112 
HISTORY OF THE PJ:ONY PLANT IN CHINA AND JAPAN. 
down to the centre, when the worm can be destroyed by the use of a bamboo-needle ; the 
stem will, by so doing, be saved, and the wound thus made, will soon cure of itself. 
Some white-coloured insects sometimes stick in considerable quantity about the outer part 
of the stem, they may, however, be easily brushed off. 
PROPAGATION OF THE IMPROVED P^ONY. 
Propagation hy Seeds. — The bed purposed to receive the seeds, should be prepared 
accordingly during the summer previous to sowing, (June to July) ; the seeds should be 
sown immediately after they are ripe, viz., as soon as the seed-vessel commences to open and 
to show its seeds from within. When sown immediately after, no vital power will be 
lost ; if, on the contrary, the seeds are dried previous to sowing, hardly one in a hundred 
will germinate, and often not even one. After sowing, the soil should be kept sufficiently 
moist, and the seeds, which are usually two together, should be covered with a hollow tile, 
which can be removed as soon as the young plants make their appearance in the next 
spring. When treated in this way, the seeds ought to germinate eight to nine out of 
ten, and those that remain dormant in spring, may still germinate the following autumn. 
Remarks. — Some cultivators crack the outer shells before sowing, by knocking them 
slightly with a wooden hammer ; the germination is also much facilitated by wetting in 
the two opposite parts of the skin, and by laying them to soak in water for several days. 
The young plants from seed should not be transplanted the same year, but remain 
untouched until the second year, which anticipates flowering. Ito Ifei also advises the 
seeds to be sown (immediately after they prove sufficiently ripe) in earthen pots to the 
depth of two-tenths of a foot, (6 centimetres), and not less ; for otherwise they do not 
germinate. During the spring, water should now and then be given, and during summer 
the young plants should be protected against the heat of the sun by straw mats ; towards 
the end of the 8th month (September), they are transplanted into the flower-garden, and 
in the third year, they begin to produce flowers. Should flowering for the first time 
commence several years later, the flowers will be all the finer and better, and the 
contrary will be the case when blooming begins earlier. 
The '-Japanese Encyclopedia" fixes the time of sowing equally as above stated, and 
sa3^s that the most magnificent flowers are generally raised from 
seeds. Their propagation may also be performed by way of grafting, 
the application of which, upon the improved sorts, has only since 
the beginning of the eighteenth century begun to be practised, and 
has not a little contributed to the general distribution, of the most 
brilliant and remarkable flowers. The Chinese have known this 
art for many centuries, for Soo Sung mentions it in his physical 
work, (1023—1063). 
First Method, (Propagation by ivay of Joining, " Tsugo "). — 
Cut with a sharp knife the stem of a single-flowering common 
Pseony, two-tenths of a foot (6 centimetres) above the surface of the 
ground, in the way as show^n by figure a. Take then a well-ripened 
branch of an improved sort, that should show three to five buds, 
and cut it in the way as shown by figure h. Unite afterwards the 
two parts as represented by figure c, and place two 
hollow tiles so as to form a pipe around the united 
spot, fasten the same by twisting a good length of mat 
around it, and fill the interior space between the ope- 
rated part and the tile with good garden soil ; in the 
next spring the tile-dressing may be removed and replaced by a piece of 
mat only.* 
* The Tree Pseonies received from Japan in 1845, at the Botanical Garden of Leyden, (see the "Annals 
of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Gardening in the Netherlands"), had, according to 
Mr. Schuurman Stekhoven, the Hortulanus' statement, generally been grafted in the way as represented 
by the adjoining figure. 
