June 17, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



87T 



lance, value commercially, and accu- 

 rate records taken of the colors as 

 compared with the color chart of the 

 French Chrvsanthemum Society which 

 has been adopted as the official color 

 chart o( the American Peony Society. 



A large number of names appearing 

 in the Cornell plot cannot be traced 

 to any authentic origin and are with- 

 out, doubt, in most instances, old 

 varieties, re-named. A still larger num- 

 ber were recognized as synonyms of 

 well-known varieties, such kinds as 

 Edulis Superba, Whitleyii, Frag- 

 rans, etc., appearing under as many 

 as 25 to 30 different names each. After 

 eliminating all of these synonyms 

 there are probably not more than four 

 or five hundred distinct varieties in 

 the Cornell plot, excluding Mr. Hol- 

 lis' collection of upwards of 100 seed- 

 lings which have been named, and a 

 collection of seedlings under number 

 from Goos & Koenemann. It will be 

 seen at once therefore how thoroughly 

 this committee has covered this field 

 with the upwards of 600 varieties that 

 have been described — more varieties in 

 fact than are actually to be found at 

 Cornell. This is accounted for from 

 the fact that many well-known, au- 

 thentic varieties were not included in 

 the Cornell planting, and the com- 

 mittee has supplanted its work at Cor- 

 nell by visits to other large collections 

 where these additional varieties could 

 be found. Among the places visited 

 by the committee in 1910 were the 

 Peonv fields at Wyomissing, Andorra, 

 Cottage Gardens, Geo. E. Hollis, T. C. 

 Thuriow's Sons and E. .1. Shaylor. 

 The few varieties still unidentified at 

 Cornell are mostly inferior sorts or 

 those of such obscure origin that 

 identification is practically impossible. 



The first collection at Cornell hav- 

 ing therefore served its purpose, steps 

 should be taken to bring this portion 

 of the test to a close and to dispose of 

 the plants, which according to the 

 original agreement, belong to the so- 

 ciety excepting three of each kind 

 which are to belong to the university 

 for a permanent planting of established 

 varieties. This has already been ac- 

 complished for a new planting of three 

 of all varieties described in the origi- 

 nal plot have been planted in a new 

 section, and represent the completed 

 work and at the same time the share 

 of the Peonies which are to belong to 

 Cornell. 



In addition to the original planting 

 there is another later one consisting 

 of a series of collections from a num- 

 ber of growers of their best varieties 

 for the purpose of determining by com- 

 parison the varieties best adapted for 

 commercial use and for landscape 

 work, and of compiling a list of 100 

 of the best varieties for these pur- 

 poses. According to agreement these 

 plants aie to be eventually returned 

 to their original owners. They have 

 reached full development, and from 

 them the committee has prepared a 

 tentative list of the 100 varieties to be 

 submitted to the society for discussion 

 and anproval. 



Under the circumstances it would 

 seem as if Ithaca would be the logical 

 place for the society to hold its next 

 business meeting, as by that time the 

 new lots will have reached perfection, 

 and members may then have an oppor- 

 tunity of seeing and judging the com- 

 pleted work of the committee. Whether 

 it would be advisable to hold a com- 



petitive exhibition there at the same 

 time or to depend for an exhibit on 

 the flowers from the Cornell plots, is a 

 matter to be considered. A suggestion 

 has been made that it might be well 

 to exhibit in several places next year, 

 selecting points east, west, north and 

 south so that all members might have 

 an opportunity to exhibit at a point 

 easily accessible and within their lati- 

 tude. 



Our experience in Philadelphia this 

 year shows the futility af attempting 

 to arrange a date to accommodate a 

 latitude different from that in which 

 the exhibit is to be held, emphasizing 

 the tact that the show should be held 

 as far as possible to give the best ac- 

 commodation to the local competitors 

 upon which the exhibit must depend 

 for its best display. The unforeseen and 

 unprecedented weather conditions are 

 largely at fault this year, but the fact 

 remains that the season for our local 

 growers is so nearly over that it is 

 difficult for them to show any but their 

 latest varieties. That we are able to 

 have so good a display is due to the 

 energy and enthusiasm of exhibitors 

 from a distance to whom we are great- 

 ly indebted for their contribution to 

 the success of this exhibition. 



