30 
The Garden Magazine, September, 1920 
ONE OF THE RECENT VARIETIES 
Rich light pink is Judge Berry, one of the western productions of Mr. Brand 
By the year 1636 the craze had reached such a pitch that 
regular markets for the sale of Tulip bulbs were established on 
the stock exchange of Amsterdam as well as in other Dutch 
cities, and they became the material of a mania of speculation, 
with its own stock-jobbers who shortly found themselves in 
such an extensive and 'intricate business that a code of laws had 
to be drawn up for their guidance. Money poured in now 
from other countries. Everyone was getting rich, because the 
price of Tulips continued to rise. 
“Notaries and clerks were also appointed who devoted them- 
selves exclusively to the trade. The designation of notary 
public was hardly known in some towns, that of Tulip notary 
taking its place. In the smaller towns where there was no 
exchange, the principal tavern was usually selected as the 
‘show place’ where high and low traded in Tulips, and confirmed 
their bargains over sumptuous entertainments. These dinners 
were sometimes attended by two or three hundred persons, and 
large vases of T ulips in full bloom were placed at intervals upon 
the tables and sideboards for their gratification during the 
repast.” But, like the South Sea Bubble, and all other bubbles 
that man has blown, this one also came to its time of collapse, 
bringing on despair and poverty no less intense than the en- 
thusiasm that had preceded them. 
N OW the Peony in America has begun on a career which in 
its earlier stages — all we have yet traversed — shows some- 
what the same character as that marking the development of 
the Tulip craze in Holland! From about the middle of the 
nineteenth century it was known and cultivated in this country 
as part of the stock in trade of the general nurseryman, and 
as an item in the list of perennials included along with a hundred 
other species in almost any garden. 
But with the opening of the twentieth century a new kind of 
interest in the (lower arose in our country. The Peony special- 
ist appeared on the scene. He had already long since made his 
appearance in Europe; but there he had done his work and 
passed on without very noticeably influencing the history of 
gardening. Here it was another story. With the appearance 
of the professional specialist there came the amateur specialist 
as well, who, able to extract so much delight from his four to 
six weeks of Peony bloom in May and June, was content to go 
almost flowerless for the rest of the twelve months. 
By about 1910 we mark the beginning of the accumulation of 
great collections of Peonies in the gardens of specialist amateurs; 
and at about the same time the catalogues of the specialist 
professionals begin to pile up on our tables. These were never 
“Peony men” exclusively; but Peony and Iris, or Peony and 
Rose, or Peony and Gladiolus were combined, the better to fill 
out the season. Thus the Peony began to separate itself off 
from the general nursery business: and the building up of an 
adequate collection to meet the demands of the increasing 
Peony public called for a specialist’s enthusiasm — and further, 
involved a large expenditure of capital. 
There was another reason too why the Peony needed the care 
of a specialist. During the period in which the plant had been 
only a general nursery plant, much carelessness in the reading 
and writing of labels had brought about an endless confusion of 
names. When a label was lost, a new name was invented, or 
when a foreign name was too hard to read, a simpler one was 
substituted; so in the early nineteen hundreds you might order 
half a dozen different varieties from as many nurseries, and 
receive the same sort from all of them, or you might order the 
same sort from as many dealers and receive six different ones. 
In 1903 the American Peony Society was formed; and at the 
time of its foundation it was the only organization in existence 
THE JUSTLY FAMOUS JUBILEE 
To have achieved this gloriously crowns Mrs. Pleas’ half a century of work 
that was devoted expressly to the interests of the Peony. Its 
primary purpose was to gather together as complete a collection 
as possible of all the named varieties of Peonies, so as to com- 
pare them, eliminate synonyms, and get the good kinds started 
out on a better path, under the names that had been theirs 
originally. This work, which was a labor of love, but none 
the less arduous for that, was brought to completion in 1912, 
and the main results were then published. 
With increasing knowledge as to the true names, there came 
an increasing impatience on the part of the purchaser toward 
any grower who sent him stock that did not tally with the 
standard description. So the Peony came to demand almost 
the exclusive attention of any one who wished to live up to the 
exacting standard his best customers would set for him. His 
