THE PAEONY. 407 



before the plants are set in order to get the best results. I have no 

 trouble in getting 1,000 from one in ten years, and the flowers are 

 much more beautiful. 



Mr. Loring: When heavily fertilized is there not a tendency 

 to go to foliage instead of flowers? 



Mr. Harrison : I don't think so. You take the La Tulipe, 

 the Grandiflora Alba and a great many of that sort, they will 

 respond very readily. 



Mrs. Jennie Stager: Do they need resetting? 



Mr. Harrison : If we raise them for the roots we do so, but 

 if you let them remain for twenty years there is a continual 

 growth and a consequent development of the flower. If you 

 grow peonies to sell it is better to cut them up, but if you want 

 them to bloom — and a great many do not show up until four or 

 five years old — you had better leave them alone for several 

 years. 



Mrs. Stager: When is the best time to transplant? 



Mr. Harrison : The best time is in September, or you can 

 plant them early in the spring. If you plant them in the spring, 

 plant them as early as possible. I planted in the spring on good 

 strong roots, and we had an enormous crop of flowers. 



Mr. Philips: Would you advise planting as far north as this? 



Mr. Harrison : Oh, yes, certainly. 



Mr. C. C. Hunter: Are you troubled with insects? 



Mr. Harrison : No, we are not. Some are troubled with ants, 

 but if you scatter a little sugar around your* plants the ants will 

 not trouble them. The buds exude a sort of honey which the 

 ants are very fond of, but I do not think they destroy the flower; 

 they are after the honey. 



Prof. Washburn : They are after that sweet substance that 

 exudes from the flower, but they do not hurt the flower. 



Mr. Harrison : I have never seen any insect that will sting 

 them like they do the rose. It seems to be perfectly immune 

 from disease and insect pests. 



Mrs. Loring: Is it not just as well to leave them alone if 

 you want the blossoms for home use? 



Mr. Harrison : It depends upon the care you take of them. 

 If you find in about ten years that they are preying on each 

 other I should transplant. Old roots root in the center. I 

 got some Festiva Maxima from Teas. He let them grow so long 

 they looked like clubs. He let them stand a little too long, and 

 the roots were too large. I would not let them get too long. 



Prof. Waldron : Can you retard blossoming? 



Mr. Harrison : Yes, there are two or three dififerent ways. 

 One of my neighbors dug a cellar and put some eighteen inches 

 of dirt over some, and they came up two or three weeks later. 

 That was too deep, of course, but if j^ou cover them a foot deep it 

 will retard them. The better way is to take good healthy roots 

 and put them in cold storage, and on the first of May take them 

 out and plant them. If the roots are large there is so much plant 



