32 CULTIVATION 
Disbudding and pinching back is a part of cultiva- 
tion. Larger and better flowers are produced, by the 
one, and stockier plants with an increased number of 
bloom bearing branches, by the other practice. Pinch- 
ing back comes first in time. Pompons are naturally 
dwarf growing, and bushy, and do not need it. The 
peony type, mostly, also grow bushy, and need not be 
pinched back, unless one desires very low-growing 
plants. But the other types, decoratives, cactus, single, 
are improved by pinching back, unless they are designed 
for tall, mass effects, in ornamental designs, when they 
are very effective carefully staked, along borders, or in 
group planting here and there, against suitable back- 
grounds. 
If you have many plants, and the location is a 
windy one, the considerable labor of staking and tying 
up can be avoided by forcing the plant to branch below 
ground. The increased branches in such case are like 
so many additional stems, bracing the plant, anchoring 
it to the soil, and rendering it almost proof against any 
storm of wind and rain. To accomplish this, when 
planting your tubers (six inches deep, of course), cover 
with not more than three inches of soil. When two, or 
if you wish, three sets of leaves have formed, pinch out 
the terminal leaf bud, and as the plant grows fill in the 
hole or furrow. The lowest branches will be joined to 
the central stem underground. 
