376 Some Remarks on the Tree Pceony. 



made in the inner side of the bend; this operation should be done 

 with very great care, as the shoots are extremely liable to be 

 broken where they bend; make use of the same soil as for suck- 

 ers. Layers are not generally rooted sufficiently to be detached 

 from the old plant until the expiration of two years. A new 

 system of increasing the plants by layers was a few years 

 since made public. It consisted in taking away, in the month 

 of February, a ring of the bark, about a sixteenth of an inch 

 wide, between every bud on each shoot, in the manner com- 

 mon ringing is performed on trees. In this way each bud will 

 occupy one inch of the stem between the rings. The stems, 

 when thus prepared, should be laid down horizontally, about three 

 inches under the soil, leaving only the leading bud at the end of 

 each branch out of the ground. In six months each bud will 

 have made a vigorous shoot and radical fibres; in August care- 

 fully separate each plant, and pot them as we have recommended 

 for suckers. We do not knov/ whether this mode is extensively 

 practised or not. 



Division of the Stem. — This operation is, we believe, only 

 practised by the Chinese; but as it may be interesting to our 

 readers to know how it is performed, we will detail the method. 

 An old plant is selected, and the stem is regularly spHt into four 

 or six equal portions from the top to the bottom, even among the 

 roots; these divisions are kept separated until the wounds begin 

 to dry, when the middle of the stem is filled with a sort of plas- 

 ter made with mortar and rich earth, with which is mixed a small 

 quantity of sulphur. The operation is performed in the spring, 

 and the plants suffered to remain until autumn, when each divis- 

 ion is separated with the portion of the root belonging to it. 



Cuttings. — To increase the plants by cuttings is more difficult 

 than by layers or suckers. They should be taken off in August 

 or September, with a portion of the old wood attached, and plant- 

 ed in pots in a compost of loam, leaf mould, and a large portion 

 of sand; drain the pots well, and plant the cuttings close to the 

 sides of each; cover them with bell glasses, and place them in a 

 shady situation for a time, until winter, when they should be shel- 

 tered from frost, and in February or March assisted in their 

 growth by the aid of a hot-bed. After this they may be treated 

 like estabhshed plants. Another method is, to take off cuttings 

 an inch in length, in the manner of vine cuttings, with a bud on 

 each; slit up the stem behind and take away the pith; insert them 

 in pots, three inches under the soil, and plunge the pots in an ex- 

 hausted hot-bed, where there is a temperature of about sixty de- 

 grees. In two months they will have rooted and made young 

 shoots. 



Grafting. — This is not generally performed on the shoots of the 



