110 
HISTORY OF THE PiEONY PLANT IN CHINA AND JAPAN. 
a place situated towards the south should be chosen for the bed, such that a covering may 
conveniently he constructed to protect the plants against the heat of a burning sun, from 
which they soon suffer.* * * § The bed, when made three to four feet broad, will allow sufficient 
space to plant two rows of middling-sized plants. Should the plants, however, be of extra 
large size, the bed must, of course, be made accordingly.! 
The bed should be made half-a-foot elevated above the surrounding path, which is a 
rule of the greatest importance, particularly so in badly drained places ; (in very wet places, 
Ito Ifei 1 advises the bed to be made at an elevation of one foot). Around the bed a 
low frame of small bricks must be constructed to fasten the covering upon, which might 
also be made of wood, but for that purpose chestnut wood should be avoided. From a bed 
after the above description, the old soil should be dug out, and again filled with a mixture 
of black peat, w T ell-rotten leaf-mould, and common garden soil, in equal proportions, which 
should be sifted and thoroughly mixed through. When afterwards the plants are trans- 
planted, a fifth part of ashes from burned straw should be added thereto. A mixture 
consisting of soil dug from the surface of an orchard, sand, and common garden mould is 
also considered to make a good compost. 
The Planting and Transplanting. — The improved Paeony should be often (once a 
year) transplanted, for if this be neglected, in the sixth or seventh season a stoppage 
of bloom will be inevitable. (It will easily be observed that the word “ planting,” 
made use of here, means what w 7 e should call, “ changing the soil.”) The time preferred 
for transplanting them, is the last day previous to the autumnal equinox, or the day 
following. Should the weather, however, prove hot, it may be done a few days later. In 
transplanting, the old soil should entirely be removed, and the new soil (which should 
previously be prepared for the purpose) should be applied. The Japanese peasantry give 
to such performance the name of tsoetsi-gari , “ change of soil.” Particular care should be 
taken not to injure in any way the young and tender fibres ; and, after planting, the soil 
should not be pressed down with the feet, as practised with other plants, but should be 
left quite loose around the plants. 
About the annual transplanting of the improved Paeony, known by the name of 
Botanno newake, “ division of the roots,” we find in the “Japanese Encyclopedia,” tom. 93, 
p. 6, and also in the “ Japanese Imperial Almanac,” “ Gwats rei fak huts zen ,” 
publication of 1804, tom. 8, p. 39, stated that this performance belongs to the 
operations of the 8th month (September). § This prescript is as follows : — Take a 
quantity of river-bog, which, after being dried, should be thoroughly sifted, together with 
a quantity of old garden-soil and silver-sand, in equal proportions. In the 8th to the 
10th month (7th Sept, to 6th Nov.), after the plant has formed its red buds, it should be 
planted in the above-described mixture ; the use of animal matter as manure has proved 
to be injurious. In winter-time a quantity of rape-seeds, from which the oil has been 
pressed out, may be deposited about the roots ; also a sprinkling with water in which 
fresh sweet-water fish has been washed, is considered beneficial to its growth. The Aki 
botan, or improved Autumnal Paeonies, are (as stated in the above-named “Almanac,” 
tom. iv., p. 30, planted or transplanted during the 4th month (May), and are watered 
every night, as are also the following plants, viz.: — 
Acorus gramineus. Jap. Seki sjo bu. 
Eryobotrya japonica, Sieb. et Zucc. Jap. Biwa. 
Begonia grandis, Ougaud. Jap. Sin kai do. 
Olea fragrans. Jap. Katsura. 
And the different sorts of Acer, Karede, and of Chrysanthemum Indicum, Kikr. 
Ito Ifei || advises the Pseony-growers at Jeddo to manure with a mixture of black and 
red soil in equal portions, with a little sand. He states that, in transplanting, every 
* This statement taken from a Chinese work, “ Hicapoo,” is also found in the “ Japanese Encyclopedia.” 
t “ Kwa dan dai zen,” or “ Treatise upon the Cultivation of Flowers,” by the florist Kwakiuken Sjuzin Miyako, 
1756 , publication of 1768 . 
% A description of the Japanese ornamental plants and their cultivation, entitled “ Tsi kin sed,” or the “ Earth’s 
Attire,” illustrated by Ito Ifei, Hortulanus at Jeddo, published in 1710—1719, 20 volumes in 12mo, tom. vi., p. 10 . 
§ The day of Autumnal Equinox is a rest and holiday in Japan. || In the work before referred to. 
