that is the veriest folde-rol. Listen to this de~ 
scription of Monsier Jules Elie, the King of Peonies: 
“W hat shall we say of it? Enormous size, richest 
coloring, sure free bloomer, deliciously perfumed, 
the form so opulent of charm, so perfect in chisel- 
ing as to be beyond compare, the overlapping 
convex petalage—a marvel of curves and sinuosi- 
ties like fairy conyolutions. The sunburst of color, 
eloquent of divinest passion, radiating, from a core 
of glossy pink as from some mystic fountain con~ 
cealed under fluffy laciness, silvery pink here, 
pearl pink there, and baby pink everywhere. 
The colors blending and intermingling, to a sheen 
of satiny pink, lit by a_ sunset glow, a tiny flame 
from the lambent furnace of some angel’s heart; 
the form combined with the color in a harmonious 
whole difficult to describe; the petals winding, in 
and out and curved jauntily as if consciously 
recurving, from the mass of marvelous bloom and 
foliage around it; shimmering, silvery tones height- 
ening up toa climax of richest pink in a natural 
and indeed inevitable inflorescence. If you love 
beauty this flower shoots through you an unwonted 
thrill; you turn again and again that you might 
verify and prolong the pulsing wave of poetry by 
excluding the surroundings from your vision. The 
colors gleam with light as if it were burnished 
clouds touched by morning. It is indeed a won- 
der of fragrant loveliness. Great is the King I? 
Overpraise? Why, the above with its numerous 
tones and shades of pink does not tell half the 
story. Compare it with the earlier descriptions of 
some of the French varieties that read like this: 
“Violaceous Pink.” And then to think that any 
modern Peony salesman, after reading, these French 
descriptions, could only ejaculate, “Huh! me too!” 
NEW INTRODUCTIONS 
Many of the best Peonies have been introduced 
in the past ten or fifteen years, being, disseminated 
by those painstaking Frenchmen, M. Dessert and 
M. Lemoine. Nothing in the line of Peonies that 
had gone before equaled or approached such 
varieties as Alsace-Lorraine, Aurore, Bayadere, 
Germaine Bigot, Enchantress, Le Cygne, La France, 
Madame Emile Lemoine, Madame Jules Dessert, 
Mignon, Monsieur Martin Cahuzac, Sarah Bern~ 
hardt, Solange, Therese, Touran gelle, etc. 
Kelway, of England, has enriched Peonies for 
all time by such superb sorts as Baroness Schroe~ 
der, Kelway’s Glorious, James Kelway, etc. 
Mr. Blaauw, of Holland, added a grand variety 
recently in President Taft. 
These are necessarily higher in price than the 
older sorts as they have been so recently sent out 
and the stock of them is very limited, but let us 
tell you that you will miss a large part of the 
charm of the Peony until you see these wonders 
of the floral creation. We could sell you fifty 
thousand Festiva Maxima or twenty-five thousand 
Marie Lemoine at prices guoted and be glad to 
do so, but we could not sell you one hundred of 
such varieties as Le Cygne, La France, Solange, 
Miss Ella V: Baines,'‘Springfield, Ohio. 
etc., for the reason they are not to be had at any 
price, and at the prices guoted for them we are 
not anxious to sell them. We make this assertion 
and will stand by same that the 8reatest creations 
in Peonies the world has ever known are the 
recent introductions of Messrs. Dessert and Lemoine. 
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and 
it is almost the invariable rule of visitors to our 
Peony fields, while in bloom, to make choice of 
We go to some length in 
this matter as some dealers endeavor to create the 
impression that most of the new Peonies are fakes; 
these new varieties. 
we want if possible to correct this impression, 
which is absolutely erroneous. 
AMERICAN PEONIES 
Of Peonies originating, in America those by 
John Richardson, of Massachusetts, from 1857 to 
1887, are prominent. His Dorchester, Grandi- 
flora, Milton Hill, etc., are of the finest varieties 
in existence. George Hollis, also of Massachu~ 
setts, and H. A. Terry, of Iowa, have sent out some 
good varieties, but unfortunately for us the labors 
of these three P. eony growers are ended. The 
Rey. Harrison and Mr. Rosenfield, both of Ne~ 
braska, also Mr. Shaylor, of Massachusetts, have 
very recently added to our P eony lists in Aimerica. 
Mr. Brand, of Minnesota, commenced his work 
with Peonies in 1886. His Archie Brand, Eliza- 
beth Barrett Browning, Frances Willard, Long- 
fellow, Mary Brand, Martha Bulloch, Richard 
Carvel, etc., are as good as the best. It behooves 
every Peony enthusiast to keep his eye on the 
Brand Peonies. 
Let me introduce to you Brand’s Peonies. 
(The little child is showing, youa flower of the 
famous Martha Bulloch.) 
Page Five 
