10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JlNE 15, 1911. 



the exhibition is to be hold, emphasiz- 

 ing the fact tliat tlic sliow slioubl be 

 held, as far as i)ossible, at such a time 

 as to frive the best accoiiiiuodation to 

 the local coin])etitors, upuii whom the 

 exhibit must de])ond for its best dis- 

 play. The unforeseen and unprece- 



official list. The committee is still en- 

 gaged in this work, which must be done 

 by individual effort in the various col- 

 ItH-tions. This Avork is comparatively 

 easy, being merely to have the oppor- 

 tunity of seeing and describing these 

 remaining varieties, which, being of 



Bertrand H, Farr. 



(Pti'pldent American I'eoiiy Sooioty.) 



dented Avcather conditions are largely 

 at fault this year, but the fact re- 

 mains that the season for our local 

 growers is so nearly over that it is 

 diOicult for them to show any but their 

 latest varieties. That we are able to 

 have so good a display is due to the 

 energy and enthusiasm of exhibitors 

 from a distance, to whom wc arc 

 greatly indebted for their contribution 

 to the success of this exhibition. 



Regarding the future work of the 

 society, much remains to be accoin 

 jdished. 'J'here are still many v.arieties 

 that are well known ami in commerce, 

 especially among the later introduc- 

 tions, that it is desiral}]i' to add to our 



];iter origin, are not diflicult to ideri- 

 tify, and we are assisted in the re- 

 maining ])art of the work by the long 

 list of varieties we now have, which 

 serve as a key for comparison and 

 ni;il\e the remaining task comjjaratively 

 simjile. 



Publication of a Peony Manual. 



The next great work which the so- 

 ciety, in my ojiinion, should lend its 

 ell'orts tow;ird is the i)ublishing of a 

 jK'ony nuinual, which should be the 

 iinal revision of all the work hereto- 

 fore accoiri|dished and which should 

 stand as the ollicial manual or cata- 

 logue of the American I'eony Society. 



The publishing of this work should, in 

 my opinion, be done by the society 

 and, when completed, can be made a 

 valuable work that will find a ready 

 sale, sufficient, eventually, to repay 

 the cost of publication. The cost of 

 such a Avork will be considerable and 

 •it should not be undertaken until the 

 present work has withstood the test 

 of criticism and all ])ossible corrections 

 have been made, and until the finances 

 of the society are in a condition to 

 carry out the project. 



It was with some such thought in 

 mind that a number of the members^ 

 in going over the matter, volunteered 

 to make contributions toward the pre- 

 mium list this year, which would save, 

 to some extent, the depletion of the 

 treasury of the society, which has 

 necessarily followed each year the of- 

 fering of a long premium list by the 

 society and which had to be made up 

 from the small income derived from 

 the annual dues of its few members. 

 When this matter was mentioned to 

 others, a generous response was made 

 and the society has reason to feel 

 grateful to those who have so gener- 

 ously assisted in raising the premium 

 fund this year, as by so doing they 

 have helped greatly toward the ful- 

 fillment of the ultimate end in view. 



HAIL. 



[A p.Tpcr by .Tolin O. Kslcr. secretary of the 

 Floiists' Iliiil Assciciiition, Saddle Itiver. N. J., 

 road before tlie New York Florists' Club, June 12, 

 1911.] 



What General Sherman said of war 

 applies as well to hail. A few weeks 

 ago I visited St. Louis and saw some 

 of the disaster caused by the storm of 

 Ai)ril 13. A breakage of over .*?7,000 

 sfjuare feet of glass, nearly all double- 

 thick, out of r)(i,(iOO square feet in one 

 range, will give you some idea of what 

 hail can do when it gets busy. 



This storm was three miles wide by 

 forty miles long and broke seventy-five 

 per cent of the glass in the fifty or 

 more greenhouses in its path, and the 

 Florists' Hail Association paid for 

 nearly all of the loss without a quiver. 



As to the formation of hail, nearly 

 every scientist has a theory all his own, 

 but iu my estimation they have about 

 as much evidence to convince the man 

 from Missouri as liave the various gen- 

 tlemen Avho describe the golden streets 

 of tlie New Jerusalem, that their guess 

 is correct. 



It would tire you to enumerate the 

 freaks of hail storms, but suflice it to 

 say that the storm that does the most 

 damage is the one that has wind enough 



Some of Henry A. Dreer's Roses at the Philadelphia Peony Show Last Week. 



