916 



HORTICULTURE 



June 18, 1910 



AMERICAN PEONY SOCIETY 



Annual Meeting. 



The annual meeting of the American 

 Peony Society was held in the Trus- 

 tees' Room, at Horticultural Hall, 

 Boston, at 3 P. M., on June 14. Presi- 

 dent B. H. Farr opened the meeting 

 with a few words of greeting and Sec- 

 retary Fewkes followed with his re- 

 port and that of the nomenclature 

 committee by Pres. P'arr. The offlcers 

 of the present year were all re-elected 

 to serve for another term and it was 

 voted to meet next year at Phila- 

 delphia. 



(The President's Address and report of 

 nomencl.iture committee .ne in type and 

 will appear sliortiy. — Ed.) 



Secretary's Report. 



The present membership of the So- 

 ciety includes fifty-two active and five 

 honorary members. During the year 

 we have lost one member by death, 

 Thomas C. Thurlow of West Newbury, 

 Mass., who passed away July 2, 1909. 

 He was a charter member of the So- 

 ciety, taking great interest in all that 

 pertained to it, and was one of the first 

 to make a specialty of the peony in 

 this country. In his death the Society 

 has lost a valuable member and those 

 of us who were privileged to know 

 him intimately have lost an esteemed 

 friend. Since the organization of the 

 Society in 1903, we have lost by death 

 three members and by withdrawals 

 and those who have dropped out, 

 twelve. 



Starting with a mere handful of 

 signers in 1902, the membership had 

 increased to thirty-six during the year 

 of organization, and notwithstanding 

 these losses, has steadily grown to its 

 present numbers. It is very encourag- 

 ing to note that at least two of the 

 members who dropped out have this 

 year reinstated themselves, showing 

 that the work accomplished by the 

 Society has a substantial value; and 

 that although they have been a long 

 time in maturing the fruits of our 

 labors are beginning to be available 

 and all honor is due to those who have 

 stood by and made it possible to ac- 

 complish these results. The way has 

 not been altogether a smooth one and 

 many obstacles have presented them- 

 selves, the most embarrassing of which 

 has been the comparative smallness of 

 our membership, which has necessarily 

 limited our available funds, both for 

 carrying on the nomenclature work and 

 the payment pf prize money to suc- 

 cessful exhibitors. 



The original membership was very 

 largely composed of commercial men 

 and included the greater part of the 

 large dealers of the country. The num- 

 ber of these latter must necessarily be 

 limited, and it is to the amateur class 

 that we must look for future members 

 and to which the commercial men must 

 look for his most profitable business. 

 The field is a large one and every 

 member should feel it incumbent upon 

 himself to use what influence he may 

 have with such of these as he may 

 come in contact with to interi>st them 

 in our work and secure them as mem- 

 bers. The circular sent out a short 

 time ago was a move in this direction 

 and was intended to help present the 

 matter to the public. From the incep- 

 tion of our Society the interest has 

 centered almost entirely upon the her- 



baceous class of peonies— particularly 

 the albiflora varieties. This in itself 

 is not surprising as this class is by 

 far the most common and easiest of 

 cultivation, but the time must come 

 when more thought will be given to 

 the Moutan class, or tree peonies. In 

 them we find an entirely different 

 range of color, many of them being ex- 

 quisitely beautiful in shade and texture. 

 Preceding in their time of flowering 

 as they do, the albiflora class, they 

 widen the peony season very material- 

 ly and add a peculiar charm to the 

 garden. Undoubtedly the great reason 

 for their scarcity is the impression 

 which has gone forth that they are 

 very difficult to cultivate. It is true 

 they are slow in coming to perfection 

 and that grafting must be resorted to 

 to perpetuate the varieties, but where 

 love and skill are bestowed upon them 

 these difliculties fade away and the 

 reward is a ravishing display of beauty 

 that will repay all the time and care 



B II. Farr 

 President Anieiioan Peony Society. 



given them. Without doubt many will 

 take exception to these statements, but 

 in reply to them I would say, that to 

 be convinced that what I have said is 

 true they should visit the gardens of 

 Prof. C. S. Sargent at Brookline, Mass., 

 and see what can be done with the 

 Moutan when its culture Is made a 

 specialty as it has been done there 

 under the management of Mr. Charles 

 Sander. 



The exhibition in connection with 

 the meeting at Queens last June was 

 a fairly good one, and did much credit 

 to the exhibitors who, though few in 

 number, staged a large quantity of fine 

 flowers. B. H. Farr, Geo. H. Peterson, 

 S. G. Harris, T. A. Havemeyer and 

 John Lewis Childs were the exhibitors. 



