P/EONY S3 



for if they are removed after their roots have 

 shot out new fibres, it checks the plant and pre- 

 vents its giving fine flowers for the succeeding 

 summer. The double varieties are increased by- 

 parting the roots, observing to preserve a bud 

 upon the crown of each offset, or they will come 

 to nothing, and the roots should not be separated 

 tooiynall, for when the offsets arc weak they fre- 

 quently do not produce flowers for several years, 

 or at best but a single flower of diminutive size, 

 and the beauty of this plant consists in the splen- 

 did size of the flowers, and a considerable num- 

 ber in one spot. 



It frequently happens that these blossoms are 

 injured by the rain, which renders the flowers so 

 heavy that they fall to the ground and become 

 dirty and unsightly. 



" As full-blown Poppies, overcliarijed wifh rain, 

 Decline the head, and drooping- kiss the plain." 



Pope's Homer, 



To prevent this, little stakes should be provided 

 with a fork at the end, in which the stalk should 

 rest just beneath the corolla, and the other end 

 of the stake be forced into the ground to the pro- 

 per height ; ihe fohage will hide the stick, and 

 the plant will retain its natural elegant appear- 

 ance, which it loses when tied to a support. 



(j 2 



