HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 465 



buds, I find one pan full of wood ashes scattered around the 

 plants a sure remedy. 



The above varieties should be planted deep enough, so the 

 upper buds are two inches below the surface, as almost invari- 

 ably those inexperienced set the plants too high, and lose them 

 in the course of a year or two. 



I find it necessary with Chinese varieties to lift the whole root; 

 then it is an easy matter to divide them. In resetting a large 

 plant, it is better always to divide them, as they often rot in the 

 centre when not divided, and it is then a long time before they 

 blossom. I always give all peonies a mulch of leaves the first 

 winter, not so much to protect from cold as to keep the spring 

 frosts from heaving them before they are well rooted. I find our 

 black soil admirably adapted to their growth, for I have counted 

 sixty-four immense blossoms and buds on one plant at one time. 



The hardy Irises are long lived, with delicate, fragrant flowers. 

 Lilies of the choice, fragrant varieties need a sandy soil, with 

 a covering of leaves in winter. The Lemon Lily is a choice 

 flower, with showy, delicate yellow, fragrant flowers in June; 

 entirely hardy. 



The Oriental Poppy is a desirable perennial, hardy; flowers a 

 reddish orange, very brilliant. 



The Purple Sweet Eocket is a biennial, with showy reddish 

 purple, fragrant flowers, hardy, and will grow from seed. The 

 different varieties of perennial phlox, which blossom from the 

 first of August until the first of October, are entirely hardy, and 

 their delightful fragrance and beauty make them useful at a 

 time when flowers are scarce. 



I find a good many have difi&culty in getting snowballs to 

 grow. Layering is the only way to get new plants. When 

 in bloom I take stems of the last season's growth, bend them 

 down and -peg them fast; then cover the stem with four or 

 five inches of soil, bending the branch up to form a top and 

 bracing it by putting a chunk of wood against it. By the last of 

 September we will find them a mass of fibrous roots in good con- 

 dition to move; after being set out, the top must be laid over on 

 the ground and about three pails of soil heaped upon the 

 root, covering the stem with the exception of three or four 

 inches of the tips. In the spring uncover and lift up the 

 top repeating this each fall as long as you can bend the plant 

 over; when too large to bend down they are hardy, and with 

 good rich soil you will have no trouble in growing snowballs, 



Voi. IV- 59. 



