404 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



solidest of them all — a system of blooms packed and pressed to- 

 gether; a fine keeper, so firm you could stone a dog with it. Lady 

 Alexander Dufif is supposed to be the finest paeony on earth. 

 It ought to be. Mine cost $5.00 a root, wholesale in England — 

 lovely, white, tall, robust and highly perfumed. 



Festiva Maxima has been propagated for thirty years, and 

 yet the demand is greater than ever, and the supply is always 

 exhausted. It is of immense size, often six inches in diameter, of 

 clear whiteness, fragrant and in the center drops of deepest red 

 sprinkled, which brings out the white in clear relief. The blooms 

 of this variety sell in Chicago for $2.00 per dozen, wholesale. 



As cut flowers the paeony has few rivals. Just as the buds 

 are opening they are cut with long stems which are placed in 

 water over night ; they are then shipped to their destination, 

 where they are kept in cold storage until needed. In England 

 and America there is a growing demand for these flowers for 

 weddings and funerals. When Mark Hanna's daughter was mar- 

 ried last summer the house was beautifully adorned with white 

 paeonies. 



The Time of Blooming. — Two years ago the first opened ]\Iay 

 5th, and I picked the last July 5th. Last year they were in bloom 

 six weeks, but it was an abnormal season. The last of April 

 when in full bud they were frozen solid for two days, then they 

 were pelted with three hailstorms. These flowers can be 

 forced in the spring, and by putting good sized roots in cold 

 storage till the first of June and planting out then, with cold 

 storage for late blossoms, you can easily have them three or 

 four months. I think as we get better acquainted with them 

 we can enjoy them for six months. 



I am astonished that the great bleak northwest are so reluc- 

 tant in planting these flowers, which are hardier than the pie- 

 plant. Most of the western planters send all they can raise east; 

 but few go to the west, where they are most needed. 



Raising these thoroughbred flowers is a delightful and profit- 

 able occupation for ladies, and many are engaging in the busi- 

 ness. With care you can raise 500 to 1,000 from one root in 

 ten years. They are far ahead of thoroughbred live stock. You 

 know where they are nights. They do not get into wire fences 

 and tear themselves up. If you raise chickens they may have the 

 cholera, or the chicken thief may get them. It costs nothing to 

 winter them. You sell the roots in spring or fall and the 

 blooms in summer. 



