THE-THEE PCEONY. 
127 
any danger of breaking the branch, and then perhaps it will be 
still better to pass the head of the layer up through the bottom 
of the pot, which will entirely remove any risk, and the mould 
may be filled in exactly to the required height; some little atten¬ 
tion to keep them moderately supplied with water will ensure 
good-rooted plants, fit for removal by the following August. The 
young plants supplied by both processes will then require the 
same treatment; let them be carefully lifted without injury to the 
young fibres, and pot them into a mixture of sandy peat and loam, 
using pots of ample size, according to the strength of the plants. 
A cold pit should receive them through the first winter, and the 
strongest may be expected to bloom in the following spring. If 
they are intended for pot culture, it will be advisable to repot 
them in March, using a rather larger proportion of loam in the 
compost than before, and stationing them in an open airy part 
of the garden that they may grow vigorously, and be ready for use 
in the ensuing season. 
When they are required only to embellish the flower-garden, it 
will be sufficient to keep them in the same pots, and in the winter, 
if pit-room is scarce, they may be laid on their sides, and covered 
with litter to protect them from severe frosts ; then as they are 
wanted or become large enough, they may be transferred to their re¬ 
spective places. These poeonies make a fine appearance when 
grouped together in a bed, and it is the most desirable way of 
growing them, because the requisite mould may be provided and 
kept in a fit state, and the plants protected in winter with far less 
trouble than when standing singly. The bed should be formed 
of an equal mixture of peat, loam, and rotten dung, and the plants 
placed about a yard from each other, which will allow them suffi¬ 
cient space to become fine specimens, and yet fill the ground 
fully, avoiding either a crowded or mean half-dressed appearance. 
On the approach of severe weather it will then be easy to form a 
framework of stakes, and to cover the whole with double mats, 
which will prove sufficient protection in all ordinary seasons, and 
with only an occasional thinning of the superfluous branches, 
the plants will speedily become extended over their allotted space 
and amply filled with blossom. 
When grown in pots they are chiefly used for forcing into 
flower at an early part of the spring, and for this purpose esta- 
