150 
[ February 24,1887. 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
white, which is the consort of the white ground classes. This is 
verily such a hair’s breadth escape that in any but the purest 
feathered state this taint of the tricolor masters the flower, and 
Modesty flamed is unpresentable. Streaks of undeniable yellow 
then lie between the white ground colour and the scarlet flame, 
and the flower is ruined. Even a stray splash of colour beyond 
strict feathering will induce the streaky butter appearance of the 
mixed ground colours. 
There is, however, one combination of base and petal colours in 
the breeder state which must not be confounded with those that 
produce the inadmissible tricolor of scarlet, white, and yellow. That 
brilliant flower the scarlet bizarre has in its breeder form a yellow 
base with bright red petal colours ; but the red or scarlet is not 
that of the rose breeder, with which yellow at the base forms the 
rose tricolor. It will be a red heightened by some tone of yellow, 
or lowered by some admixture of the brown that occurs so much in 
the breeders of the dark bizarres. 
An intensely scarlet bizarre breeder is a dazzling flower, but not 
always a safe one at the further stage. There is a liability in it to 
break into duller or weaker colours than that of its breeder. 
“ Horatio ” is beautiful as a scarlet bizarre breeder, but is little 
worth when broken. The yellow is but pale and washy, as if a 
touch of the rose class were in its breeder petal, and transmitted 
some dash of white—an alloy of silver to its gold. On the other 
hand, one of our best scarlet bizarres, Dr. Hardy, breaks from a 
breeder of indeed an intensely rich yellow base ; but the petal, 
though of high polish and deep colour, is of a sobered shade of red. 
Referring again for a moment to the sorry contrivances and 
cruelties recommended for perpetration upon breeder Tulips to 
make them break, there is worthy of record one method which 
comes to us from the Holland of almost 150 years ago, and is 
much the prettiest conceit of all. Treating upon the breaking of 
Tulips, “ The Dutch Florist ” of 1764 assures us that “ procuring 
new sorts every year from Holland is the best way of all for 
foreigners” (!) 
This is far from weak, either as a touch of humour or a stroke 
of business ; but an English florist, writing fifty years ago in 
apology for that ancient Dutchman, says of him : “ Poor fellow ! 
you see he never knew a ‘ Polyphemus !’ ” Well, we have lived to 
pity, in our present wealth of Tulips, the poverty of fifty years ago. 
Still, let us not vaunt ourselves nor be puffed up. Doubtless when 
these fresh pages are grown sere in fifty years to come, and our 
names shall have faded more and more from living memories into 
the records—the hortus siccus —of our gentle art, we shall be in 
turn behind the day in floriculture ; and men will live to say of 
us, Ah ! poor fellows, they had nothing better in those times 
than Sir Joseph Paxton in Tulips. They never knew a . . . ! 
—F. D. Horner, Buiton-in-Lonsdale. 
(To be continued.) 
TREE MEASUREMENT. 
Interesting as it is to be able to estimate correctly the height of 
'fine old trees, it is doubtless to those of us who are not intimately 
acquainted with trigonometry as an everyday study, rather apt to be 
looked upon as a somewhat difficult feat, but with a very superficial 
knowledge of angles and sides of triangles, together with a very simple 
contrivance, the correct height of almost any tree can he easily 
computed. 
Procure a staff about 6 feet in length and 1 inch in thickness, upon 
which fasten at about 1 foot from the top a piece of half-inch board in 
the shape of a quarter of a circle by means of a screw and nut through 
the extreme angular point, and from which point suspend a plummet. 
'The board can be of any convenient size, say about 9 inches in dia¬ 
meter. Divide the outer circular edge into ninety divisions or degrees, 
and on one side of the angular edges place two small sights or eyelets as 
far apart as possible. The instrument is now complete. To make use 
of it screw the boaid fast so that the plummet hangs at exactly 45°, 
then walk forwards or backwards until the top of the tree to be 
measured can be seen through both sights. Measure the distance from 
the bottom of the staff to the tree, to which add the height of the 
eye, and the sum will be the height of the tree, supposing the ground to 
be level. 
If a position is not obtainable sufficiently far from the tree, as 
directed, make the quadrant fast so that the plummet hangs at 63|°, and 
the distance from the position whence a view of the top of the tree can 
be obtained through both sights to the base of the tree, will, if doubled 
and the height of the eye added, give the height of the tree. 
But if this is also impracticable take any angle of altitude and 
measure the distance to the base of the tree, then, by a scale, draw a 
line equal to the measured distance, and at one end of this line erect a 
perpendicular, and at the other mark out an angle equal to the angle of 
altitude ; then measure the perpendicular of the triangle thus formed 
by the scale, to which add the height of the eye, and the result will be 
the height of the tree. 
