PREFACE 



With the hope of bringing the modern peony 

 before those who do not know it, this book has 

 been planned. The ever-widening interest in gar- 

 dening and the serious and thorough work of 

 amateurs to-day encourage me to beheve that 

 what I have written, because I love the peony, 

 will be of interest and help to others. 



To Mr. B. H. Farr of Wyomissing, Penn- 

 sylvania, my thanks are due for the auto- 

 chrome of the rare and beautiful P. lutea. To 

 Mr. A. H. Fewkes of Newton Highlands, to 

 Mr. Theodore Hobby of the Metropolitan 

 Museum of Fine Arts and to Mr. Morris Earle 

 of Williams, Brown and Earle, Philadelphia, 

 my deep appreciation of their interest and kind- 

 ness is expressed. 



I especially wish to acknowledge my indebted- 

 ness to Mr. George H. Peterson of Fair Lawn, 

 New Jersey. As typical blooms from my own 

 recently transplanted beds were unobtainable, the 

 illustrations in this book, with a few exceptions, 

 were secured through Mr. Peterson's generous 

 courtesy. 



The carefully prepared Bulletins on the Clas- 

 sification, etc., of the Peony — the work of Dr. J. 



7 



