THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



125 



the extent of the above, I would hesi- 

 tate to give up Sunny&ide. — J. C . in an 

 exchange. 



CULTIVATION OF THE P/EONY. 



BY HERMANN SIMMERS, TORONTO. 



P.EONY Chinensis, oi* Chinese Pje- 

 ony is another valuable permanent ad- 

 dition to the flower garden, and one 

 might say indispensable, as there is no 

 plant flowering during this month that 

 I'equires so little attention. The ama- 

 teur may not notice, under the above 

 heading, that this is the ordinary plant 

 very often termed Red Piny, but the 

 above is the correct botanical name. 

 The amateur also may not be awai-e 

 that the Pseonies have almost as great 

 a variety of colours as the Rose, with 

 a somewhat similar fragrance ; I have 

 had many people mistake them for 

 very large Roses, when a bouquet 

 has been made up of partially opened 

 flowers. The Ptieonies of late years 

 have been very much improved in va- 

 riety of colours, and now the colours 

 vary from }Hire white to light and dark 

 pink, pink and white variegated, etc., 

 all exquisitely fragrant, which is not the 

 case with the ordinary dark red variety. 

 The best season of the year for plant- 

 ing, in my experience, has been from 

 the middle of October imtil frost comes. 

 Almost any soil will grow them suc- 

 cessfully. The great disadvantage in 

 planting in the spring is that the warm 

 weather comes on us so very rapidly 

 that the stems ap})ear above ground 

 before the amateur thinks of planting. 

 By planting in the fall, they flower 

 easily the following summer. Pro])a- 

 gation is by division of roots, which 

 may easily be done by cutting the heart 

 of the root, together with an eye or bud 

 and as much of the roots as can bo con- 

 veniently spared. In my estimation 

 there is no more easily grown, and more 

 satisfactory plant than the Poeony. I 

 would suggest not to always grow the 



common dark red variety, but to choose 

 the lighter coloui-s, which are oftener 

 the newer varieties. Another advan- 

 tage is that, as yet, this plant has not 

 been attacked by insects of any kind, the 

 stems and leaves being of a harder sub- 

 stance, does not suit the palate of the 

 insects. 



Chrysaxthemum Culture. — "Ama- 

 teur," in Popular Gardening, gives the 

 following rules for Summer Care of 

 these i^opular plants, viz. : — 



(1) Never keep them in doors when 

 they can possibly be in the open air. 



(2) Never let them became pot bound 

 until they have budded to bloom. 



(3) Never shift immediately after 

 nijiping 



(4) Never let them stay dry. 



(5) Never let them want food. 



(6) Give them plenty of sun and not 

 too much wind. 



(7) Pinch freely. 



(8) For fine flowers, rub ofi" three out 

 of five, and toward fall all that may ap- 

 pear. 



Jfiitits. 



FRUIT PACKAGES. 



In growing FRUITS for shipping to 

 city markets, it is a great mistake to 

 postpone the pui-chase of barrels, crates 

 and baskets, until the time approaches 

 when they are positively needed. It 

 is already high time to secure crates 

 and baskets for the strawberry crop, for 

 before the end of the present month, 

 there will be business enough in gather- 

 ing and marketing the fruit, without 

 any solicitude concerning a sufficient 

 supply of baskets. Indeed, we who 

 live on the south shore of Lake Onta- 

 rio, usually begin shipping strawberries 

 about the 20th of June. 



For many j'ears fruit growers in Ca- 

 nada used the wooden crate holding 54 