Again, if the base of the tree be inaccessible, so that the distance 
from the angle of altitude thereto cannot be obtained, take the angle of 
altitude at the most convenient position, then measure backward for any 
known distance, and take another observation, draw a plan by scale of 
the distance between the two stations, form angles equal to the observa¬ 
tions, and from the point where they meet draw a perpendicular, which 
if measured by the scale, and the usual allowance for the height of the 
eye be added, will give the required height, and also by the scale the in¬ 
accessible portion of the base line can be obtained if required. Of course 
care must be taken that the place of observation is level and also on a 
level with the base of the tree. 
These simple plans have much to commend them to those who are 
unacquainted with the working of decimals and calculations by tangents, 
and they also possess the advantage of not requiring any tables or 
knowledge of mathematical calculations, although where the principles 
of trigonometry, with the use of logarithms, are well understood, such 
knowledge can be made good use of for rapid and accurate estimations, 
but for ordinary use the methods given above will be found of much 
service when some ready means is required foi estimating the height 
of any object for practical purposes.—W. Coombe, Ashton Court, 
Bristoh 
BEDDING PLANTS—PELARGONIUMS. 
From this time onwards we find bedding plants take up a very large 
share of the gardener’s time and attention, some getting perhaps more 
than they need in order to grow them well, while others might very 
well have a little more care than is generally accorded them. Of all 
bedding—massing plants would be the better term—none are more 
beautiful than flowering Pelargoniums of the Zonal class, but in order 
to have them at their best they require more liberal treatment than is, 
as a rule, given to them. In our northern parts it is too often the case 
that by the time the plants are becoming really effective the time for 
taking cuttings for another season has arrived, and after the plants have 
undergone the necessary cutting-back entailed by this process, the effect 
for the season is practically over, and the question is asked, Is it worth 
while endeavouring to secure a display with such unsatisfactory 
plants? My own experience leads to the belief that much depends 
on the treatment of the plants from the cutting onward. It is not 
necessary to refer more particularly to the matter of cuttings here 
than to point out that they cannot well be too large. The majority 
of the cuttings taken here are certainly larger when taken off the 
plants in autumn than many I am in the habit of seeing put into 
their flowering quarters in early summer. Large cuttings well rooted 
have, moreover, the advantage of wintering better than small weakly 
ones, which, in order to get any good out of, must be kept growing all 
through the winter months. This point is of importance with even the 
strongest, but a much lower temperature suits these. 
Coming now to what at present requires doing, it may be pointed 
out that the plants are very often starved through being placed into 
pots much too small for them. It is no uncommon thing for 
strong-growing varieties to be placed into 3-inch pots, sometimes two 
plants into that size. Treatment of this kind does not result in obtain¬ 
ing anything better than a set of plants which are merely kept existing, 
and which, when planted out, stand still for so long as the plants are 
taking to the soil. The size of pots we use for the strongest, such as 
Henry Jacoby, are those 6 inches across. The stronger Vesuvius and 
others go into the same size, the weaker into 4 and 5-inch pots, the latter 
sizes doing also for the variegated sorts. Like many more who have a 
difficulty in getting good potting soil, the quantity consumed in pre¬ 
paring these and other bedding plants has always been a matter of re¬ 
gretful consideration. Last season I tried the best of the material in our 
compost heap, which is made out of the rubbish, &c., from the garden 
and other places. As it was very open all the drainage required was 
simply a bit of potsherd placed over the hole in the bottom of the pot. 
The material was pressed in pretty firmly, and with the addition of some 
manure later on applied when watering, the plants turned out quite 
satisfactorily. In order to save in labour, all our plants are potted 
in the structures in which they are to be grown. The plants come out 
of the cutting boxes with'much better roots if the soil is in a medium 
condition as regards moisture, and instead of taking the plants out 
singly it is much better to lift them in clumps and shake all the soil 
from the roots before disentangling them. 
In potting, the most expeditious method is as follows ;—Take a pot, 
and holding it steady with the left hand, put a handful or more of soil 
in with the right hand, so placing it as to fill one side of the pot with 
soil, leaving the other side clear. Then lift a plant with the left hand, 
let its roots into the pot and lying against the face of soil, at the same 
time with the right hand have another handful of soil ready to place 
over the roots, and add as much as is necessary to fill to the required 
depth, then firm by pressing in the soil all round in the ordinary 
manner. 
Our plants are mostly established in vineries, the more tender kinds 
being transferred to cold structures as early in April as weather will 
permit. All they need there is to be kept close and quiet for a 
week or so, and after that treat as required. Hardier varieties have to 
be placed out of doors, and by far the best position for these is an open 
one at the bottom ■ of the back wall of vineries, Peach houses, or other 
structures. They are matted up closely for a week or more, when, by 
taking the advantage of mildi showery, the mats are removed, though 
kept in readiness for any frosts or cold winds that may set in. The 
most distinct advantages secured by setting the plants out in such a 
