June 11, 1914. 



The Florists' Review 



13 



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PEONY SOCIETY MEETS 



National organization holds its annual exhibition and business ses- 

 sion at Chicago, scoring a success in spite of unfavorable weather 



m 



jOE the second time in the history 

 of the organization the annual 

 meeting of the American Peony 

 Society was held at Chicago, June 9 

 and 10, in the Art Institute. Not since 

 the second annual meeting of the so- 

 ciety, in 1905, has the society held its 

 meeting west of Ohio. To show that 

 the west is not behind the east in the 

 growing of the peony, three of the big 

 Chicago peony growers put forth their 

 best efforts and, in spite of weather 

 that was anything but favorable, made 

 an excellent display. 



The weather was an important factor 

 in this exhibition, and but for it the 

 show would have been a much stronger 

 one. The spring in this vicinity this 

 year has not been to the liking of the 

 peony growers. Until two or three 

 weeks ago, the weather was unseason- 

 ably cold and held back everything. 

 Then, in the space of a week, extreme- 

 ly hot weather came and lasted for a 

 few days, to be succeeded by a tem- 

 perature that called out overcoats 

 again. The latter part of last week, 

 however, saw a return to June tem- 

 perature and since theu the weather 

 has become hotter each day. Under 

 the scorching sun the peony buds 

 popped out and one could almost see 

 them opening in the field. Certain it 

 is that blooms which were in the best 



OFFICERS RE-ELECTED 



President 

 B. H. Farr, Wydmisslng, Pa. 



Vice-president 

 E. B. George> - Paiaesvillct O. 



Secretary- 

 Prof. A. P. Saunderst Clinton, N.Y. 



Treasurer 

 J. H. Humphreyst Germantown, Pa. 



Director 

 E. A. Reeves, - Cleveland, O. 



of condition at the time of judging 

 Tuesday afternoon were beyond their 

 best by the time the hall was closed at 

 6 o'clock. The best of care could not 

 keep stock in good shape when the 

 thermometer registered 95 degrees in 

 the shade. 



Tbe Exhibition. 



It 's an ill wind that blows nobody 

 good, tl»e saying goes, and it was just 

 as true as ever at the time of this ex- 

 hibition. The growers north of the 

 city, who get the effects of the cool lake 



breezes, alwa/S are " a few days later 

 with their stock than are the growers 

 to the south and west. The result was 

 that some of the floWers were fresh 

 from the field, whereas most of them 

 had spent several days in cold storage. 

 Peterson Nursery staged some magnifi- 

 cent blooms and carried off over half 

 of the prizes awarded. Ten first prizes 

 stand to its credit on thirteen entries, 

 and in five, classes Peterson Nursery 

 made clean sweeps, out of a list of 

 twenty-one classes for peonies open to 

 commercial growers. Among those in 

 the list of prize-winners of this -grower 

 that won special admiration were Ava- 

 lanche, a truly beautiful pure white; 

 Couronne d'Or, shown in splendid 

 shape; Delachie, Eugenie Verdier and 

 Livingstone. In the classes calling for 

 a large display of blooms of one vari- 

 ety, the W. W. Barnard Co. was the 

 principal, in some cases the only, ex- 

 hibitor. 



The growers outside the state faced 

 not only the difficulty of transporta- 

 tion, but excessively hot weather. The 

 combination of the two was enough to 

 discourage anyone, and those who 

 made the attempt deserve full credit 

 for the showing they made. The col- 

 lections of 100 named varieties by 

 President B. H. Farr and E. A. Reeves 

 drew much attention, and Martin Ko- 



Vases of Twelve Blooms at the Chicago Peony Show, Peterson Nursery Prize-winners in the Foreground. 



