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The Florists' Review 



July 10. 1919. 



THE PEONY AND ITS PEOPLE. 



From Amateur to Professional. 



When, in 1897, I came to Wyomissing, 

 where I could have a real garden, one pf 

 the first things I determined was to 

 have a complete collection of peonies, 

 "a white one, a red one and a pink 

 one." Then I discovered that EUwanger 

 & Barry had a great collection, as many 

 as twenty kinds. After I had gotten 

 theso, one of Lemoine's catalogues fell 

 into my hands and, after some hesitation 

 over the extravagance, I ipade the 

 plunjk. I sent to him my first foreign 

 order in 1901. Only then did I realize 

 what was before me, but it was too late. 

 The peony bug had gotten me, as it has 

 gotten many others, and will get you 

 too if it once gets fairly hold of you. 

 Orders from Dessert and others soon foi- 

 loweJF. Tipn from Kelway in ttpgland. 



There must have been a sort of peony 

 epidemic prevalent at that time, for I 

 learned afterwards that a number of 

 those who today are well known in the 

 peony world were similarly affected at 

 about the same time in the same manner, 

 the two Petersons, Shaylor, McKisaock, 

 Ward, John Good, Betscher and others. 

 In the Thurlow ranks, where it had 

 partly subsided (Mr. Thurlow having 

 recently sold his collection), there was 

 a fresh outbreak of the craze. I was 

 not then in touch with these people, but 

 I had heard of a Peony Society. I 

 packed my grip and started to Boston to 

 see the peony show and learn something 

 about peonies. 



Ever since then Boston has seemed to 

 me the "Hub" in peony matters, as it 

 used to be for me in things musical, 

 for here in this hall I got my first real 

 inspiration. I stopped off at Cottage 

 Gardens to see Mr. Ward, then presi- 

 dent of the Peony Society. He was busy 

 collecting flowers for the show, noting 

 new things coming into bloom for the 

 first time, identifying things untrue, 

 etc., and trying his best to be polite to 

 me, all at once. In the light of later ex- 

 perience, I can appreciate his position, 

 but neither he nor I suspected then that 

 I was to be his successor. 



America's Leaders. 



Mr. Shaylor carried off the honors at 

 that first show I attended, in 1906, as he 

 has done so many times since, with his 

 splendid collection. Mr. McKissock was 

 there .with his fine collection of novel- 

 ties from France. Of course the Thur- 



lows were represented there, and in the 

 center of the room stood a massive 

 great vas9 of Richardson's Rubra 

 Superba, which carried off the first prize. 

 Here I first met the late Rev. C. S. Har- 

 rison, "Evangelist of the Peony," for 

 he, more than anyone else, has preached 

 the gospel of the peony throughout the 

 great northwest. Here I met our Mr. 

 Fewkes, whom all of us of the Peony 

 Society have come to hold in such sin- 



cere regard. I visited T. C. Thurlow, the 

 first of the great peony enthusiasts in 

 New England, at his, delightful and hos- 

 pitable home. I visited James McKis- 

 sock, and his' beautiful collection at 

 West Newton. 



Up at Wellesley Hills I found Mr. 

 Shaylor among his peonies. In one cor- 

 ner, carefully screened under a tent from 

 the hot sun, we came to the climaK of 

 our visit, when he said to us, "There, 

 gentlemen, is the celebrated Lady Alex- 

 andra Duff." He was doomed to dis- 

 appointment, for it turned out at the 

 show to be identical with Grandiflora 

 Nivea Plena. Others had had similar 

 disappointments, for Lady Duff turned 

 out to be first James Kelway, then Mrs. 

 Gwyn Lewis, and a host of other things, 

 even to Festiva Maxima, till Mr. Shay- 

 lor, in disgust, pronounced the Lady a 

 myth, using a famous quotation, ' ' There 

 ain't no such thing." 



I met many others there, whom for 

 lack of time I cannot mention, but I 

 formed friendships with them that have 

 endured to this day. Some of them have 

 passed away, but the greatest thing I 

 learned was that peony people as a class 

 are mighty fine people. They are true 

 blue. For they grow peonies, not as a 

 commercial proposition, but because 



SEED IMPORTS FOB FIRST HALF OF FISCAL YEAB. 



The following are the imports of seeds, with the duties collected thereon, for 

 the first six months of the government's last fiscal year, beginning July 1, 1918, as 

 reported by the U. S. Department of Commerce: 



Unit of 

 quantity 

 .>,^i Pound... 



Articles 

 Seeds : 



Anise 

 v^Jteet— 



Sugar Pound.. 



All other Pound . . 



Cabbage Pound. . 



