14 



The Florists^ Review 



September 27, 1917. 



RAISING NEW PEONIES. 



At a Minnesota Nursery. 



Ill A'icw (if the youtlil'uliu'ss of tliis 

 couiitry and tlio lirii'fiu'ss of tlie oj>poi- 

 tunity for horticultural jiroifross; in 

 view, also, of tlic eliai'actcristic haste 

 and impatience of Ainericaiis and the 

 tediousness of the jirocess of raising 

 new ])Oonies, it is not surprisinj; tliat the 

 list of noted American ])eony hybridiz- 

 ers is a short one — sliovi, esjiecially, as 

 conijiared Avith tlie i'^reiu-h roll of honor 

 ill the same field of endeavor. Ameri- 

 cans, as a ]ieojil(% are prone to demand 

 quick results and there are no (jnick re- 

 sults in the pi-oduction of good peony 

 seedlings. 



After waiting from four to six 

 years to get blooms from seeil, the ex- 

 perimenter must then face tlie solemn 

 fact that less than one ])cv cent of tlie 

 average run of see(lUiigs ha\e eiiougli 

 merit to justify their introduction as 

 new varieties. And even after the su- 

 perior finality of some of tlu> new seed 

 lings is assured, tlie liiial goal is still 

 far, far away. The hybridizer, divid- 

 ing his plants into three every three (u- 

 four seasons, must wait several more 

 weary years before he can thus accumu- 

 late enough of the stock to be aide to 

 place it on the market. >«'ot many prac- 

 tical tradesmen, in a com])aratively new 

 country, can afford to wait so long for 

 returns. Neither does a new country 

 abound witli leisurely amateurs, for 

 wlioni a long jieriod of waiting woui<l 

 lia\ (■ no terrors. 



Brand-new Sorts from the Brands. 



Still, Americans are nothing if not 

 enterprising and a few of them have 

 distinguished themselves as peony hy- 

 bridizers. Among those who recently 

 have W(ni su(di fame, and are steadily 

 Aviiining more of it, are liraiids, of the 

 liraml Nursery Co., Faribault. Minn. 



The Brands seem to be ainoug the 

 select few who have been ])rosperoiis 

 commercially as well as horticulturally, 

 in this sphere of effort. And their suc- 

 cess, ap]iareiitly, is largelydueto the fact 

 that they are both scientific and jirac- 

 tical. bcdh venturesome and conser\a- 

 tive. in their mcthoils. They have con 

 ducted their peony hybridizing intelli- 

 gently, painstakingly and i)ersistently. 

 Yet they have not allowed such e.x[U'rl 

 mentation to interfere with the busi- 

 nesslike handling of other nursery stoi-k 

 which brings (juicker and more certain 

 financial rewards. 



Keen and Careful Selection. 



It has been estimated that the total 



list of ]ieonies, as commonly offered to 

 the trade by more or less re])utable 

 growers throughout the world, com- 

 ])rises nearly 3,(100 names, and that 

 these thousands of names represent less 

 than 300 distinct, worth-while varieties. 

 C. S. Harrison, the \eti'raii ])eony si)e- 

 cialist of York, Neb., has referred fre- 

 (piently and emphatically to the rash- 

 ness of many hybridizers in introducing 

 varieties that are not sufficiently dis- 

 tinct and meritorious, and he even con- 

 fesses that he himself has erred semi- 

 occasionally in that regard. He speaks 

 in a highly appreciative way of 11. A. 

 Terry, one of the most celebrated of 

 })eony hybridizers, but states, neverthe- 

 less, that Mr. Terry, who "gave us 

 about loo named sorts, should have 

 iiame(l only a dozen." 



Yet ^Ir. Harrison, though so candid 

 a critic, siiid this a year or so 

 about the Brands, of Faribault: 



ago 



They are careful and exacting in their "is a lar: 



sidections, throwing away perhaps 15,- 

 OOU seedlings, while they choose only one 

 from the mass. They have at least six 

 reds which stand uji with anything on 

 earth. Their Prince of Darkness is 

 nearly black. Mary Brand, in compari- 

 son with all the reds gathered from all 

 sources, takes the lead. It is of the same 

 color as the famous Karl Rosenfield, but 

 is much larger. " 



A. M. Brand's Favorite. 



Mrs. Edward Harding, in "The Book 

 of the Peony," also compliments the 

 Brands, asserting that in recent years 

 "their seedlings — notably Martha Bul- 

 loch and Frances Willard — have aroused 

 much ailmiration. " The two varieties 

 recommended by Mrs. Harding are 

 shown in the accompanying illustra- 

 tions. 



A. M. Brand, manager of the Brand 

 Nursery Co., also expresses his own 

 preference for Martha Bulloch, saying, 

 "It is undoubtedly our best flower." 

 Then he proceeds to describe it thus: 

 "It is a flower of true rose type; opens 

 out flat; of great size and of delicate 

 and prononiiceil rose fragrance. Its 

 color is a dee]), bright pink. The flow- 

 ers are borne on long, strong stems and 

 are held well erect, making it a good 

 landsca]>e sort as well as a cutting va- 

 riety. Of late years we have not shown 

 good specimens of this flower, because 

 we have kept our stock closely divided 

 for ^iropagatioii. But when we did have 

 old plants, from whi(di to cut blooms for 

 exhibition, Martha Bulhxdi was adjudg- 

 ed a better flower than Therese. " 



Other Choice Varieties. 



Frances Willard," says Mr. Brand, 

 creamy white, showing 



Peony Frances Willard, a Brand Seedling. 