Regarding the future work of the 

 society much remains to be accom- 

 plished. There are still many varieties 

 that are well known and in commerce 

 especially among the later introduc- 

 tions that it is desirable to add to 

 our official list. The committee is still 

 engaged in this work which must be 

 done by individual effort in the vari- 

 ous collections. This work is compara- 

 tively easy, being merely to have the 

 opportunity of seeing and describing 

 these remaining varieties which, being 

 of later origin are not difficult to iden- 

 tify, and we are assisted in the re- 

 maining part of the work by the long 

 list of varieties we now have which 

 serve as a key for comparison and 

 make the remaining work compara- 

 tively easy. 



The next great work which the socie- 

 ty, in my opinion, should bend its ef- 

 forts toward is the publishing of a Pe- 

 ony manual which should be the final 

 revision of all the work heretofore ac- 

 complished, and which should stand as 

 the official manual or catalog of the 

 American Peony Society. The pub- 

 lishing of this work should, in my 

 opinion, be done by the society, and 

 when completed can be made a valu- 

 able work that will find a ready sale, 

 which will eventually repay the cost of 

 publication. The cost of such a work 

 will be considerable, and should not 

 be undertaken until the present work 

 has withstood the test of criticism and 

 all corrections made that are possible, 

 and until the finances of the society 

 are in a condition to carry out the 

 project. 



It was with some such thought in 

 mind that a number of the members 

 in going over the matter, volunteered 

 to make contributions toward the pre- 

 mium list this year which would save 

 to some extent the depletion of the 

 treasury of the society, that has neces- 

 sarily followed each year the offering 

 of a long premium list by the society, 

 and which had to be made up from the 

 small income derived from the annual 

 dues of its few members. When this 

 matter was mentioned to others a very 

 generous response was made, and the 

 society has reason to feel grateful to 



those who have so generously assisted 

 in raising the premium fund this year, 

 as by so doing they have helped in a 

 great way toward the fulfilment of the 

 ultimate end in view. 



Report of the Secretary, 1911. 



The present membership of the so- 

 ciety is sixty-two, not including five 

 honorary members. 



Once more we are called upon to 

 record the death of a charter member, 

 George Hollis, of South Weymouth, 

 Mass. He had been in feeble healthi 

 during the past year, his death occur- 

 ring in April. He was a quiet, genial 

 gentleman, a great lover of flowers, 

 and had for many years made a 

 specialty of the peony, raising many- 

 seedlings, a number of which, when^ 

 better known, will rank among the 

 most choice varieties. One of his 

 latest productions was the variety 

 "Loveliness", and it is all its name im- 

 plies. In his death the society loses a 

 member whose interest in the peony 

 was not due to mercenary or entirely 

 to commercial motives, but rather to. 

 a true love for the flower and a wish 

 to make its beauties more widely ap- 

 preciated. 



It is gratifying to note the increased- 

 interest that is being taken by the 

 amateurs in our society, as is In- 

 dicated by their applications for mem- 

 bership, and it behooves the commer- 

 cial element among our members to 

 take cognizance of this fact, for it is 

 largely upon the amateur that the 

 dealer in ' peonies must depend in 

 future for his best trade. This is one 

 of the factors which should be taken 

 into consideration in the framing of 

 the future policy of the society. The 

 utmost encouragement possible shouldi 

 be extended to the man who grows, 

 the peony from a pure love for the- 

 flower and admiration of its many 

 varieties; the man who makes them- 

 his hobby, as distinguished from the 

 man who grows them because some 

 particular variety in quantity makes a 

 big mass of color in some particular 

 spot in his garden. 



The exhibition last June, in connec- 

 tion with the Boston meeting, was a 

 very creditable one, considering the 

 peculiarities of the season. There 

 were several large and fine displays 

 by growers about Boston, but all the 

 competition for the prizes was by grow- 

 ers outside of the state. 



A. H. FEWKES, Secretary. 



Report of Committee on Nomencla- 

 ture. 



The peony plantation is now almost 

 in full bloom; although it was two 

 weeks late at the middle of April, it is 

 now ten days ahead of time, owing 

 to the excessively dry and hot wea- 

 ther, which visited this region in com- 

 mon with the whole northeastern^ 

 country during the latter part of may. 

 I may add that, the result of last year's 

 studies made by Mr. Farr, Mr. Dauphin 

 and Mr. Batchelor, have been com- 

 piled by Mr. Batchelor, and are now 

 ready for the printer. Our printing 

 establishment is rather congested at 

 the present time with the bulletin- 

 matter from various departments, and 

 it will be quite impossible to get the 

 bulletin out to be of any service the 

 present season. The reprint of Bul- 

 letin 278, made possible by the gener- 

 osity of a peony lover and enthusiast 

 of New York, is now available for dis- 



