138 



HORTICULTURE 



July 31, 1909 



AMERICAN PEONY SOCIETY. 



Report of Committee on Nomencla- 

 ture. 



It has been suggested that as one of 

 the committee on nomenclature, sent 

 by the American Peony Society to as- 

 sist in the work among the peonies at 

 the Cornell test plot this season, it 

 would be well for me to give an ac- 

 count through the columns of Horti- 

 culture, of the worli done and the con- 

 dition of the peonies in the plot as we 

 found them, for the benefit, not alone 

 of the members of the society, but 

 the large number of florists who are 

 more or less interested in peonies and 

 the work of the society. I am glad 

 to do this, especially in view of the 

 criticisms which have been made by 

 some members of the society, which 

 ■were voiced and made public in Presi- 

 dent Ward s letter, read to the society 

 at its last meeting at Queens, N. Y. 

 Mr. Ward, of course, has not seen the 

 plot for two years, and his impression 

 regarding the conditions at Cornell 

 has been formed from hearsay and 

 without being aware of the great im- 

 provement which has been brought 

 about during the last year. 



Unfavorable Conditions. 



It might be well for me to mention 

 the basis from which these criticisms 

 have arisen in order to make it more 

 clear that it was due to a few cir- 

 cumstances at the very beginning, 

 which, while unfortunate In delaying 

 the work, were unavoidable, and for 

 which no one could justly be blamed. 

 It must be admitted that the first re- 

 sults were disappointing, because the 

 peonies were unfortuately planted at a 

 location that was later on required 

 by the college authorities for other 

 purposes, making it necessary to move 

 them to another place. This gave the 

 plants a check from which they had 

 not recovered when the meeting was 

 held at Ithaca in 1907, and it was at 

 once seen that it would require another 

 year's growth before it would be possi- 

 ble to study the peonies properly. 

 Members who came expecting to see 

 a fine display of peonies in the field 

 were disappointed. The ground was a 

 very stiff heavy clay, which seemed 

 as if it might be too wet, and many 

 members expressed the opinion that 

 peonies would not thrive there unless 

 the field was thoroughly drained. This 

 opinion seemed verified when the fol- 

 lowing year, 19uS, after a cold wet 

 spring, the majority of the plants still 

 failed to show typical blooms. 



In spite of all, the meeting in 1907 

 tarned out to be a very interesting 

 one, and the members went home full 

 of enthusiasm and the conviction that 

 the work was well on its way to a 

 successful conclusion. We felt deeply 



indebted to the University for the 

 work it was doing for the society, to 

 Prof. Craig for his co-operation and 

 hospitality, and Dr. Coit for the 

 thorough manner in which he had 

 gathered together all of the known 

 peony literature and laid the founda- 

 tion for effective v/ork, including the 

 publication of the check-list, contain- 

 ing a list of all the names of the 

 peonies catalogued at the present day, 

 some 2700 in all, a large proportion of 

 which were represented by the plants 

 themselves in the test plot. 



It was suggested that a new plot be 

 planted, this time the object being to 

 form a collection of only the very 

 choicest varieties, each large grower 

 being invited to send from 100 to 150 

 of what be would consider the very 

 best varieties. This suggestion was 

 carried out, and the following fall col- 

 lections were sent in by a large number 

 of growers, the) new plantation being 

 placed along side of the old one, but 

 on ground lying a little higher. 



Some Disappointments. 



The meeting in 1908 turned out most 

 unfortunately for the welfare of the 

 society. President Ward was unable 

 to be present; Prof. Craig was in Eu- 

 rope dangerously ill; Dr. Coit had ac- 

 cepted a permanent position in Arizo- 

 na, and the work of the society was in 

 charge of Leon D. Batchelor who had 

 but recently taken charge having had 

 scarcely time to liecome thoroughly 

 conversant with the work in hand. 

 The result was depressing and dis- 

 couraging for the society, and the sit- 

 uation for Mr. Batchelor a most em- 

 bairassing one. 



The peonies in the original plot 

 again were not up to expectations, and 

 it is scarcely to be wondered at that 

 under the effect of so many depressing 

 circumstances some of the members 

 should become impatient and indulge 

 in open criticism. For it seemed to 

 many of us then that the University 

 had lost its interest and that there was 

 danger that the whole purpose of the 

 experiment would fail. 



Suggestions were made by some that 

 the peonies be moved to a more favora- 

 ble, location, and by others that the old 

 plot be abandoned and the work con- 

 centrated on the new plot. Fortunate- 

 ly neither of these suggestions was 

 carried out, it being decided that it 

 v/ould be unfair to the original donors 

 to fail to carry out the test along the 

 lines originally planned. 



A committee of three was appointed 

 — C. W. Ward, S. G. Harris and my- 

 self — to devise ways and means of im- 

 proving the conditions of the plot, and 

 to confer with the college authorities 

 on this subject. This committee met 

 in Mr. Ward's office in New York and 

 discussed the subject, with the result 

 that Mr. Brown of the Cottage Gardens 

 Co. acting for Mr. Ward, and myself 

 were to send a letter to Prof. Craig 

 after his return, conveying the sugges- 

 tions we had to offer. This letter, 

 however, was never sent, as in the 

 meantime through correspondence with 

 Mr. Batchelor we learned that prac- 

 tically everything it was our intention 

 to suggest was already being carried 

 out under the direction of Mr. Batche- 

 lor, the college authorities having given 

 him full charge and power to do every- 

 thing which in his judgment was re- 

 quired for the good of the peonies. 

 Provision had been made for drainage, 

 and over SO loads of manure hauled 

 on the plot. Any further action on our 

 part was deemed unnecessary. 



A Splendid Success This Year. 



This year the peonies made a splen- 

 did showing. They are strong and 

 healthy and with but few exceptions 

 are full of tyi)ical blooms, which gave 

 us a splendid opportunity to study 

 them and make comparison. What is 

 most surprising, the strongest plants 

 and finest blooms are in the portion of 

 the ^)lot that came in tor the greatest 

 amount of criticism, that is the very 

 lowest point in the field. Here some 

 of the very choicest varieties are found, 

 many of them from the collections re- 

 ceived from Europe. Avalanche, Al- 

 batre. Mile. Rosseau stood nearly 



Floral Decorations at Alaska-Yukon-Pacii'ic Exi-osition 



Sbowhig Bed of English Tufted Pausles (Viola eonnuta Hybrids) with Baokgroiiiul 



of Peouies. 



