THE TREE PEONY 



into a considerable industry. The provinces of 

 Yomato and Yamasiro (about the same latitude 

 as, but much nearer the sea than, Shen-si — the 

 moutan's original habitat) furnished the market 

 with large quantities of bark and roots. The 

 drug made from the peony apparently does not 

 possess the same fascination as a dispeller of care 

 or a producer of joy as opium or hasheesh: smok- 

 ing or taking it has never become a national vice 

 in either China or Japan. 



The district of Nara in Yomato was famous 

 for its magnificent flowering plants, some of which 

 brought as much as fifty dollars apiece. The best 

 specimens came from the districts near Tokio and 

 Yokohama, where the colder climate produced 

 flowers that had better colour and substance. 



The tree peony was the subject of much pa- 

 tient care and clever experimenting. About 1700 

 A.D., Ito Ifui, a Japanese gardener, agile with 

 both spade and pen, wrote detailed and extended 

 instructions for the culture of the tree peony 

 which included propagating from cuttings and 

 some methods of grafting. 



The Japanese take a pride in the tree peony 

 that is second only to that taken in the chrys- 



195 



