jDNa 26. 1913. 



The Florists' Review 



11 



Even those who followed the plan of 

 the society found, it would seem, great 

 difficulty in distinguishing colors. There 

 tieems to have been a decided diflference 

 of opinion whether Alexandriana, Per- 

 fection, and Triomphfe de 1 'Exposition 

 lie Lille were light or dark pink. A sim- 

 ilar difficulty arose in discriminating be- 

 tween dark pink and red. The large 

 majority used the classification, "Any 

 other color, ' ' merely to denote a second 

 choice in one of the previous groups. 

 No flower received more than three 

 votes in this last division. 



The votes under each color were di- 

 vided among from eight to ten varie- 

 ties. The largest number of votes was 

 cast, in the light pink group and a vari- 

 ety in this group, Eugene Verdier, ob- 

 tained the greatest number cast for 

 any one variety. The leaders in each 

 division were as follows: 



White: 



Mme. ■ de Vernevllle 27 



Festlva Maxima 26 



Duehesse de Nemours 3 



Light pjnk: 



Blugene verdier 39 



Therese 12 



Perfection 3 



Alexandriana 2 



Triomphe de I'Exposltlon de Lille 2 



Dark pink: 



Modeste Guerln 20 



Triomphe de I'Exposltlon de Lille 4 



M. Jules Elle 3 



Perfection 2 



Alexandriana 2 



M. Mbrtln Cahuzac 2 



Red: 



Augustln d'Hour 17 



M. Martin Cabuzac 11 



Eugene Bigot 8 



CONSEBVING THE PLANTS. 



As the peonies pass out of flower, 

 remove all seed pods, cutting off none 

 of the foliage in doing so. The less 

 foliage you cut away, the stronger will 

 be your plants the following year. You 

 can still considerably improve the plants 

 by giving them a top-dressing of dried 

 blood, fine bone, or even some good gen- 

 eral fertilizer rich in nitrogen and pot- 

 ash. Some growers have found that a 

 potato fertilizer answers well. Do not 

 neglect the plants because they have 

 flowered, but keep the ground about 

 them well cultivated and clear of weeds. 



It may be noted that there is no 

 diminution Ln the enthusiasm for peo- 

 nies. They continue, without question, 

 the most popular of all our herbaceous 

 perennials, and no florist can go far 

 wrong in stocking up liberally with the 

 really good varieties which have pleas- 

 ing colors. Of these, white, soft pink 

 and rose seem to lead. In Europe there 

 is a yellow variety which should prove 

 a welcome novelty when we get it here. 



WORK OF THE PEONY SOCIETY. 



President Farr's Beview. 



In his address to the American Peony 

 Society at Cleveland last week. Presi- 

 dent B. H. Farr commented somewhat 

 at length on the unfavorable season 

 and the excellent show. Reviewing the 

 society's work for the year, he said in 

 part: 



"I would state that the most impor- 

 tant work was the disposal of the large 

 plantings of peonies at Cornell Univer- 

 sity. All of the old collection in the 

 test plot was sold to Doubleday, Page 

 & Co., and the private collections were 

 sold to various individuals, with the re- 

 sult that the society shows a net in- 

 crease in its treasury balance, after cov- 

 ering all expenses, of over $700. This 

 amount, added to our previous balance, 



Bertrand H. Farr, President American Peony Society. 



gives the society at the present time a 

 net worth of a|)proximately $1,500. 



Peony Manual Coming Out Soon. 



"The next and most important work 

 of the society during the y^r was to 

 arrange with Doubleday, Pa^ & Co., 

 subject to the ratification of the so- 

 ciety, for the publishing of a complete 

 peony manual, comprising all of the 

 material in the present bulletins, after 

 they have been edited, revised and cor- 

 rected, together with such added ma- 

 terial as can be gotten together and will 

 make the book valuable for everyone 

 interested in peonies. It is the expecta- 

 tion that this work will be ready for 

 publication during the coming autumn. 



"The committee feels that every 

 peony grower and every member of the 

 society shoutd assist in every way pos- 

 sible tqiward making this final work as 

 complete and as free from errors as pos- 

 sible. The members are requested to 

 make a*special study of the bulletins, 

 making comparisons with their own ex- 

 perience and their plants in the field, 

 and are earnestly requested to assist the 

 committee by sending in any sugges- 

 tions which may make the work more 

 valuable, or their criticisms of any of 

 the descriptions to be found in the pres- 

 ent bulletins. 



' * Information is especially desired 

 along the following lines: 



(1) A list of all Tarleties that are autlientic 



that are not yet Included In the bulletins which 

 it would be desirable to Include. 



(2) Any information which will be of per- 

 manent value in the bulletins concerning the dis- 

 eases of the peony and remedies for the same. 



(3) Methods of propagation and cultivation. 



(4) Information regarding the methods of 

 handling the cut blooms for commercial pur- 

 poses, Including cold storage, etc. 



(5) A list of the best 100 varieties In the 

 writer's opinion, for all purposes. 



(6) A list of the best fifty varieties for land- 

 scape or ornamental work. 



"All correspondence on this subject 



should be forwarded to Prof. A. P. 



Saunders, Hamilton College, Clinton, 



N. Y., secretary. 



The Test Plots. 



"While the old planting at Cornell 

 has been abandoned, it must be borne in 

 mind that the permanent planting of 

 all the varieties that have been passed 

 upon by the various bulletins has been 

 carried out, and samples, consisting of 

 three plants of each variety, have been 

 planted in a permanent position, where 

 they will remain at all times open to 

 the inspection of members and others 

 interested. 



"At the last meeting of the society 

 the desirability of establishing other 

 similar selections in different parts of 

 the country was considered. The de- 

 sirability of establishing such a collec- 

 tion at Arlington farms, under the pro- 

 tection of the United States govern- 

 ment, was discussed, and it was voted 

 unanimously by the society that steps 

 be taken to bring about such a planting. 



