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THE PROFITS FROM 



THE PEONY PATCH 



The purpose of this article is to show "how to make the most money out 

 of an acre of peonies/' The entire process is briefly described, from purchas- 

 ing the roots to marketing the crop. The ideas presented are not untried 

 theories, but are an epitome of a specialist's experience. 



DO NOT propose to dis- 

 cuss isolated cases of ex- 

 traordinary profits ob- 

 tained by producing new 

 varieties of peonies or 

 even by cornering the mar- 

 ket on a rare sort. In fact, 

 stocking up heavily on 

 some new "queen bee" of 

 a peony show frequently 

 finds the grower, five years later, offer- 

 ing the same at twenty per cent of the 

 original cost. There may be a dozen 

 American growers whose extensive cat- 

 alogues and large advertising of several 

 hundred varieties make their profit on 

 their acre of soil a bonanza. 



There are just two ways to make 

 money out of peonies, either by selling 

 the roots or the flowers. Leading up to 

 the subject of profits, let us consider the 

 three contributing factors thereto: 

 First, the roots; second, the soil; third, 

 the labor. 



*<^ihie Boots or Divisions. 



The .roots should be young and 

 healthy.' If divisi ms are used, have 

 them exit from plants not over 4 years 

 old and remove all but two strong eyes 

 to each piece of sound tuber. The use 

 of 1-year or 2-year-old plants saves some 

 time, but on a given investment the 

 divisions are more eco- 

 nomical. 



Most people prefer 

 blooms of solid colors, 

 and mass together in 

 lawn planting or in 

 bouquets those of the 

 same shade. The num- 

 ber of varieties car- 

 ried, therefore, de- 

 pends on the amount of 

 land available, as one 

 must cut enough 

 blooms of a kind to 

 make a shipment worth 

 while, and furnish 

 enough similar mate- 

 rial to carry out a dec- 

 orative color scheme. 

 For example, a florist 

 might want 500 Euge- 

 nie Verdier, the fa- 

 mous ' ' baby pink, ' ' 

 for a reception. 



The possible range 

 of varieties comprises 

 four distinct colors; 

 namely, white, light 

 pink, deep pink, and 

 red, which is the usual 

 classification adopted 

 for exhibitions and by 

 the cut flower trade. In 



By WILLIAM A. PETERSON. 



each of these four classes are three well 

 defined blooming periods, the early, mid- 

 season and late. This makes twelve sec- 

 tions to be represented, as the goal set 

 before each grower in selecting his va- 

 rieties and testing out the sorts to 

 finally grow. Ultimately one may find 

 it necessary to carry two absolutely in- 

 dispensable sorts in some sections. 



Selection of Varieties. 



This building of a master list, into 

 which each tested variety must fight its 

 way by sheer demonstrated worth, is 

 exceedingly absorbing. In comparing 

 the painstaking records which we an- 

 nually make, we sometimes find that 

 an outstanding variety, like Mme. Forel, 

 should be finally dropped, because other 

 kinds have superseded it. In my per- 

 sonal study, in order not to be too ex- 

 acting and in order to give new varie- 

 ties every chance that is due them, I 

 have really seven colors to divide the 

 sorts into, viz.: First, paper white; 

 second, cream or yellow; third, blush or 

 delicate flesh; fourth, light or medium 

 pink; fifth, deep pink, and rose; sixth, 

 red; seventh, crimson and deep red. In 

 this way we have tried out about 1,400 



How Would You Like an Acre Like This ? 



varieties and at the present time are 

 carrying less than eighty. 



Recommending varieties for other lo- 

 calities is not an entirely safe proposi- 

 tion and I shall only give a few notes 

 on how certain sorts conduct themselves 

 at our nursery. We have discarded 

 Meissonier, because of its crooked stems. 

 We have also rejected Mme. Emile Galle, 

 because it has no low lateral leaves and 

 the lack of these prevents cutting it with 

 a long stem, whereas Octavie Demay, a 

 dwarf-growing delicate pink, admits of 

 cutting with a fairly good stem without 

 injuring the plant, and is a wonder. So 

 far with us the prize-winning Jubilee 

 has a weak stem. Golden Harvest is one 

 of the mixed colored kinds that florists 

 cannot send on a definite color order, un- 

 less the customer knows it by name. 



Faults of Old Favorites. 



Mme. Crousse is tender in our climate 

 and often skips a season in blooming. 

 Because Richardson's Rubra Superba 

 has proven extremely shy, we no longer 

 carry it, while Richardson's Grandi- 

 flora is all that its name implies and a 

 free bloomer besides. This is one of 

 those unusual sorts that come into bloom 

 over a long period; so one must have a 

 good many plants to cut from to get a 

 fair quantity of flowers at one time. 

 Adolphe Rousseau is 

 a wonderful "black," 

 but is too loose and 

 shows the yellow sta- 

 mens too much. The 

 greatly talked of pink, 

 Lady Alexandra Duflf, 

 is on the same order. 



Single-blooming va- 

 rieties attract some 

 people, but are not 

 really suitable for ship- 

 ping. 



La Tulipe is objec- 

 tionable in bud, as the 

 florists call it a " candy 

 bud," wheroas the bud 

 of Kelway's Venus 

 leaves nothing to wish 

 for. 



No matter how fine 

 a sort may ultimately 

 develop on the plant, if 

 in the early stages of 

 opening it is likely to 

 * ' waterlog, ' ' like Char- 

 lemagne, it is not worth 

 carrying. Probably 

 more Delicatissima are 

 used at June wedding i 

 than any other light 

 pink sort. 



The most popular 



