The N. E. Minn. Horticultural Society gave an exhibition of peonies in 

 Duluth, Minn., July 17th and 18th, that was a pronounced success in every 

 way. Many fine flowers were shown and deep interest manifested. A beau- 

 tiful silver cup, donated by the Duluth Commercial Club, for the best exhi- 

 bition of peonies, was awarded to Judge F. H. Cutting. A great deal of the 

 success of the show was due to the untiring efforts of their president, Oliver 

 S. Andresen, and the secretary, V. D. Vincent, who were ably assisted by 

 Mrs. H. Nesbitt and Mrs. E. L. Kimball. The interest and enthusiasm 

 manifested seemed to be shared by all. They are planning a still better exhi- 

 bition next year. 



Make frequent examinations of your peony clumps and should you 

 detect any stalks wilting or dead, examine carefully for the cause. Remove 

 any dead stalks that you may find, together with the soil directly surround- 

 ing the affected stalk, as this is one of the best means of preventing further 

 contamination of the balance of plant. The stalk may have been eaten off 

 by a grub, broken off by the wind or by some careless person passing through 

 the field, in which case there is no need to bother, but if Botrytis, or Root 

 Rot, is the cause the future health of your plant depends upon the entire 

 removal of the affected parts. Recently upon examining some plants the 

 writer discovered where a worm had entered well up on the stalk and eaten 

 its way down to the crown of the plant. This, of course, caused the stalk 

 to wilt and die. No damage had been done to the crown of the plant. 



One of our Philadelphia members reports considerable damage in that 

 section to their iris, due to an iris worm. I quote from his letter as follows : 



"The young worm makes its way into the leaf near the top and works 

 its way downward. If a sharp lookout is kept at flowering time and for 

 some weeks afterwards and the worm is prevalent the punctures can be 

 seen on the leaves, and these should be cut off low enough and then burned. 

 In this way the insect is kept in check, but if this is neglected for several 

 years all your plants may be ruined by a sudden onslaught. It is also well to 

 clean up all rubbish around the plants at the end of the season, thus destroy- 

 ing a harboring place for the insects. I use no mulch whatsoever on my 

 bearded iris for this reason, but whether that would be safe in your severe 

 climate I, of course, do not know." 



Have any of our members discovered this pest in this section? 



As we are about to publish another bulletin, I would greatly appreciate 

 suggestions and items of interest from our members. 



Don't fail to include one or more of the high class varieties of both 

 peonies and iris in your fall planting. Let's better the standard of both 

 peony and iris plantings and awake to the greater possibilities that lie before 

 use in the realm of beauty. It will well repay you for the additional cost. 



If you have not already ordered your peonies and iris for fall planting 

 you should make up your order at once and send it in to the dealer. In the 

 Northwest the last two weeks in September and early October is a very 

 desirable time to plant peonies. They may, of course, be planted consider- 

 ably later and still give a good account of themselves. 



I would be pleased to receive some good pictures of your garden or of 

 specimen plants of either the peony or iris. I want to have some cuts made 

 and printed to show our members what others are doing along the line of 

 growing peonies and iris. 



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