JnNB 11, 1914. 



The Florists' Review 



15 



Three Prize-winning Vases of tlie W. 'W. Barnard Co.» at tiie American Peony Society's Stiow, at Chicago. 



mium list prepared for them, there was 

 only one contestant, A. P. Saunders, of 

 Clinton, N. Y., secretary of the Amer- 

 ican Peony Society. He, however, had 

 only three prize-winning entries, and 

 these, on account of the hot weather 

 and the long distance they had to 

 travel, could not be ranked high. The 

 awards made in these classes were as 

 follows: 



Collection of blooms, variety, quality and 

 quantity to be considered — A. P. Saunders, third; 

 no first or second. 



Collection of ten named varieties, double, three 

 of each — A. P. Saunders, third; no first or 

 second. 



Collection of hardy perennials, other than 

 peonies, quality and variety considered — A. P. 

 Saunders, first; no second or third. 



The Business Session. 



The business meeting of the society 

 was held at 11 a. m., Wednesday morn- 

 ing, June 10, in the Art Institute, with 

 the president and secretary in their 

 places. After the minutes had been 

 read and approved. President Parr de- 

 livered an extemporaneous address, 

 dwelling briefly on the points he con- 

 sidered of most importance to members 

 of the society. He spoke first of the 

 creditable showing which had been 

 made under exceedingly unfavorable 

 weather conditions and then went on to 

 show how strong the society was, not 

 only financially, but in the loyalty and 

 constancy of its members, who have 

 rarely dropped away of their own ac- 

 cord. 



Inasmuch as his idea of the object of 

 the society is, he said, to define the 

 varieties of the society's flower, to the 

 advantage of both buyer and seller 

 of roots, the manual which is now in 

 preparation will be the big achieve- 

 ment of the organization. This, it was 

 planned last year, was to have been 

 ready by this meeting, but those who 

 are working at it came to the con- 

 clusion that the best results could be 

 obtained by taking a longer time, and 

 so the publication has been postponed 

 for six months or so. 



In connection w:ith this work of the 

 society, the president spoke of the 

 planting that is planned at the grounds 

 of the United States government at Ar- 

 lington, near the national capital. This 

 will give an opportunity for studying 

 the different varieties in the same fash- 

 ion as at Ithaca, N. Y., at present, but 

 in a different latitude. If such grounds 

 can be kept under the control of the 

 society and out of politics, it , will 

 prove, the members present later as- 

 serted by a rising vote, an undertaking 

 well wprth the society's support. 



In closing. President Farr dwelt on 

 the need of popularizing the peony and 

 educating the public to its more exten- 

 sive use. Instead of being merely a 

 Memorial day flower, it should be \ised 

 for decorative purposes throughout its 

 season. A fuller discussion of this 

 point came up later in connection with 

 the publicity committee's report, or 

 rather failure to report, and W. A. Eie- 

 man told how the peony had grown in 

 popularity at Vincennes, Ind., while 

 Dr. Knapp, of Evansville, Ind., lament- 

 ed the public's lack of appreciation of 

 it in his town. 



Publicity for the Peony. 



Various methods were suggested to 

 bring the peony into wider use as a 

 cut flower and in the garden. W. A. 

 Peterson suggested the society's get- 

 ting up a set of lantern slides with a 

 lecture, to be presented before women's 

 clubs, schools and any other organiza- 

 tions which would pay the express 

 charges on the outfit and for any break- 

 age that might occur. In this connec- 

 tion it was suggested that the society 

 offer prizes at other shows besides its 

 own, inasmuch as a single peony show 

 can draw competitors from so small a 

 territory. This, together with other 

 proposals, was discussed without defi- 

 nite action being taken. 



Publicity for the peony led to pub- 

 licity for the society and the secretary, 

 at his own request, was authorized to 



draw up a circular setting forth the 

 aims and work of the society and giv- 

 ing an invitation to those interested in 

 this fiower to join. Copies of this cir- 

 cular are to be sent in stamped en- 

 velopes to members of the society, to 

 be directed by them to those whom 

 they think likely to join. 



Treasurer's Report. 



The treasurer's report, which was 

 forwarded by mail to the secretary and 

 read by him, in the absence of Mr. 

 Humphreys, showed a balance of 

 $1,128.30 from last year and an income 

 from dues, etc., during the year, of 

 $369.50, making the total receipts 

 $1,497.80. Disbursements included $17.64 

 for vases at the Cleveland show 

 and $85.20 for medals and the die, 

 leaving in the treasury $1,394.96, to 

 which may be added $361 due from 

 members for dues and admission fees, 

 giving the present assets of the society 

 a total of $1,755.96. 



After the judges' report had been 

 read by the secretary, the election of 

 officers resulted in the present incum- 

 bents being continued for another year, 

 and E. A. Beeves, the retiring director, 

 being chosen to succeed himself for an- 

 other three years. The fact that the 

 officers were in the midst of the work 

 on the peony manual was considered 

 good reason for continuing the present 

 regime until the publication of the 

 volume. 



New Members. 



Twenty new members were admitted, 

 raising the total membership to 113. 

 All the committees were reappointed 

 for the ensuing year, save the publicity 

 committee; this now consists of C. S. 

 Harrison, of York, Neb.; W. A. Eie- 

 man, of Vincennes, Ind., and W. A. 

 Peterson, of Chicago. 



The discussion of the question of the 

 next meeting place brought forth a 

 hearty invitation from the Twin Cities, 

 represented personally by D. W. C. Ruff, 



