July 31, 1909 



HORTICULTURE 



139 



shoulder high, with immense blooms, 

 which were a revelation to me. Great 

 clumps of full double Martin Cahuzac, 

 varieties which in our nurseries are 

 never allowed to stand long enough to 

 show us what they really are; the 

 Lady Alexander Duff, sent by Thurlow, 

 with its immense white blooms was 

 particularly noticeable; all growing in 

 the ground condemned the year before 

 as being absolutely unfit to gi-ow peo- 

 nies in. 



Another point which I took particu- 

 lar notice of was the fact that the 

 colors of most of the varieties were 

 especially strong and distinct, all of 

 which goes to show that while it takes 

 peonies longer to establish themselves 

 in the heavy clay, the strong soil pro- 

 duces excellent results when they are 

 finally underway. My only regret was 

 that the other members of the society 

 could not have seen them this year in- 

 stead of last. 



I wrote to Mr. Joseph Dauphin ask- 

 ing him if he had any suggestions re- 

 garding this report. I can not resist 

 quoting the following from his letter 

 in reply, dated July 16: "I have no 

 suggestions to make, as I think what- 

 ever you say on the subject will be the 

 same that I would say. For the gen- 

 eral appearance of the plants, either as 

 a whole or individually, I had no kick 

 coming. The plants were strong and 

 healthy, and flowers in as good shape 

 and size as could be. Very few weeds, 

 and the ground had been well culti- 

 vated. I am pretty well satisfied with 

 the looks of the plot this year. I 

 know the difference between that clay 

 soil and our sandy loam at Long 

 Island. They may on their lot some- 

 times be unable to cultivate or weed 

 out. Just on account of the weather. 

 Not taking account of the mixture of 

 varieties which was done by everybody 

 I say the lot is 0. K. And, moreover, 

 I believe Mr. Batchelor is doing his 

 very best in the case and I am sure 

 will keep up. 



"As regards drainage, what do they 

 want to drain, pocket book or lot? 

 Neither needs it, I think. There Is, it 

 is true, a low corner in the plot, where 

 Goos & Koenemann's plants are but 

 they seem to enjoy the spot. I wish 

 you would in your report emphasize 

 the pains Mr. Batchelor is taking in 

 this work. My way of looking at the 

 whole situation is not of censuring any 

 one, but just the other thing — congrat- 

 ulations for the work done." 



What iVIr. Batchelor Has Done. 



When we arrived we found Mir. 

 Batchelor among the peonies with two 

 competent assistants who were aiding 

 him in tabulating descriptions of the 

 varieties in bloom. A tent had been 

 erected, and everything necessary for 

 carrying on the work was right on the 

 ground. 



There are 1,933 numbers in the origi- 

 nal plot, and to go over each of these 

 one by one seemed like a hopeless task. 

 The mix-up of varieties and names is 

 appalling. I don't believe the mem- 

 bers of the society begin to realize how 

 bad it is; I am sure I did not. But 

 there they were side by side all in 

 bloom. And by the evidence we were 

 all guilty. It is impossible to go into 

 details, but here are a few illusira- 

 tions; Edulis Superba appears under 24 

 different names, and I don't know how 

 many got away. Nearly all the I'Esper- 



Bedding Eosk Clio 



in New Rose Garden in Minueapolis Park. 



ence sent by American growers is Edu- 

 lis Superba. The European growers 

 sent the correct one, a fleshy white 

 minutely powdered with lilac. Duchess 

 de Nemours (Guerin), in every case 

 proved to be Edulis Superba. Modesta 

 Guerin and Rosea Superba proved to 

 be the same; while Gen. Bertrand in 

 many cases appeared under the name 

 of Modesta Guerin. 



Probably Queen Victoria or Whit- 

 leyii could lay claim to the greatest 

 variety of names, unleSs perhaps among 

 the reds with stamens, where the 

 greatest confusion exists, Delachii, 

 Pulgida, Louis Van Houtte and others 

 being badly mixed. Lady Bramwell, 

 long catalogued as a Kelway introduc- 

 tion, proves to be in every case iden- 

 tical with the old French variety. Dr. 

 Bretonneau (Verdier), and so on. 



The check list with its 2,700 names 

 staggers one. But at the above rate, 

 I believe it can be reduced to one-fifth 

 that number by the process of elimina- 

 tion. 



Naturally this thought will arise in 

 the minds of many. How can the com- 

 mittee be sure they are able to say 

 which is the correct variety among 

 such confusion? At first it seemed im- 

 passible. But on getting down to work, 

 stiange to say, the very contusion in 

 many cases brought about the natural 

 solution of the problens. The positive 

 identification of a variety in one place 

 solved the question in a host of others, 

 and as we advanced through the plot 

 the work became clearer and clearer, 

 from the simple fact of having all the 

 evidence gathered together before our 

 eyes. 



It was a master-stroke on the part 

 of Mr. Ward when he induced the most 

 reliable European growers to send 

 their collections over here. We have 

 Dessert's complete collection, in addi- 

 tion to that of Croux, and Paillet of 

 France, Goos & Koenemanu, Germany, 



Barr & Sons of London, and DeGraaff 

 Bros, of Holland, this last collection 

 being obtained through the efforts of 

 Prof. Craig. These collections have 

 proved to be a wonderful help in this 

 work, without which I am convinced 

 it would have been impossible for us 

 to make much headway. 



The Work Ahead. 



The work naturally resolved itself 

 into three parts: First, varieties 

 which can be identified without much 

 ditficulty and which we were able to 

 pass upon as being correct without 

 much doubt; second, those varieties 

 which for various reasons will require 

 more study or regarding which we had 

 no data to work upon; third, varieties 

 with nam.es of uncertain origin, that 

 probably it will never be possible to 

 identify, and which are of such doubt- 

 ful value as not to be worth the time 

 and effort necessary to establish their 

 Identification, even if it were possible. 



Of the first group Mr. Batchelor 

 writes that he thinks the list will num- 

 ber 275 varieties, descriptions of which 

 will be published by the college during 

 the coming winter. It is the intention 

 to start a new' plot wherein three plants 

 of each of these 275 varieties will be 

 planted to serve as a basis of compari- 

 son for future work and to show the 

 members of the society the true variety 

 so far as the committee is able to 

 judge, subject to the correction of any 

 errors which may be discovered before 

 the official catalog is finished and per- 

 manently published. 



The third class will be eliminated 

 fiom further consideration, except as 

 identification follows in the natural 

 iJi ogress of the work, leaving only the 

 viirieties in the second class upon 

 which the work of the committee will 

 be concentrated next year. 



Prof. Craig says that the University 



