14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



May 30, 1912. 



AMERICAN PEONY SOCIETY. 



This Year's Meeting, at Cornell. 



The annual meeting and exhibition 

 of the American Peony Society will be 

 held this year at Cornell University, 

 Ithaca, N. Y. The date of the meeting 

 has not yet been decided upon, but it 

 will be about June 20. 



The society has for some years been 

 carrying out an important piece of 

 work on the nomenclature of the 

 peony. Peony growers do not need to 

 be reminded that the names of many 

 of even the commonest varieties have 

 for a long time been under suspicion; 

 that a variety ordered under the same 

 name from half a dozen different grow- 

 ers may bring as many different sorts, 

 or even that the same variety ordered 

 from the same dealer in successive 

 years will not always prove identical. 

 There are many reasons which have 

 combined to produce this confusion in 

 the nomenclature. One of the most 

 potent was that there did not any- 

 where exist a standard collection of 

 varieties by means of which unnamed 

 or misnamed sorts could be identified; 

 there has not even been any authorita- 

 tive descriptive list which would an- 

 swer the purpose. 



The American Peony Society de- 

 cided some years ago to meet this sit- 

 uation by establishing a standard col- 

 lection of varieties, and by publishing 

 a descriptive check list. The authori- 

 ties at Cornell University generously 

 offered to take care of the collection, 

 and, on an appeal from the society to 

 growers in all parts of the world, about 

 2,000 named sorts were received and 

 planted. These have now been under 

 observation by the nomenclature com- 

 mittee of the society and by experts 

 at Cornell for the last four or five 

 years, and in addition the committee 

 has worked over most of the larger 

 collections in the eastern part of the 

 country. 



An Official Check List. 



The results of these studies have 

 been published from time to time in 

 separate bulletins, which offer to the 

 nurseryman and amateur authoritative 

 descriptions of the named sorts, so far 

 as treated. Up to the present time 

 about ninety-five per cent of all the 

 important commercial varieties have 

 been described and many others of less 

 importance; about 1,000 varieties, in 

 all, have come under the attention of 

 the committee. A great deal of con- 

 fusion has been removed and countless 

 synonyms have been discovered. 



The work is now nearly complete. 



After the present season 's work is done, 

 it is hoped that it will be possible to 

 publish a final and complete check 

 list, giving full descriptions of prac- 

 tically all the varieties that are in 

 commerce at the present time. This 

 list will be put out by the society in 

 book form, and will constitute the only 

 authoritative and complete work of its 

 kind in existence. When published it 

 will be offered for sale to the public. 



With the completion of this work 

 the collection at Cornell will be broken 

 up. It now occupies a large space, the 

 care of which entails a good deal of 

 labor. A representative collection is 

 to be permanently planted at Cornell, 

 and the rest of the stock will be dis- 

 posed of. 



The meeting at Ithaca this year will 

 give the members of the society, and 

 all interested in the peony, their last 

 chance to visit the full original collec- 

 tion; and as the plants are now of six 

 or seven years' growth, the field offers 

 an extraordinary opportunity of study 

 for the specialist. 



For the nurseryman and the amateur 

 not yet awake to the wonderful devel- 

 opments that have been made in peony 

 blooms during the last twenty-five 

 years, the exhibition of the society and 

 the Cornell plot itself will be a revela- 

 tion. 



A Letter to the Members. 



The following letter has been sent 



out to all the members of the society: 



To the Members of the American Peony Society: 

 At the last meeting of the society, held in 

 Philadelphia, it was decided to hold this year's 

 meeting at Cornell University, the exhibition at 

 this meeting to be composed largely of blooms 

 from the plants that have been placed in a per- 

 manent plot as representative of the identified 

 varieties which have been described In the vari- 

 ous bulletins Issued. This exhibition and meeting 

 at Cornell have been arranged with the view of 

 giving all the members of the society an oppor- 

 tunity of seeing the actual results that have been 

 obtained, and of comparing the Identified varie- 

 ties at Cornell with their own varieties which 

 they are growing under the same names. 



As this win be the most important business 

 meeting the society has ever held, inasmuch as 

 various Important questions will come up. It 

 would be to the interest of every member as well 

 as the society to have as large an attendance as 

 possible. 



Among the most Important questions to be de- 

 cided are: 



1. The method of bringing the first part of 

 this work to a close and the disposal of the 

 plants remaining in the original plot. 



2. The future course and policy of the society 

 to be pursued on the completion of the Cornell 

 work. 



3. The publication by the society of the com- 

 plete offlclal catalogue or peony manual, which 

 shall be a revision and correction and condensa- 

 tion of the present manuals, this book to be pub- 

 lished exclusively by and to be the property of 

 the society, with the view of making it a stand- 

 ard work on the peony, which can be placed on 

 sale to the general public, the proceeds of which 

 shall go to the society. 



At the last meeting of the society, held In 

 Philadelphia, it was decided that the plants re- 

 maining In the original plot could be put to no 

 better use than to be sold to some private estate 

 and the proceeds of the sale used toward the 

 expense of publishing this book, and a letter has 

 been sent to all those firms who contributed to 

 this experimental work, asking their consent to 

 do this. 



As it is the desire to make the principal part 

 of the exhibition from the Cornell plot. It has 

 been deemed best to forego for this year the 

 usual premium list and to offer in its place the 

 following: 



For the best collection of not less than 100 

 varieties, a prize of ?50 and a second prize 

 of |25. This will be open to commercial growers 

 only. 



For the best collection of not less than twenty- 

 five varieties, a prize of $25 and a second prize 

 of $15. This will be open to amateurs only. 



For the best new seedling of American origin, 

 not previously exhibited, $15. 



A certificate of merit will be awarded to any 

 new variety exhibited, not in the trade previous 

 to 1910, if deemed worthy of the same by the 

 judges. 



The exact date of the meeting will be an- 

 nounced in the trade papers and each member 

 will receive personal notice by card. 



A. P. Saunders, Sec'y, 



Clinton, N. Y. 



SEASONABLE NOTES. 



Lycastes. 



Few orchids are more generally sat- 

 isfactory than the old Lycaste Skin- 

 ner! and its beautiful pure white form. 

 The flowers hold fresh for ten to twelve 

 weeks on the plant and keep for three 

 weeks in water. The flowering season 

 for these is now over, and, with new 

 growths starting, any needed potting 

 should be done; repotting once in two 

 or three yekrs is all these plants usu- 

 ally need. They grow better in equal 



parts of fern fiber and fibrous loam 

 than in pure fern fiber. In summer 

 they succeed best in a cool north 

 house, but they should have a rather 

 warmer position in winter. Sponge 

 the leaves occasionally, as scale will 

 sometimes be found on them. 



The best lycastes I ever grew were 

 in 8-inch pots, in a mixture of fern 

 fiber and loam, with all the dusty par- 

 ticles discarded and some broken 

 crocks, charcoal and dry cow manure 

 added. These plants produced won- 

 derful bulbs and leaves, and the way 

 they flowered was simply amazing. A 



