iiii.^L)ia,« II .■■■iiiawi.niiwiiJb,. ,."w"T'.ti«j^'(j^i.ii»pjj^j|iiiiiii,iii it^r-rj^^/m.-Tft^A'^n^f'tr., 



Wir'^'ry.'^^:?vt.iy9'-v»^T}ymf'^'^''7Ky^^. ". x- •■ '"' 



244 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



.^" V '' 



Jdnb 22, 1905. 



ciety and other special associations would 

 in the end destroy the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists. This I do not believe to 

 be true and I cannot see any other re- 

 sult from the organization of such spe- 

 cial societies than an increased general 

 distribution of flower and plant knowl- 

 edge among the general public, which in 

 the end will result in increased aceession 

 to the ranks of the Society of American 

 Florists. 



It may be asserted with truth that the 

 Peony Society has not now, nor will it 

 have in the future, any conflict with any 

 other horticultural body, but it has been 

 formed for the purpose of accomplishing 

 certain special work that can be done 

 only by and with the hearty co-operation 

 of all of those most vitally interested in 

 the peony. 



Personally, I am well satisfied that 

 our association will gladly co'ntribute to 

 the archives of the Society of American 

 Florists, nr to any other horticultural 

 body that makes for the good of the 

 florist craft in general, the results which 

 it may accomplish in the way of straight- 

 ening out peony nomenclature, or any 

 other results which may be considered 

 generally beneficial to the craft. 



Results Doe to Growers. 



Neither the Peony Society nor the S. 

 A. F. Peony Committee has had as yet 

 any great measurable eflFect upon the in- 

 crease in the demand for peonies for the 

 reason that neither has up to the pres- 

 ent time accomplished any definite ad- 

 vancement, either in the improvement of 

 the peony or the methods of its culture 

 or its commercial handling. Aside from 

 a few articles and cultural notes ap- 

 pearing in the press, nothing tangible 

 has gone forth to the general public and 

 these articles have not as a rule ema- 

 nated either from the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists or from the American Peony 

 Society. Whatever results have been ac- 



complished up to the present time have 

 been largely through the work done by 

 the peony specialists, who are giving 

 their time to the culture of and invest- 

 ing their capital in peonies. 



The experimental peony plantation of 

 Cornell University has been made possi- 

 ble only by the voluntary contributions 

 of the principal peony specialists in 

 America and Europe who are members 

 of the American Peony Society. 



Controversy Should Cease. 



Reverting again to the unpleasant 

 tilings which have been said and done in 



connection with the formation of our so- 

 ciety, it may well be said that all oppo- 

 sition and controversy should now cease. 

 The work of the Peony Society has been 

 so definitely cut out and clearly defined 

 that the few doubting and misguided 

 spirits within the ranks of the Society of 

 American Florists who have heretofore 

 frowned upon our organization, should 

 now cease their antagonism and bend 

 their efforts toward forwarding a work 

 that will in the end redound to the gen- 

 eral welfare and benefit of the entire 

 florist craft as well as the nursery fra- 

 ternity. 



Irrigation. 



Although it may appear unseasonable 

 to write of watering after the frequent 

 and heavy rains that have recently pre- 

 vailed in most parts of the country, we 

 may now reasonably expect our three 

 months of hot weather and spells of 

 drought. 



The Atlantic, and even what is called 

 the middle western, states can get along 

 fairly well with many outside crops with- 

 out artificial irrigation, but I am told, 

 and it is doubtless true, that farther 

 west, in Kansas and Colorado for in- 

 stance, it "^ould be impossible to grow 

 even carnations in the field unless they 

 were frequently and thoroughly watered. 

 They would dry up and blow away. I 

 was glad to notice that Mr. Baur, in his 

 recent notes, disapproves of watering car- 



Peony Festiva Maxima, Shown by the Cottage Ganlens. 



nations in the field that are intended to 

 be lifted and benched. What I now say, 

 or have said, in the past, was for cona- 

 tions we have in the eastern states, where 

 we occasionally have had eight and nine 

 weeks of hot spells and drought, but for 

 many years I have preached no water but 

 plenty of hoeing for carnations and have 

 had the pleasure of being told in personal 

 interviews that I was talking pure non- 

 sense. But I am not going to dip into 

 carnations. There are other important 

 plants that must be artificially watered in 

 every locality during two or three weeks 

 of dry weather. 



First a word about the principle of 

 watering and hoeing. If we plunged, 

 say, a carnation or geranium in a 4-inch 

 pot in the ground and gave it one water- 

 ing at the time, but no more attention 

 for a week of hot dry weather, the plant 

 would be past redemption, shriveled up, 

 because the pot would prevent any mois- 

 ture ascending from the depths of the 

 soil to nourish the roots. If you planted 

 similar plants in the ground and gave 

 them one watering at planting time, how 

 would you find these plants after a week 

 of drought? If properly planted and 

 sensibly watered at planting time, you 

 would find them fresh, plump and heal- 

 thy. If not perceptibly grown they 

 would be robust and vigorous. Now is 

 this not positive proof that in these dry 

 times it is the moisture arising from the 

 depths of the ground? 



Why is subsoiling so wonderfully bene- 

 ficial? Simply because the breaking up 

 or disturbing the soil fifteen or eighteen 

 inches deep facilitates the quicker and 

 freer rise of this moisture. I believe the 

 principle of the moisture rising to evap- 

 orate at the surface is known as capillary 

 attraction. Whatever scientific term is 

 attached to it does not add to its value, 

 and let us say that it is a thoughtful 

 arrangement of an all wise providence 

 that when the clouds do not bless us from 

 above, nature's reservoir sends up her 

 blessings from below. This was not or- 

 dained alone for little man's benefit, but 

 to keep the face of the earth green, to 

 nourish the mighty sequoia, the sturdy 

 oak and the modest daisy and useful 

 ' ' tater. ' ' 



Now, we plow up the land six or eight 

 inches deep, plant, and in too many cases 

 as soon as the surface looks dry, get out 

 the hose and sprinkle the surface, wetting 

 through an inch deep, and possibly not 



