12 



The Florists' Review 



June 25. 1914. 



COXTBOXNE D'OR NOT PINK. 



One of the curiosities of the recent 

 exhibition of the American Peony So- 

 ciety that attracted attention when re- 

 ported in The Review for June 18 was 

 the fact that a white variety, Couronne 

 d'Or, was awarded first prize in a class 

 for light pink. It appears to have been 

 purely a slip oh the part of the judges, 

 since William A. Peterson, the owner of 

 the vase of flewers, explains the inci- 

 dent as follows: 



"The vase of Couronne d'Or was in- 

 tended to be with the whites. Because 

 of the cramped space and the impossi- 

 bility of keeping visitors from walking 

 between the vases, it is probable that 

 someone knocked the entry number off 

 and got them mixed." 



Mr. Peterson probably was more sur- 

 prised than anyone else that a vase of 

 a white variety should take first prize in 

 a class for which he had not entered it, 

 but it was a matter of no consequence to 

 him, as he secured all three premiums 

 in one of the classes concerned and first 

 and second in the other. This is the 

 showing as reported: 



Fifty blooms, white, double, one variety — 

 Peterson Nursery, first, on Avalanche; Peter- 

 Bon Nursery, second, on Baroness Schroeder; 

 Vaiighan's Seed Store, third, on M. Dupont. 



Fifty blooms, liglit pink or pink and cream, 

 doable, one variety— Peterson Nursery, first, ou 

 Coaronne d'Or; Peterson Nursery, second, on 

 Albert Crousse; Peterson Nursery, third, on 

 Eugenie Verdler. 



It should be remembered that the 

 Peony Society permits an exhibitor to 

 make an unlimited number of entries in 

 any class. 



BOSTON PEONY SHOW. 



The annual peony exhibition of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 June 20 and 21 came just a week too 

 late, but there was a good display never- 

 theless, principally of late varieties, 

 which nearly filled the main exhibition 

 hall. For twenty named varieties there 

 was a good competition. A. H. Fewkes 

 took first prize, followed by James Mc- 

 Kissock and T. C. Thurlow's Sons Co. 

 For ten varieties, three blooms of each, 

 T. C. Thurlow's Sons Co. led; A. W. 

 Preston, J. L. Smith, gardener, being 

 second, and James McKissock third. A. 

 H. Fewkes had the finest specimen 

 bloom, James McKissock being second. 



T. C. Thurlow 's Sons Co. had the only 

 collection of twelve singles, showing a 

 charming lot. The same exhibitor also 

 was first for twelve Japanese singles. 

 For six varieties double, C. 8. Minot, 

 James McKissock and T. C. Thurlow's 

 Sons Co. won in the order named. James 

 McKissock had the best six rose pink 

 varieties, and T. C. Thurlow's Sons Co. 

 the finest salmon pink, also crimson. 



For twenty-five white Or blush, the 

 prizes went to Sw F. ' Chase, A. H. 

 Fewkes and Martin- Stollivan, gardener 

 to Willialn Whitman. T. C. Thurlow's 

 Sons Co.- took first and second for 

 twenty-five pink or roee, third going to 

 James McKissock. T. C. Thurlow's 

 Sons Co. also won for twenty-five red or 

 crimson, Wilfred Wheeler being second. 



For twelve named sorts by non-com- 

 mercial growers, first went to C. S. 

 Minot, second to Martin Sullivan and 

 third to J. L. Smith. Mr. Sullivan was 

 first for twelve pink and twelve white, 

 also being" first and second for twelve 

 red or crimson. 



Apart from the competitive classes 

 there were many excellent exhibits. 

 The Wellesley Nurseries llad a fine dis- 

 play of named peonies. There were also 

 large displays from T. C. Thurlow's 

 Sons Co., J. K. Alexander, Martin Sul; 

 livan, J. L. Smith and A. H. Fewkes. 

 Farquhar & Co. received a silver medal 

 for an imposing display of peonies, and 

 C. S. Minot a similar reward for Peony 

 Mrs. C. S, Minot, also honorable men- 

 tion for Peony E. T. Jackson. 



Martin Sullivan had a collection of 

 hybrid perpetual roses and Kalmia lati- 

 folia, the Lowthorpe School of Horti- 

 culture had sweet williams. Eastern 

 Nurseries a fine collection of herbaceous 

 plants, Old Town Nurseries" a splendid 

 lot of herbaceous plants, Mrs. E. M. 

