194 THE GOLD MINE 



may rally in time. Generall}^, Paeonies will do the 

 best tliey can, but some do seem a little sensitive to their 

 conditions. 



MISTAKES AXD MIXTUEES. 



There has been no end of trouble from these causes. 

 As we have had no Paeony society till recently, we have 

 had no check on loose methods. So one name has been 

 given to several diiferent sorts. Often the choicer the 

 kind the more substitutes it has. At least six kinds 

 have been sold for Pestiva Maxima, and one of our 

 best firms innocently sent out Grandiflora Alba for 

 jT-ars for this varietv. There has been no end of con- 

 fusion regarding the genuine Humei or Thorbeckii, 

 one of our very best. I have bought from many of our 

 leading firms those bearing this name, which were not 

 even distant relatives of it. It is so with the Duke of 

 Wellington. 



Holland firms are notorious for their carelessness. 



I bought of . They were not what I sent 



for. They insisted that they were, when I returned 

 their own labels and my order. Then they were not 

 true to name. About that time I bought quite a bill 

 of an American firm, and they proved the worst mix- 

 tures I ever saw, though they were packed with the 

 greatest care. I notified them. They supposed they 



were all right, for they got them of . So many 



of the Dutch firms are so unreliable that we are sure 

 of nothing. Before me lies a letter of one of our lead- 

 ing gTOwers. He has had no end of vexation. Such 



