The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



June 17, 1909. 



Introducing New Varieties. — Whilo 

 the society should encoiirafje the growers 

 of new varieties and give ample recogni- 

 tion to all improvements of merit, it 

 should carefully avoid the endorsement 

 of the commercial value of any new 

 peony, and its awards should be of such 

 a character as would prevent the tise of 

 the society's name in advertising wdith 

 less varieties or varieties that may lii' 

 ])ractically duplicates of kinds already 

 e.visting in commerce. 



In conclusion I desire to express my 

 great gratitude to the memhers of lliis 

 society for flie uniforndy kind and cour- 

 teous treatment tliey have one and all ac 

 c()r<led Tue, anil for the generous assist- 

 ance all have rendered the society, as well 

 as for the enthusiasm manifested in our 

 work. T feel that I ought to apologize 

 for the little time T lia\-e lieeii alile to 



guidance our society will' prosper and ac- 

 complish the needed work. 



You all have my best wishes for suc- 

 cess, collectively ami individually, and I 

 desire to exi)ress to each and every one 

 of you my warmest friendship and sin- 

 C(>rest wishes for a long, successful and 

 liap|iy career. 



The addres,s received the thanks of 

 the society, and the regrets of the mem- 

 bers pres<'nt were sent to Mr. \V;ird, be- 

 cause of his enforced absence, with hojies 

 for his .speeiiy i'e<-ovcry. 



Secretary's Report. 



The rej)ort of Secretai'y A. II. I''e\\kes 

 WAH as follows: 



The present mend)ership of the society, 

 not including four iionorary members, is 

 fifty-four. We have lost during the year 

 one niendier by death, E. V. llallock, who 



Peony Festiva Maxima in the Shrubbery. 



devote to the duties of the office with 

 which you have thrice honored nie, and 

 to offer as the only exjila nation lack of 

 sufficient strength to attend to them prop- 

 erly and at the same time cjire for the 

 business duties which have crowded upon 

 me and which could not bo avoided. I 

 foel certain that any one of your mem- 

 bers whom you may choose as my suc- 

 cessor will more ably fill the office than I 

 have been able to do, and that under his 



joineil the society at the last mei'ting at 

 Ithaca. .\lthough liis nu'mberslii|) was 

 of short duration his loss will be keenly 

 felt, for his horticultural attainments 

 ami genial personality made him a most 

 valued member. 



The work of the nomenclature commit- 

 tee is progressing. The peony bulletin 

 judilished by Cornell University was is- 

 sueil early in the year and distributed to 

 members. It contained the Coit essay on 

 the peony ;ind a partial descriptive list 



of varieties. This list forms the begir, 

 ning of the official catalogue of the S( 

 ciety. In his introductory note Prof esse i 

 Craig says: "It is to be regarded as 

 preliminary step, and therefore subjei 

 to modification in the light of futui 

 experience." I will therefore say witli 

 out other authority from the chairman o' 

 the nomenclature committee that thes. 

 descriptions are submitted to you foi 

 your approval or criticism botli as ti 

 method and accuracy. If they do no 

 meet with your approval it is suggested 

 that your objections be communicate^ 

 direct to Professor Craig or his repre 

 sentative, I^eon 1). Batchelor, as it i 

 through a frank expression of opinioi 

 on these matters that the best result- 

 will be obtained. 



In connection with the nomenclatun 

 work the question suggests itself to me 

 whether as individual members we an 

 doing all we can to further the work oi 

 the committee? It certainly is noi 

 enough for us to simply send our collei- 

 tions of roots to Cornell and expect tin 

 confusion to be straightened out by the 

 connnittee there, while we keep on selling 

 and distributing doubtful varieties undei 

 the names we happen to have attached 

 to them. We should cease being too con 

 fi<lent of the accuracy of our own list 

 of names, unless we have taken extraor 

 dinary means for proving them to be 

 correct. For instance, if some of u> 

 have invested in the Lady Alexandra 

 Duff gold brick we should not pass il 

 along as the trui^ thing, but S(dl it upon 

 its own merits, if we are fortunate enough 

 to have received one of the few good 

 ones out of the dozen or more varieties 

 sent here for it; and solve the problem 

 as one member, at least, has done by ad 

 vertising it as having lieen received foi 

 the true vari(>ty, but expressing a douht 

 of its accuracy, whih> giving it full credit 

 for quality. There are many other vari 

 (■ties of uncertain i(|entity which should 

 \h'. treated in the s;ime way and if we an 

 to be consistent meudiers of the Amer 

 ican Peony Society some such course a^ 

 the above should be followe(l. 



Another matter which shouhl receive at 

 teiition at this me(>ting is tlie prenuum 

 list for our exhibitions and tiie ways and 

 uu'ans of providing for it. The exhibi 

 tions form an important adjunct to the 

 meetings an<l some s|)ecial provision^ 

 should be made whereby prizes can bi 

 offered and jiaid without making too 

 heavy demands upon the tri'asury. 



The exhibition at the last meeting at 

 Ithaca was a fairly good one, l>ut was 

 made u]> primipally of flowers cut from 

 tiie test ctillections. T. ('. Thurlow & to.. 

 West Xewlmry, .Mass.. and Prof. A. 1'. 

 Saunders. Clinton, \. Y., were the oidv 

 other exhibitors, and great credit is due 

 them for making so good a showing o1 

 blooms. Th(> former entered in the con: 

 unTidal, anil the latter in the amateui 

 (dasses. 



Other Reports. 



'j're.isuic 1' 1 1 luiijiiirey 's report showed 

 a iialance of .+ !.')(). >s!t on hanil, the ye.arV 

 expenditures being .t'>.3.7(). The gener 

 osity of the prize winners of last ye.-ii. 

 in allowing their winnings to revert to 

 the society's treasury, was heartily a]' 

 |)reciated. 



Prof. Craig, in jiresenting the report 

 of the nomen(dature committee, said the 

 real work of the committee is being done 

 by those in charge of collections of plants 

 sent to Ithaca, and frank critici-sin of its 

 work was suggested and is desired. Lleal 

 condition.s were n^t sought, he said, but 



