326 
THE WILD P^EONIA. 
man, unused to tippling, has been totally ruined 
by bis leisure hours ; and it is mueb to be 
regretted tbat tbere are no means of profitably 
employing tbe interval between business and 
bed time. If a man has his garden, he blends 
amusement with labour, and profit with both. 
Gardening teaches forethought, because all 
the operations are performed with a view to 
the future. VTe sow because we desire to 
reap. We plan all our affairs with regard to 
some ulterior, not a present result ; and this 
gives us a habit of thinking and of calculation. 
A piece of ground is no sooner cleared of its 
crop than we begin to consider what is the 
best thing to occupy it with, and how soon it 
will be vacant again. Gardening exalts the 
mind ; of this fact there can be no doubt. 
Every leaf and flower proclaims the wisdom 
and goodness of the Almighty. The man 
who can watch the progress of vegetation, 
and the effects of the seasons,without being im- 
pressed with a proper notion of his Maker's 
bounty, must be insensible to everything. 
Gardening invigorates the frame. There is 
hardly an exercise so healthful ; the whole 
body is in motion in the different operations. 
The digging, hoeing, and weeding, keep all 
the muscles in play ; and it is admitted by all, 
that the smell of the newly turned earth is 
congenial to health ; a fact proved also by the 
longevity and hearty lives of the agricultural 
labourers. The man who loves his garden, 
wants no other amusement, and instead of 
wasting his substance in the very natural 
pursuit of occupation for his mind among 
companions similarly situated, he finds every 
shilling in his pocket, and the economy of his 
household greatly assisted by the crops in his 
garden ; independently of which, there is 
downright enjoyment, in every sense of the 
word, from the time the ground is dug to the 
period of reaping the fruit. The Clergy have 
seen this, and are, therefore, warm patrons 
of the science. They have seen, with great 
satisfaction, that to give a man a garden is to 
give him profitable occupation for his leisure 
hours, and keep him out of mischief; and 
they have always been foremost in the pro- 
motion of Horticultural Societies and allot- 
ments of land to the poor. It is gratifying 
to see the change that has been made in 
whole town? and villages by the establishment 
of Horticultural Societies and the encourage- 
ment of cottage gardening. It is almost in- 
credible to witness the improvement that a 
few allotments have made, and it is much to 
be regretted that there are not means taken 
to increase the number of gardens — for there 
are very few things contribute so much to the 
changing of idlers and drunkards into useful 
members of society, as the means they afford 
-of profitably engaging their leisure time. 
THE WILD PJEONIA. 
Tite character of the genus Poeonia is as 
follows : — Calyx of five persistent sepals. 
Petals five or more, nearly orbicular. Disk 
fleshy, surrounding the ovaries. Carpels 
(follicles) two to five, one-celled, many-seeded, 
bursting inn-arch, crowned with the bilaminated 
stigmas. Roots fascicled. Cauline leaves, 
twice ternate. Flowers large. One species 
is met with naturalized in this country. 
Paotiia ccyralllna. 
P. corallina, Retzius (entire-leaved Paeony). 
Radical leaves, twice ternate ; leaflets ovate, 
entire, glaucous beneath, capsules downy, re- 
curved from the base. A herbaceous peren- 
nial, growing two feet high, with fleshy fibrous 
roots, erect stems, and solitary terminal 
flowers, about four inches across, of a beauti- 
ful crimson colour, with yellow anthers ; the 
petals are roundish-oblong, and concave ; the 
follicles, or seed-vessels, are of a coriaceous 
texture. Flowers in May and June. Found 
on the rocky cliffs of the Steep Holmes in the 
Severn, but probably naturalized. 
The Pasony is a well-known showy, even 
magnificent border flower ; but the wild sorts 
are much eclipsed by the handsome cultivated 
varieties which are numerous in our gardens. 
Even the single ones are showy, but the 
double varieties are really gorgeous; and they 
are numerous, and of many different colours, 
from white to deep rose, through various 
shades of pink and red. A yellow-flowered 
single species has been recently introduced, 
but is yet very rare. The Greeks thought 
it to be a flower of divine origin, and to have 
emanated from the moon, and that it shone 
during the night: they believed also that it 
had the power of averting tempests, and pro- 
tecting their harvests from injury, driving 
