The Garden Magazine, September , 1920 
31 
stock must be true to name, 
but not only that; in order 
to meet the calls for the 
rarer kinds, he must carry 
four or five hundred distinct 
kinds of named Peonies in 
his nursery. 
This marks, 1 should say, 
the beginning of the second 
phase in our history. 
W ITH the development 
of the specialist, both 
professional and amateur, 
and with the dissemination 
of knowledge as to the char- 
acter of the many varieties 
that were offered, there grew 
up a keen demand for those 
sorts that approached most 
nearly to the enthusiast’s 
ideal. In some cases these 
most highly perfected 
blooms had been for a long 
time in culture, and of such 
there was ample stock to 
meet the demand. But na- 
turally many of the most 
beautiful kinds were of 
more recent introduction, 
and since the Peony plant 
can be multiplied only 
very slowly, of these there was but a very limited stock. 
In the older catalogues the prices of Peony roots ranged from 
twenty-five cents to about two dollars. But now prices began 
to advance. It was not unusual by about 1910 even or a little 
earlier, to find the scarcer Peonies listed at from four to five 
dollars a root. This was necessary — or thought to be so — from 
the nurseryman’s point of view, in order to protect his stock from 
being depleted. But the rise in price apparently only whetted 
the appetite of the buyer — 
and his increased determin- 
ation to buy brought only 
further increase in the price 
demanded ! 
The variety Le Cygne for 
example, by general consent 
the grandest Peony in ex- 
istence, could be had from 
the originators, Messrs. Le- 
moine and Sons, in 1910, 
for a dollar or two. This 
variety has always been in 
strong demand, and though 
it has been multiplied as 
rapidly as possible since its 
introduction in 1907 there 
is still not nearly enough to 
go round. Lemoine has in 
recent years raised his price 
to £8 or Sio, while the price 
from American growers is 
now $20 or$2 5 a root. 
Such a price for a Peony 
would have been incredible 
a decade ago. To such a 
pass have we come! But 
we grew gradually accus- 
tomed to paying $5 for good 
and scarce sorts; then we 
stretched a point and were 
willing to pay Sio or Si 5, 
and when we had got our minds round that, S25 began to look 
possible. And where do we stand now? A recent American 
seedling of which there is only very little stock, sells, when it 
does sell, at $ico a root. Where will all this end? 
We are now in the second stage cf the mania. A Peony root 
at $50 is not fifty times better nor fifty times more beautiful 
than one for Si a root; it may not be better at all. But it is 
scarce. And some of our Peony enthusiasts who are men of 
means accustomed to having things come 
their way, have standing orders with the 
best originators for a root of every new 
variety they put on the market; some- 
times even for three roots of each new 
kind. 
Of course this looks like a bonanza for 
the grower of new kinds. But there are 
several flies in his ointment. In the first 
place, if he wishes to have anything to 
offer for sale next year, he must have 
begun to raise his seedlings nearly twenty 
years ago. For the Peony seed germinates 
only the second year it is in the ground, 
and the first blooms on a seedling are 
not likely to appear until four or five 
years after germination; and for really 
fine bloom one must wait still a year or 
two — say ten years from the planting of 
the seed before the seedling is mature 
enough to show what it is worth. And 
then perhaps it has only to be thrown 
away; for about 99 per cent, of the seed- 
lings will be inferior to their parents. 
But assuming that this is the one in a 
hundred, the next stage is entered on 
when the root is divided; and root divis- 
ion must be carried on for at least six 
or eight years before any considerable 
stock can be accumulated. And then 
the market will not absorb new kinds 
A PRIZE WINNING THOUGH YET UNNAMED ' JAPANESE” SEEDLING 
In company with nine others this example of the newest type of flower won three 
first prizes at the recent Peony show in Reading. Raised by Cottage Gardens Co. 
UNUSUAL IN COLOR AND UNRIVALLED 
The clear salmon pink of Walter Faxon is a triumph of Mr. Richardson's 
