderosa, 60 feet high, very straight trunk, 5 feet 8 inches in girth. 
The red male catkins are very showy in June. P. Laricio, 57 feet high 
and 8 feet in girth; produces good seed. Taxodium sempervirens, 
66 feet high and 12 feet 6 inches in girth. Salisburia adiantifolia, 
32 feet high and 3 feet 6 inches girth. Cupressus Lawsoniana, a good 
specimen, 38 feet high ; produces good seed freely. C. macrocarpa, 
57 feet high and 8 feet girth ; produces good seed. Thujopsis borealis, 
40 feet high, a distinct and handsome tree. Torreya myristica, a tree 
with curious fruit about the size of a walnut produced some years in 
abundance, 18 feet high, 60 feet circumference spread of branches ; a 
quantity of young trees has been raised from this plant. Thuia 
gigantea (also known as Lobbi), Lobb’s Arbor Vitae, 48 feet high ; a tree 
that thrives well, producing trunks as straight as an arrow, handsome 
foliage, useful for decoration ; healthy plants make 3 or 4 feet leaders in 
one season ; produces good seed abundantly, from which many 
hundreds of young trees have been raised, some of the best at nine 
years old being now 15 feet high. This is the yellow Cedar of the 
settlers of British Columbia and N.W. America ; its timber is good and 
fine grained, and Mr. Harding regards it as the timber tree of the future 
for this country. It should be added that all girths were taken at 
1 foot from the ground. 
There are numerous other specimens of various Conifcrm, a good 
