THE BOOK OF THE PEONY 



by this dryness and hardness the seeds must be 

 gathered just as they are turning brown and must 

 be planted immediately. They should be planted 

 about two inches deep in friable loam. The tiny 

 seedlings will usually appear the following Spring, 

 although some of them may be more deliberate. 

 The seeds may be planted successfully either in 

 the open or in boxes which are about six inches 

 deep and which are placed in cold frames. If 

 planted in boxes they should have plenty of air 

 and moisture, and should be given partial shade 

 to prevent drying out. At the end of a year's 

 growth in the box the seedlings should be trans- 

 planted. They may be grown in boxes another 

 year if desired, but after the first transplanting 

 they make more rapid growth if planted out- 

 doors. When these new peonies are three or 

 four years old the anxious gardener may reason- 

 ably expect them to bloom. Sad to relate, it is 

 seldom that more than one in a thousand of the 

 seedlings approaches the standards of the old and 

 established varieties. The thrill of having grown 

 them blots out this horrid realization for a while. 

 But the cruel fact that seeds pollinated with the 

 casual assistance of bees and other insects gener- 



180 



