bered thumb-tack on the head of the clothespin. 

 The clothespins are, of course, put in position at the 

 time of planting the roots, and kept far enough 

 away so as not to come in contact with them. 

 ^ Remember when ordering peonies to specify that 

 you desire only clumps that have been recently 

 lifted, and that they be not less than three years 

 old. By this I do not mean to say that younger ones 

 are of no value, but that they will not provide such 

 a display of bloom their first Summer as the older 

 ones. As a matter of facTt, you will find it is mo^ 

 desirable to obtain some roots five years old for 

 they will give a splendid show of blooms their first 

 Summer, and after their season is passed they may 

 be divided, providing a plentiful stock of fine, 

 robust roots. So I would suggest that when order- 

 ing, you obtain a small number, at least of five- 

 year old roots. It is unnecessary for me to say that 

 the new clumps when received from the nursery 

 should not be divided until after they have 

 bloomed the following season. 

 ^ Oh, I want to speak on behalf of the lively ants 

 that we see darting about the peony buds. They 

 do not injure them at all, they are quite harmless, 

 although because of them I discontinued sending 

 peony blooms to friends. Several years ago I sent 

 to a very dear friend a great box of them and it 

 seems as soon as she opened the box she discovered 

 the ants on several of the blossoms. Later on when 

 myriads of house ants made their appearance, I 

 think she really attributed the invasion to the 

 peony ants which are of quite an entirely different 

 family. 



