Then, upon lifting, if it still has some disease, 
repeat the operation. Should the plant be so 
badly diseased as to fail either to grow or bloom, 
then land it in the discard unless it is valuable 
enough to graft the eyes on clean roots. 
The Best Fifty 
Do not think for one moment that I would at- 
tempt to choose fifty varieties for you. To illus~ 
One day in the Peony field a lady asked, 
pointing to a certain variety, “What Peony is that?” 
After being, told she said, “That’s the ugliest 
Just then a couple of young, 
trate: 
flower I ever saw!” 
ladies came along, and one of them seeing, the 
variety the lady had called the “ugliest,” ran 
“Oh! 
come, Mary, here is the prettiest flower I ever 
“And you 
would have me tell you which is the prettiest 
ahead of her companion and exclaimed: 
saw!” Turning, to the woman I said: 
Peony?” At another time after conducting, a 
couple of women through our fields and selling 
them guite an order, I remembered that I had 
overlooked that charming, variety Asa Gray. AL 
though worn out with our tramp through the fields 
we retraced our steps to the farthest corner of our 
fields, and while they vere looking, Asa Gray 
over they spied several rows of Victoire Tricolore 
which we had decided were so worthless that we 
had marked them to dig and throw away. They 
left Asa Gray and fairly waded across the rows of 
plants between, and each of them purchased, to 
our way of thinking, a variety not worth Growing. 
No, it can’t be dene; I would uot be so pre- 
sumptious as to name the best fifty. I would be 
as silly as the fellow who claims that the best can 
be found in one hundred varieties. Read my 
descriptions of the different varieties and where I 
have fairly poured out my soul about them that 
will be the telltale of my Own opinion. 
List of Peonies According to Color 
To enable purchasers to guickly find from the 
alphabetical list the colors desired, we have ar-~ 
ranged the following lists, including some of the 
principal varieties of the early, medium and late 
of each color: 
WHITE 
Avalanche 
Baroness Schroeder 
Boule de Neige 
Couronne @Or 
Duchess de Nemours 
Festiva 
Festiva Maxima 
Florence Nightingale 
Frances E. Willard 
James Kelway 
Lady Alexandra Duff 
La Rosiere 
Le Cygne 
Madame de Vatry 
Madame de Verneville 
Madame Emile Lemoine 
Marie Lemoine 
Mireille 
Monsieur Dupont 
Queen Victoria 
Jubilee 
YELLOW, CHANGING TO WHITE 
Alba Sulfurea Philomele 
Blanche Cire Primevere 
Canari Soltatare 
Candidissima Sulfturea 
Due de Wellington 
Miss Ella V: Baines, Springfield, Ohio. 
BLUSH OR DELICATE FLESH 
Madame Emile Galle 
Mdlle. Leonie Calot 
Marguerite Gerard 
Marie Jacquin 
Marie Stuart 
Midsummer Night’s 
Dream 
Octavie Demay 
President Taft 
Solange 
Tourangelle 
Umbellata Rosea 
Achille 
Alsace-Lorraine 
Eugenie Verdier 
Floral Treasure 
Germaine Bigot 
Golden Harvest 
Kelway’s Glorious 
Kelway’s Queen 
La Loraine 
La Tendresse 
La Tulipe 
Loveliness 
Madame Calot 
LIGHT OR MEDIUM PINK 
Albert Crousse 
Asa Gray 
Dorchester 
Edmond About 
Elwood Pleas 
Madame Boulanger 
Madame de Galhau 
Madame Ducel 
Marie Crousse 
Marie d’Hour 
Etta Martha Bulloch 
Gismonde Modele de Perfection 
Gloire de Chas. Monsieur Jules Elie 
Gombault Princess Beatrice 
Grandiflora Sarah Bernhardt 
Humei Carnea Therese 
La France Tri. de Expo. de Lille 
La Perle Venus 
L’ Indispensable Welcome Guest 
DEEP PINK AND ROSE 
Alexandre Dumas 
Auguste Villaume 
Beranger 
Claire Dubois 
Clementine Gillot 
Duke of Devonshire 
Edulis Superba 
Elie Chevalier 
Lady Leonora Bramwell 
La Fayette 
Leviathan 
Linne 
Livingstone 
Madame Forel 
Madame Geissler 
Madame Thouvenin 
Fragrans Mathilde de Roseneck 
Gigantea Modeste Guerin 
Humei Ne Plus Ultra 
Irma Walter Faxon 
Jenny Lind 
RED 
Agida Felix Crousse 
Atrosanguinea Marechal Valliant 
Monsieur Krelage 
Rachel (Terry) 
Shabona 
The Gem 
Auguste Lemonier 
Augustin d’Hour 
Berlioz 
De Candolle 
Edwin Forrest 
CRIMSON OR DEEP RED 
L’Ecletante 
Madame Bucquet 
Madame Gandichau 
Meissonier 
Mons. Martin Cahuzae 
Rubra Superba 
Adolphe Roussean 
Dr. Boisduval 
Eugene Bigot 
Gloire de Touraine 
Grover Cleveland 
Karl Rosenfield 
Size of Roots 
The size of Peony roots varies as to variety, 
some sorts making, strong, roots with few eyes, while 
others make smaller roots with eyes in plenty, and 
then again this rule will be reversed. Some va~ 
rieties do not throw normal bloom after division 
inside of two years, then again other varieties will 
throw grand flowers first year from division. We 
have seen as fine flowers on Monsieur Jules Elie 
at one year from division as we have at thsee 
years, but not as many of them per plant. 
The newer varieties that are scarce, the smaller 
the roots sent regardless of price. 
Do not for one moment think that we are Going, 
to pay $5.00 for a small Peony root and then 
grow it a year or two, dig, and sell to you for 
what we paid for it. Mr. Welsh puts it tersely 
thus: “The man who cheats himself is about as 
bad as to cheat the other fellow, and that if we 
sold Peonies at any lower price we would be 
cheating, ourselves,” and we know you do not 
wish us to do that. 
Page Eleven 
