188 THE GOLD MINE 



new sorts. One she sold for $100, and another for 

 $150, besides having thousands of dollars' worth of 

 enjoyment from her floral friends. 



When you take into consideration the growing value 

 of cut ftowers, you have three harvests from your Pae- 

 ony bed, one in the spring, the blossoms in summer, 

 and again root sales in the autumn. This delightful 

 and profitable employment, together with the fascina- 

 tion of raising new kinds from seed, will give a zest and 

 joy to living which cannot be found in any indoor em- 

 ployment. There is the delight of seeing a transform- 

 ation going on, the brown earth putting on robes of 

 beauty while you are calling forms of loveliness out 

 of the unseen, taking the rainbow and moulding into 

 shapes of wondrous fascination. 



ADAPTATION. 



The Moutan or Tree Paeony does remarkably well 

 in England and in our Atlantic States. It blooms 

 grandly and grows to be quite a bush. I have grown 

 them in 'JSTebraska for more than fifteen years, and find 

 them very shy bloomers. They will grow and increase 

 all right, but I think the buds are sensitive to our try- 

 ing climate. It is possible these will do well where 

 the herbaceous ones are not satisfactory. I think, as 

 you go south into the Gulf States, especially into the 

 sandy soils, the Chinensis will not be satisfactory, and 

 perhaps those regions will be just the place for the 

 Moutan. 



