IN THE FRONT YARD. 201 



NON-BLOOMING PAEONIES. 



The following is such a characteristic letter that I 

 insert it here. It is a sample of the scores of inquiries 

 that come to me along the same line : 



"Mr. Harrison : — What is the matter with my Paeo- 

 nies ? They will not bloom. I surely paid enough for 

 them,— a dollar for six. I have had them five years, 

 and only one bloom all this time, and that a little, infe- 

 rior thing. I bought them for different kinds, but 

 from the looks of the foliage I believe they are all one 

 kind, and I guess they are afraid to bloom, because of 

 the deception. The most aggravating thing is, my 

 neighbor has some of the most beautiful ones I ever 

 saw. They are loaded with the choicest flowers every 

 season. I have had manure spaded around mine, and 

 have mulched them in winter, with no result save great 

 clumps of leaves. What shall I do, and what is the 

 trouble V 



ANSWER. 



''My Dear Woman : — I am afraid you have been pat- 

 ronizing the 'bargain counter.' If you paid only one 

 dollar for six plants, you could not expect to get good 

 ones. You have what you bought, a cheap lot. What 

 will you do with them ? Dig them up and throw them 

 away. Be sure you dig deep enough to get out all the 

 roots so you will not hear from them again. You 

 have probably been insisting that a "piny was a piny," 

 and that was all there was of it. ISTow you see your 

 mistake. There are thoroughbreds in flowers as well 