Canary Pound . . 



Caraway Pound. . 



Cardamom Pound . . 



Carrot Pound. . 



Castor beans or seeds Bushel . . 



Cauliflower Pound . . 



Celery Pound . . 



CoUard -. Pound. . 



Coriander Pound . . 



Corn salad Pound. . . 



Cotton Pound 



Cummin Pound 



Eggplant Pound. . . 



Fennel .■ . . .Pound. 



Fenugreek Pound . 



Flaxseed or linseed Bushel 



Screenings Pound . . . 



Flower 



Grass — 



Alfalfa Pound. 



Clover — 



Alslke Pound . 



Crimson , Pound . 



Red Pound . 



White Pound. 



Clover seed, n. s. p. f Pound. 



Millet Pound. 



Timothy Pound. 



Vetch- 

 Hairy Pound. 



Spring Pound . 



Grass seed, n. s. p. f Pound. 



Rate of 



duty 



2c lb. . 



Six months ending Dec. 31. 1018 



Quantity 

 142,039 



Free 603,270 



3c lb 89,394 



6c lb 57,918 



He lb 2,132,183 



Ic lb 159,419 



Free 75,211 



3c lb 2,877 



15c bush 121,548 



Free 1,504 



Free 119,923 



6c lb 



Free 1,971.516 



3c lb 1,786 



Free 14,720,339 



Free 654,071 



lOc lb 71 



Free 110,043 



Free 1,085,366 



20c bush 3,980,408 



10% 7.598,566 



Free 



.Free 



110,026 



.Free 3,700,061 



.Free 243,200 



.Free 119,100 



. Free 70,484 



.Free 285,651 



.Free 14,014 



.Free 88,435 



.Free 322,917 



.Free 162,932 



.Free 1,483,947 



Total grass seed Pound... Free 6,509,467 



An extract from an addreRs by Bertrand H. 

 Farr, of Wyomissing, Pa., ex-president of the 

 American Peony Society, delivered before the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



Hemp Pound . 



Kale Pound . 



Kohlrabi Pound. 



Mushroom spawn Pound. 



Mustard Pound . 



Oil seeds, n. s. p. f Bushel. 



Parsley Pound . 



Parsnip Pound . 



Pepper Pound. 



Do (reciprocity treaty with Cuba) .. .Pound. 



Poppy Bushel . 



Radish Pound . . 



Rape Pound . 



Soya beans Pound, 



Spinach Pound. 



Turnip and rutabaga Pound . , 



Seeds, including bulbs, and bulbous 



roots, not edible, coniferous ever- 

 green seedlings, hoarhound, mangel- 

 wurzel, St. John's bread or bean, 

 and sorghum or sugar cane for seed . . 



.'Seeds, n. s. p. f Pound. . 



Do (reciprocity treaty with Cuba ).. Pound . , 



.Free 14,730 



.6c lb 4,364 



.6c lb. 2,671 



.Ic lb 3,117 



.Free 4,449,324 



.20c bush 11,920 



..3c lb 16,961 



.3c lb 3,914 



.10c lb 913 



.10c lb.— 20% . . 30 



.15c bush 3,002 



.3c lb 21,846 



.Free 84,618 



.Free 1,565,246 



.Ic lb 545,395 



.3c lb 113,808 



.Free 



.5c lb. 

 .5c Ib.- 



-20% 



132.917 



88 



Value 

 $ 14,601 



114,781 

 50,261 



136,892 



205,056 



73,211 



36,118 



3,477 



471,637 

 11,732 

 40,673 



i'88,673 



701 



366,089 



73,860 



121 



14,073 



97,469 



11,187,104 



t5«l 



17,287 



921,166 

 43,391 

 29,742 

 16,036 

 62,864 

 553 

 12,309 



20,061 



8,290 



199,344 



1,330,033 



1,739 



4,200 



2,237 



166 



278,600 



.36,906 



2,044 



2,847 



1,711 



76 



16,052 



11,607 



6,647 



73,546 



164,671 



66,564 



96,751 



116,260 

 40 



Duty 

 $ 2,840.78 



2,681.82 



3,474.78 



10,660.91 



1,594;19 



se'.si 



18,232.30 



63.68 

 ' 7.16 



706,081.60 

 6,080.10 



201.84 



iM.ae 



31.17 



2,384.66 

 608.83 

 117.42 

 01.30 

 2.40 

 460.30 

 656.38 



54.630.50 

 3,414.24 



6.646.85 

 3.62 



Total seeds 



S Fr<>e $ 2.7R4,.'>1;- 



I Dutiable 12.620.041 



.<!nin,058..S8 



