254 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
remain till they are required for planting out in their final situations. After 
thus gathering the first crop of young plants, the old layers should be again 
covered with good soil, and, left as before; and, in the following summer, a 
second and greater crop of plants will be produced than in the first season; 
and, what is most remarkable, they will issue from various parts of the stem, 
where no trace of a bud was previously indicated. Again, if a stem be de- 
tached from the parent plaat, and treated as described above, and then laid in 
soil in a pine-pit or stove, it will shoot almost as freely as if connected with 
the original root.” 
Cuttings. “ In another experiment, cuttings of about an inch in length were 
made of the Pxodnia Moittan, in the manner of vine cuttings, having one bud 
on each, and about half of the stem behind the bud slit up, and the pith re- 
moved. These were put 3in. deep in pots of soil, and plunged into an ex- 
hausted bark-bed, having a temperature of about 60°. In the space of two 
months, these cuttings made young shoots through the soil, and grew freely.” 
(Bot. Gard.) 
Nursery Culture. Stools are planted in the London nurseries, either in cold- 
pits, or in the open ground, to be slightly protected during winter ; and, when 
these have been two or three years established, they throw up abundance of 
shoots every year, which are laid down, either with or without the ringing 
process described above,in autumn, or early in spring, and taken off in about a 
year or two years afterwards. As the tree peony does not transplant well, 
from the length of its descending roots, and the paucity of their fibres, plants 
should always be kept in pots, by which means, instead of suffering from re- 
moval, they will be improved by it. 
Final Culture. The plant has always the best effect when placed singly 
on alawn, or in a border, in such a manner as that it may become an orbi- 
cular bush, free on all sides. As it is of slow growth, it requires little or no 
winter pruning, except for the removal of dead or injured wood; but in 
spring, it is desirable to thin out the embryo blossoms, as soon as they can 
be distinguished, so as to leave no more than what the plant can bring to a 
high degree of perfection; and so as not to injure any part of the embryo 
foliage. The plant has been tried against a wall; but in such a situation the 
heat appears too great for it in summer. It succeeds well in a conservatory or 
in a cold-pit. South of London, and in most parts of Ireland, it thrives per- 
fectly well in the open air; though in the latter country it requires a slight 
roof to be thrown over it while it is in flower. 
Accidents, Diseases, §c. The shoots are liable to be killed back by the 
winter’s frost, especially after a wet summer, when they have not ripened 
thoroughly. In spring, the leaves and blossoms are liable to be blackened, 
when the plants are not protected by a slight covering stretched over them 
horizontally during frosty nights. A piece of thin muslin, canvass bunting, or 
woollen netting, stretched over a wooden frame, formed like an hood, would be 
quite sufficient for this purpose, and the trouble of covering the plant would 
not be great. The bitter quality of the leaves prevents them from being 
attacked by many insects; though the blossom buds are sometimes punctured 
by them. 
Y Statistics. One of the largest tree peonies within ten miles of London stood, 
till lately, in the grounds at Spring Grove, where it was planted by Sir Joseph 
Banks. It was 6 ft. or 8 ft. high, and formed a bush 8 ft. or 10 ft. in diameter 
in 1825. South of London, there are equally large plants at Rook’s Nest, 
near Godstone, Surrey, which were planted in 1818. North of London, the 
largest plant in the country (P.M. papaveracea) is at the seat of Sir Abraham 
Hume, at Wormleybury, in Hertfordshire. It is 7 ft. high, and forms a bush 
14 ft. in diameter, after having been planted thirty years. It stands the winter, 
in general, very well; but, if the flower-buds swell too early in February, it 
becomes advisable to cover the plant slightly with a mat. In the year 1835, 
this plant perfected 320 flowers; but it has been known to bear three times 
that number. In most parts of Scotland, the tree peony will grow with pro- 
tection, and near the sea coast nearly as well as in England. The largest 
