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June 19, 191.3. 



The Florists^ Review 



9 



THE AMERICAN x 

 X PEONY SOCIETY 



ELEVENTH ANNUAL MEETINO. 



Officers BeSlected. 



Tresident — Bertrand H. Fari', Bead- 

 ing. Pa. 



Vice-President — Edward B. George, 

 Painesville, O. 



Secretary — Professor A. P. Saunders, 

 Clinton, N. Y. 



Treasurer — J. H. Humphreys, German- 

 town, Pa, 



Location of 1914 meeting — Chicago, 



III. 



The Cleveland Meeting. 



For ten years the American Peony 

 Society held its annual June affair in- 

 dependently of other organizations. 

 Several times it met at its own trial 

 grounds at Cornell University, but last 

 year it was thought that the work on 

 nomenclature had progressed to the 

 point where the greater part of the 

 plants in the test plots could be dis- 

 posed of and the society could resume 

 the peregrinations that were a feature 

 of its earlier years. Accordingly, the 

 eleventh annual gathering was held at 

 Cleveland, O., June 12 to 14, 1913. 



In other years the society, if enter- 

 tained by local organizations, has had 

 its own premium list and rules, but this 

 year the Peony Society joined with the 

 Ohio Horticultural Society and almost 

 lost its identity through having no 

 schedule or premiums of its own. The 

 Peony Society did what it could under 

 fiomewhat unfavorable circumstances to 

 add to the interest in the show and 

 the peony section was by far the 

 largest and most interesting part of the 

 exhibition. 



It is many years since Cleveland has 

 had a spring show and there was much 

 interest taken, the attendance on the 

 opening day being 5,000. Mayor New- 

 ton D. Baker formally opened the ex- 

 hibition. 



The Peony Classes. 



The show of peonies was good, but 

 by no means the best the American 

 Peony Society has seen. Peony grow- 

 ers have had much to contend with this 

 season. Late frosts in Ohio completely 

 cleaned out some growers, so far as 

 exhibition blooms are concerned. The 

 peony growers are at a decided disad- 

 vantage in their exhibitions, in com- 

 parison with the rose, carnation, chrysan- 

 themum, sweet pea, gladiolus and other 

 growers, as their flowers have different 

 blooming periods in different sections 

 of the country; outdoor flowers can not 

 be brought into bloom at a certain time, 

 like indoor flowers. The peony grow- 

 ers, however, have the advantage that 

 their flowers can be held in cold storage 

 for some time without injury. In last 

 week 's show some of the exhibits had 

 been in cold storage for three weeks 

 previous, while other vases held buds as 

 hard as Mrs. Newly wed 's well-known 

 biscuits. 



E. A. Eeeves, of Cleveland; B. H. 

 Farr, of Beading, Pa.; Cottage Gardens 

 Co., Queens, N. Y., and C. Betscher, 

 Canal Dover, O., were the principal ex- 

 hibitors, each showing from 5tf0 to 3,000 

 blooms. A great many of the flowers 

 showed the effects of frost, while varie- 

 ties easily touched were not in evidence 

 at all. A vase of blooms grown by 

 Martin Kohankie, Painesville, 0., and 

 shown by the Jones-Bussell Co., was 

 clearly the finest exhibit in the hall, 

 with a vase of Festiva Maxima grown 

 by the J. M. Gasser Co. a good second. 



There was a considerable number of 

 exhibits by local amateurs, among whom 

 Secretary A. P. Saunders was the prin- 

 cipal prize winner. The awards to trade 

 exhibitors in the peony classes were as 

 follows: 



Collection of fifty herbaceous peonies, double, 

 in twenty named varieties — C. Merkel & Sons, 

 first; B. H. Farr. second: C. Betscher, third. 



Vase of fifty lilooms. red or crimson, single, on 



long stems, arranged for effect — E. A. Reeves, 

 first. 



Collection of twenty-five named varieties, 

 double, one bloom of each— B. H. Farr, first; 

 E. A. Reeves, second. 



Collection of ten named varieties, double, three 

 of each — Cottage Gardens Co., first; C. Merkel & 

 Sons, second; E. A. Reeves, third. 



Vase of twenty-five blooms, double, white or 

 blush — C. Merkel & Sons, first; J. M. Gasser Co., 

 second; Jones-Russell Co., third. 



Vase of twenty-five blooms, double, pink — 

 Jones- Russell Co., first: C. Merkel & Sons, sec- 

 ond; E. A. Reeves, third. 



Vase of twenty-flve blooms, double, red or 

 crimson — C. Betscher, first; B. A. Reeves, second 

 and third. 



Vase of twenty-five blooms, double, any other 

 color — E. A. Reeves, first; C. Merkel & Sons, 

 second; E. A. Reeves, third. 



Collection of one hundred named varieties her- 

 baceous peonies, one of each — E. A. Reeves, first, 

 receiving the Peony Society's gold medal. 



The Boses. 



The showing of outdoor roses for the 

 premiums offered by the Ohio Horticul- 

 tural Society was not large and was ' 

 nearly all from amateurs who grow 

 only in home gardens. The classes for 

 indoor roses called only for six blooms 

 and the exhibits were an inconspicuous 

 feature of the show. 



The retailers had little opportunity 

 to display their skill in competition, as 

 their only opening was in a few classes 

 calling for baskets of roses. These ex- 

 hibits were fully up to the standard of 

 high-class work and the judges found 

 the awarding of prizes in these classes 

 no idle task. 



The awards in classes open to trade 

 exhibitors were as follows: 



Twelve named varieties hybrid perpetual roses, 

 three of each — Woodside Farm, third; no first or 

 second. 



Six named varieties hybrid perpetual roses, 

 three of each — Woodside Farm, third; no first or 

 second. 



Six blooms any white hybrid tea roses, indoor 

 grown — J. M. Gasser Co.. first and second. 



Six blooms any pink hybrid tea roses. Indoor 

 grown— J. M. Gasser Co., second and third; no 

 first awarded. 



Six any red hybrid tea roses. Indoor grown — 

 J. M. Gasser Co., second; no first awarded. 



Basket hybrid tea roses, artistically arranged, 

 any white varieties — J. M. Gasser Co., first; 

 Jones-Russell Co., second. 



Basket hybrid tea roses, artistically arranged, 

 any pink varieties— Jones-Russell Co., first: J. M. 

 Gasser Co., second. 





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A Portico of the American Peony Sodety'i Exhibits at the Cleveland Spring Show. 



