12 



The Florists^ Review 



June 29, 1916. 



ODCN LETTEI^^" READEU6 



DUTCH PACKING CHARGES. 



In the Dutch bulb situation there is 

 one phase more interesting than any 

 other, and that is the packing charges 

 we importers are compelled to pay. 



A good many of us have protested 

 against this practice, for the reason that 

 it is contrary to our American way of 

 doing business. For instance, we do 

 not expect our flower pot manufacturer 

 to charge us extra for his boxes or bar- 

 rels, plus packing material; we do not 

 expect our lily bulb man to charge for 

 his boxes; our grocer for his paper bags; 

 the department store for packing our 

 goods in boxes large and small. 



Why, then, do we pay the Dutch bulb 

 growers for their cheaply made boxes? 

 Of course, they expect us to live up to 

 their terms, even when these terms dif- 

 fer from our business laws and cus- 

 toms. But is that a sufficient reason 

 why we should subject ourselves to the 

 terms, because they expect it? 



Consider the lumber and labor re- 

 quired to make these cases. Is not 75 

 cents to $1.10 for a single case pretty 

 steep? The latter price is for a case 

 of tulij)s and includes the paper bags, 

 but I have never been able to figure 

 more than 72 cents for the $1.10 case, 

 everything included. Moreover, we are 

 not charged in accordance with the for- 

 eign exchange. 



The horticultural traders in England 

 some months ago protested strongly 

 against this practice, after being in- 

 formed of the enforcement of this rule 

 by the Dutch Bulb Growers' Associa- 

 tion. The English government, how- 

 ever, cut the argument short by placing 

 an embargo on bulbs, roots, etc. 



What is the American florist doing 

 to further his rights in this respect? 

 Some of us have protested to our deal- 

 ers, but we have not protested as a 

 body. Eemember, the Hollanders de- 

 pend on the United States more than 

 on any other country to take most of 

 their bulbs in this year of war. 



William Lefeber. 



NEW PEONY SOCIETY FORMED. 



The summer meeting of the Minne- 

 sota Horticultural Society was held in 

 the new gymnasium building of the 

 Minnesota Agricultural College, at 

 Minneapolis. I have attended the na- 

 tional peony society exhibits in Chi- 

 cago and Boston, but I never saw any- 

 thing equal to the splendid show of 

 peonies at this meeting. In Minnesota 

 there are large peony gardens and in 

 the Twin Cities there are scores of 

 amateurs who spare no expense to pro- 

 cure the best. The east would be sur- 

 prised at the splendid displays at these 

 summer meetings. I saw one flower for 

 which the owner paid $40; others for 

 which large sums were paid. 



It is not generally known that the 

 Brands, of Faribault, Minn., are among 

 the world's most famous propagators. 

 For sixteen years they have been at 

 work on an immense scale, growing 



•seedlings by the thousands. They are 

 careful and exacting in their selections, 

 throwing away perhaps 15,000 while 

 they select only one from the mass. 

 They have at least six reds which stand 

 up with anything on earth. Prince of 

 Darkness is nearly black. Mary Brand, 

 in comparison with all the reds gath- 

 ered from all sources, takes the lead. 

 It is of the same color as the famous 

 Karl Eosenfield, but is much larger. 



I thought I could grow peonies in 

 Nebraska. One of mine named Therese 

 was seven inches across, but the same 

 kind on exhibition here was nine inches 

 in diameter. It was a glorified cabbage 

 head. ^ ^ 



There was a marvelous display of 

 strawberries. Charles Harrison, super- 

 intendent of the state farm, produced 

 40,000 seedlings and then reduced 

 them to 200. He then called in a com- 

 mittee of experts and selected three of 

 the best. No. 3 is a marvel. It is about 

 the size of a crab apple and literally 



covers the ground and paints it red. It 

 is large, bright-colored, a good shipper 

 and a luscious .berry, and beats any- 

 thing I have ever seen. If it does as 

 well elsewhere as here, it will lead all 

 others. 



A call was issued June 24 for a meet 

 ing at the West hotel, for the purpose 

 of organizing a peony and iris society 

 for the northwest states and the prov 

 inees of Canada. Why was this? 

 Haven't we a national society? We 

 have one in name only, and it seems 

 to hug the shore. Every inducement 

 has been put forth to have the society 

 come to the Twin Cities, where there is 

 more interest and enthusiasm for these 

 glorious flowers than in the east and 

 where 1,000 people gather for the sum- 

 mer meetings, but the invitation has 

 been disregarded. Another thing, the 

 exhibitions come nearly a month earlier 

 in the east than in this northern region. 

 Here they are on the verge of a great 

 want, where billions of these flowers are 

 needed to glorify the great northwest. 



A goodly number of people gathered 

 and the Northwest Peony and Iris So- 

 ciety was organized with great en- 

 thusiasm. I predict that it will be a 

 decided success. Minneapolis is waking 

 up, thousands of new homes are being 

 adorned and the call for hardy plants 

 is encouraging. C. S. Harrison. 



York, Neb. 



PEONIES, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 



[A paper by B. F. Barr, of Lancaster, Pa., 

 read before the Lancaster County Florists' Club, 

 June 15, 1016.] 



Everyone loves the peony. They who 

 can recall the enthusiasm of their 

 grandmothers over the old garden 

 "pineys" may well imagine the rap- 

 tures of those old people if they were 

 brought into contact with the splendid 

 peonies <4f today. The old-fashioned 

 "piney, " Paionia ofiicinalis, a native of 

 southern Europe, is rich in color, but of 

 small size, fleeting duration and offensive 

 odor. The early history of this peony 

 extends back many centuries, blended 

 with a haze of superstition, allegory 

 and myth. 



In China, it is said, the tree peony has 

 been the chief pride and glory for 

 1,400 years, prized by the emperors for 

 the beauty and fragrance of the flowers. 

 For more than 1,000 years, it is said, a 

 record of the new introductions, their 

 characters, qualities and parentage have 

 been kept in China. 



The Japanese, too, have been largely 

 instrumental in producing our finest va- 

 rieties of tree peonies, of which a dozen 

 or more choice varieties, in all colors, 

 are now offered for sale. The blooms are 



large and keep well, either on the plant 

 or when cut and placed in water. They 

 should be grown more extensively. 

 They can be propagated from soft-wood 

 cuttings, but, because of their slow 

 growth, they are usually grafted. Great 

 care must be taken that shoots do not 

 develop from the roots when grafted 

 plants are used, or the variety will be 

 lost and a wild variety will take its 

 place. 



Of Aristocratic French Origin. 



The modern peony, or Pseonia Sinen- 

 sis, has been cultivated in Europe but 

 a little more than a half century. It is 

 descended from P. albiflora, a native of 

 Siberia. 



The modern peony is an aristocrat 

 whose birth was among the nobility of 

 France, for it was under the care of 

 M. Jacques, gardener for King Louis 

 Philippe, that some of the first of the 

 fine varieties of today were originated. 

 Comte de Cussy, Guerin and others, all 

 enthusiastic amateurs, secured the best 

 varieties from Japan and China about 

 the middle of the last century, and 

 from these began to raise seedlings 

 that have given us some of our present 

 magnificent varieties. 



