92 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Early in the spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground we 

 rake off all of the mulch carefully, and then we got over the ground 

 and cultivate it with a five or seven-shovel cultivator. We loosen up 

 the soil about the plants with a spading fork. That is all that is neces- 

 sary to do to them until they begin to flower. Then we dis-bud them 

 just as we would a chrysanthemum or a carnation, and after that we 

 start cutting the early varieties, usually about the 15th of May. 



The first ones we usually use for educating our trade, by dihplaying 

 them in our windows, and giving them to the plant customers to get 

 them into the notion that it is peony time. I work on that theory with 

 chrysanthemum time, carnation time, etc. It is a pretty good proposi- 

 tion to keep that to yourselves, I would not say this out in public. 



We now sell quite a lot of peonies and make a nice thing out of it, 

 before and even after Decoration Day. The lodges and fraternal or- 

 ganizations will have their memorial days, and generally they use a big 

 bunch of such flowers. As soon as the first petal uncurls or breaks 

 away from the bud, we cut them a dozen in a bunch in the field, and tie 

 them, keeping the buds even, and then take them into the house, and 

 wrap an open newspaper right over the tops and put them into water. 

 Now you can put them in jars or vases or anything that you please, and 

 keep them in the cellar, without any cold storage, for ten days, and 

 When you take them out they will be just in the form of a long pointed 

 rose bud. Within a very few hours after you take them out, they are 

 wide open, and it is wonderful to see the way they will open out after 

 they have been in storage for three or four days in that way. In hand- 

 ling them that way we lose very few, if any. In fact we do not lose 

 any, because we did not sell directly, we used for advertising purposes. 

 If a customer comes into the greenhouse and buys a bunch of flowers, or 

 looks like he were going to buy later on, we give him a bunch of flowers. 

 We have always found it is a legitimate advertisement. I would much 

 rather distribute them, and let somebody have the pleasure of them, 

 than to throw them away later on. 



I do not know of anything I can tell you about any further in this 

 line unless there are some questions. - 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Brown: How deep do you put them in the ground? 



Mr. Green: I should say two or three inches below the ground. 



Mr. Yager: I would like to ask how you keep your peonies from 

 freezing back. Ours do and we are only half a mile away 

 from you. We begin to count our blossoms, and then there 

 comes one of these late freezes, and we go oiit and find our crop more 

 or less frozen, and some of the early blooming varieties are very much 

 harmed, and I want to know what you do. 



Mr. Green: Did you ever notice that you would find one variety 

 all killed, and about ten feet away from that you will find another variety 

 that was not hurt? 



