254 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART in. 



remain till they are required for planting out in their final situations. After 

 thus gathering the first crop of young plants, the old layers should be again 

 covered with good soil, and, left as before ; and, in the following summer, a 

 second and greater crop of plants will be produced than in the first season; 

 and, what is most remarkable, they will issue from various parts of the stem, 

 where no trace of a bud was previously indicated. Again, if a stem be de- 

 tached from the parent plant, and treated as described above, and then laid in 

 soil in a pine-pit or stove, it will shoot almost as fi-eely as if connected with 

 the original root." 



Cuttmgs. " In another experiment, cuttings of about an inch in length were 

 made of the P^ebnia Moiitan, in the manner of vine cuttings, having one bud 

 on each, and about half of the stem behind the bud slit up, and the pith re- 

 moved. These were put Sin. deep in pots of soil, and plunged into an ex- 

 hausted bark-bed, ha^dng a temperature of about 60°. In the space of two 

 months, these cuttings made young shoots through the soil, and grew freely," 

 {Bot. Gard.) 



Nursery Culture. Stools are planted in the London nurseries, either in cold- 

 pits, or in the open ground, to be slightly protected during winter ; and, when 

 these have been two or three years established, they throw up abundance of 

 shoots every year, which are laid down, either with or without the ringing 

 process described above,in autumn, or early in spring, and taken off in about a 

 year or two years afterwards. As the tree peony does not transplant well, 

 from the length of its descending roots, and the paucity of their fibres, plants 

 should always be kept in pots, by which means, instead of suffering from re- 

 moval, they will be improved by it. 



Final Culture. The plant has always the best effect when placed singly 

 on a lawn, or in a border, in such a manner as that it may become an orbi- 

 cular bush, free on all sides. As it is of slow growth, it requires little or no 

 winter pruning, except for the removal of dead or injured wood ; but in 

 spring, it is desirable to tliin out the embryo blossoms, as soon as they can 

 be distinguished, so as to leave no more than what the plant can bring to a 

 high degree of perfection ; and so as not to injure any part of the embryo 

 foliage. The plant has been tried against a wall ; but in such a situation the 

 heat appears too great for it in summer. It succeeds well in a conservatory or 

 in a cold-pit. South of London, and in most parts of Ireland, it thrives per- 

 fectly well in the open air ; though in the latter country it reqtiires a slight 

 roof to be thrown over it while it is in flower. 



Acddents, Diseases, ^'O. The shoots are liable to be killed back by the 

 winter's frost, especially after a wet summer, when they have not ripened 

 thoroughly. In spring, ithe leaves and blossoms are liable to be blackened, 

 when the plants are not protected by a slight covering stretched over them 

 horizontally during frosty nights. A piece of thin muslin, canvass bunting, or 

 woollen netting, stretched over a wooden frame, formed like an hood, would be 

 quite sufficient for this purpose, and the trouble of covering the plant would 

 not be great. The bitter quality of the leaves prevents them from being 

 attacked by many insects; though the blossom buds are sometimes punctured 

 by them. 



Statistics. One of the largest tree peonies within ten miles of London stood, 

 till lately, in the grounds at Spring Grove, where it was planted by Sir Joseph 

 Banks. It was 6 ft. or 8 ft. high, and formed a bush 8 ft. or 10 ft. in diameter 

 in 1825. South of London, there are equally large plants at Rook's Nest, 

 near Godstone, Surrey, which were planted in 1818. North of London, the 

 largest plant in the country (P.ilCj'japaveracea) is at the seat of Sir Abraham 

 Hume, at Wormleybury, in Hertfordshire. It is 7 ft. high, and forms a bush 

 14 ft. in diameter, after having been planted thirty years. It stands the winter, 

 in general, very well ; but, if the flower-buds swell too early in February, it 

 becomes advisable to cover the plant slightly with a mat. In the year 1835, 

 this plant perfected 320 flowers; but it has been known to bear three times 

 that number. In most parts of Scotland, the tree peony will grow with pro- 

 tection, and near the sea coast nearly as well as in England. The largest 