Although the exhibition of cut blooms 

 was a good one, the display in the 

 fields proved the greater attraction, 

 for it is seldom that such a magnifi- 

 cent display of flowers is to be seen. 

 They were growing on perfectly level 

 land in one immense block of about 

 seven acres with rows five hundred 



feet in length and offering an unusual 

 opportunity for studying the individual 

 characteristics of the varieties as well 

 as the color effects in masses. The 

 visiting members and friends feel deep- 

 ly indebted to the Cottage Gardens Co. 

 for the many courtesies shown them 

 during the two days of the meeting, 

 which was marred only by the un- 

 avoidable absence of Mr. Ward, our 

 ex-president, and head of the Cottage 

 Gardens establishment. 



The Exhibition. 



The exnibitiou in connection with 

 that of the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society comfortably filled the 

 two large halls in Horticultural Build- 

 ing, the larger half of the show, how- 

 ever, being contributed by R. & J. 

 li'aiquhar & Co., who had thousands 

 of peonies effectively arranged, besides 

 a miniature forest of foxgloves and 

 other showy things. Outside of the 

 Massachusetts displays, the only ex- 

 hibits were from points in New York, 

 Pennsylvania and New Jersey. E. J. 

 Shaylor's group of peonies was excel- 

 lent but not in competition. Taken 

 all together the show was a splendid 

 one in quantity and variety but the 

 weather had interfered with the qual- 

 ity of the blooms which was not up to 

 that of former exhibitions in this hall. 



Following is the list of awards by 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety. 



Herbaceous Peonies. — Collection of tliirty 

 or more varieties, double, one flower of 

 each: 1st, Mrs. James McKissock; 2nd, 

 T. C. Thurlow's Sons Co. Collection of 

 twelve named varieties, double, three 

 flowers of each: 1st, G. H. Peterson; 2nd, 

 Wm. Whitman; 3rd, Mrs. J. L. Gardner. 

 .Specimen bloom: U. H. Peterson, Mme. 

 de Galhan. Vase of blooms on long stems, 

 arranged for eBfect in the society's large 

 China vases; 2nd, Mrs. J. L. Gardner. 

 Collection of six named double varieties, 

 white, one flower of each: 3rd, T. C. 

 Thurlow's Sons Co. Rose pink: 2nd, T. 

 C. Thurlow's Sons Co. Red or Crimson: 

 2i,d. T. C. Thurlow's Sons Co. Vase of 

 twenty-flve blooms, double, white or blush: 

 l.st, S. G. Harris; 2nd, Mrs. B. M. Gill; 

 3id, B. H. Farr. Vase of twenty-flve 

 blooms, piuU or rose: 1st, G. H. Peter- 

 son; 2ud, ditto; 3rd, Wm. Whitman. Vase 

 of twenty-flve blooms, red or crimson: 1st, 

 H. H. Peterson; 2ud, ditto; 3rd, T. C. 

 Thurlow's Sons Co. Vase of twenty-flve 

 lilooms. any other color: 1st, T. C. Thur- 

 low's Sons Co.; 2nd, Wm. Whitman. Col- 

 lection of twelve named varieties, double, 

 one flower of each, for non-commercial 

 ^irowers only: 1st, Wm. Whitman; 2nd, 

 T. A. Havemeyer, gardener A. Lahodny; 

 .'ird, Mrs. J. L. Gardner. Best display of 

 l)eonics. arranged for decorative effect, to 

 occupy a space not exceeding 100 sq. ft.: 

 1st, K. & .1. Farquhar & Co. 



Gratuities.— T. C. Thurlow's Sons Co., 

 display of single peonies; Wm. Whitman, 

 display of foxgloves, iris and peonies; 

 Mrs. K. M. Gill, display of roses and 

 peonies: Mrs. Frederick Ayer, Begonia 

 Rex; Eastern Nurseries, display of herba- 

 ceous flowers; Blue Hill Nurseries, display 

 of pyrethrums. 



Silver Medals. — Mrs. Frederick Ayer, 

 'lisplay of fuchsias: R. & J. Farquhar & 

 Co.. display of poenies and foxgloves; 

 Walter Ilunuewell, display of rhododen- 

 dron blooms. 40 varieties; E. J. Shaylor, 

 *ii-<piay of peonies. 



Vote of Thanks. — Old Town Nurseries, 

 iris Snow Queen; Joseph S. Chase, seed- 

 ling peony. 



ENGELMANN BOTANICAL CLUB. 



The Engelmann Botanical Club held 

 an important meeting on June 13 at 

 the Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. 

 Louis. The feature of the meeting was 

 a paper by Dr. H. Von Schrenk, chair- 

 man of the .Missouri Forestry Commis- 

 ■sirm on Forestry in Missouri. 