 Gill and Mrs. M. W. Chadbourne general 

 displays. The Mount Desert Nurseries 

 received a silver medal for a collection 

 of herbaceous plants, among which 

 eremuri loomed up prominently. 



Jackson Dawson received honorable 

 mention for Baby Dawson rose, also for 

 a collection of seedling roses. Wheeler 

 & Co. showed three fine specimens of 

 Dendrobium formosum, receiving a cer- 

 tificate of merit. W. N. C. 



THE WEALTH AND THE WASTE. 



When B. H. Farr, president of the 

 American Peony Society, had reached 

 Rochester on his way east after the 

 Chicago meeting he found time to dic- 

 tate to a stenographer the substance of 

 the extemporaneous address delivered 

 at the Art Institute business session 

 and summarized in The Review for June 

 11. One thought is commended spe- 

 cially to the growers of peony blooms 

 for market, and to the retail dealers. It 

 is as follows: 



"It is unfortunate that as a cut 

 flower, commercially, the peony is in 

 most localities considered only as a 

 Memorial day proposition. Millions of 

 them are sold at high prices before, and 

 millions almost wasted after, that day. 

 No flower k^eps better When properly 



handled, and no flower makes so fin» a 

 show for the cost as the peony fpr all 

 decorative effects, and tfeere .^eems to 

 be no good ret^OB^ , wjhiy it slibuld not be 

 eagerly s,<iug'h^ for'Und used for all pur- 

 poses during its season, from the earli- 

 est to the latest. 



"It seems to be largely up to the re- 

 tail dealer to push the peony more, and 

 to educate the public and stimulate the 

 use of the peony by making more of 

 an effort to handle a better class of 

 stock in better shape." 



NEED FOB NEW VARIETIES? 



Most of the men in the trade will 

 agree that there are far too many va- 

 rieties of peonies, or too many names 

 of varieties so near alike that the aver- 

 age person can not tell one from an- 

 other; that instead of lists containing 

 500 sorts it would be far better if about 

 480 could be wiped out altogether, but 

 Prof. A. P. Saunders, secretary of the 

 American Peony Society, said in his re- 

 port at the Chicago meeting: 



"I wish that in America we might 

 have a larger and more ardent band 

 of raisers of new sorts. There is still 

 much to be done. Lemoine and Des- 

 sert, to mention no others, are at work 

 all the time, and give us wonderful new 

 varieties once in a while; but there is 

 need of a hundred such enthusiasts. I 

 wish we might have seedling peonies 

 raised here as they raise seedling nar- 

 cissi in England, where amateur and 

 professional raisers have their sensa- 

 tional novelties ready for the spring 

 shows every year. Think what Richard- 

 son t)roduced — one vn&n working ou a 

 tiny plot of ground! 



"^hy should we not do at least 

 much better than we are doingt This 

 society might, I believe, do much to 

 encourage the raising of new sorts. I 

 should like to see a good, substantial 

 prize offered every year for the best 

 new variety, a prize large enough to be 

 worth some pains; say $50 at the least; 

 not with the idea that we should have 

 to pay it out every year, but under the 

 intention that it should be given only 

 for the occasional really good things; 

 to be awarded, let us say, only to such 

 varieties as the nomenclature commit- 

 tee would wish to put into their list of 

 best sorts. Few American kinds that I 

 know of could get in on such a require- 

 ment, but such recognition as that 

 would mean the reputation of the va- 

 riety ready made. 



"I believe we might foster in that 

 way this infant industry and raise it up 

 to a stage of importance in the horti- 

 cultural community. The tradition of 

 Richardson is bearing fruit in the neigh- 

 borhood -of Boston, where the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society from 

 time to time puts its stamp of approval 

 on a new sort. But we cannot all get 

 to the Boston shows, nor would the 

 dates fall right for many of us if we 

 could. Our own shows, moving year 

 after year, north, south, east and west, 

 offer an opportunity to almost everyone 

 once in a while to bring out what he 

 has. 



"Think of the added interest in these 

 exhibitions, if we could count on find- 

 ing at each of them even a couple 

 of dozen new sorts, any one of which 

 might be a real acquisition. 



"We have, I know, in the past suf- 

 fered from an overproduction of new 

 kinds, or rather from an overnaming 

 of new kinds. And our nomenclature 

 [Conclnded on page 94.] 



