38 
April, 1919 
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| Northwestern Peony 
and Iris Society. | 
At a special meeting of the North- 
western Peony & Iris Society held at 
Minneapolis, Minn., Feb. 20, 1919, the 
following officers were elected for the 
ensuing year : 
President— C. J. Traxler, Minneapolis, Minn. 
First Vice-President— H. J. Bartholmey, Chi- 
cago, 111. 
Second Vice-President— J. E. Stryker, St. 
Paul, Minn. 
Secretary and Treasurer— W. F. Christman, 
Minneapolis, Minn. 
Ass’t Secretary— T. A. Kenning, Minneapolis, 
Minn. 
Directors. 
F. W. Bell, Hopkins, Minn. 
D. A. Humphrey, Minneapolis, Minn. 
A. M. Brand, Faribault, Minn. 
D. W. C. Ruff, Bald Eagle, Minn. 
Mrs. H. B. Tillotson, Minneapolis, Minn. 
C. J. Traxler, Minneapolis, Minn. 
H. J. Bartholmey, Chicago, 111. 
J. E. Stryker, St. Paul, Minn. 
W. F. Christman, Minneapolis, Minn. 
T. A. Kenning, Minneapolis, Minn. 
Various matters of interest to the 
society were taken up and discussed 
and plans formulated to make this 
season’s exhibit a successful one. At 
a later date a delegate or delegates will 
be appointed to attend the American 
Peony Society’s exhibit which will be 
held in Detroit, Mich., this year. 
The matter of a Peony and Iris gar- 
den or collection of these flowers was 
referred to a committee who will con- 
fer with Prof. Cady of the Minnesota 
Agricultural College, as to the advisa- 
bility of establishing this garden or 
collection at the University Farm 
School where they will be easily ac- 
cessible. We are assured that ample 
space can be provided and sufficient 
cultural attention provided to make 
this venture a pronounced success. We 
feel that our members will gladly con- 
tribute varieties in sufficient quantity 
to insure a large collection of both Iris 
and Peonies. These varieties may 
either be loaned or donated to the so- 
ciety for the purpose of having estab- 
lished this trial garden, which it is 
hoped will be representative of the 
very best sorts in cultivation at the 
present time. You will hear more 
along this line as soon as this com- 
mittee has an opportunity for further 
conference. 
From the present outlook the Gov- 
ernment will prohibit, among other 
things, the importation of Peonies and 
Iris. This will mean that we will be 
deprived of any new varieties that may 
be originated outside of America after 
June 1st of this year. The fine pro- 
ductions of Dessert, Lemoine, Kelway 
and many other European growers 
will not be available unless this order is 
rescinded and it has been suggested 
that the matter be taken up with your 
Congressman in an effort to have this 
order modified and made less drastic. 
The danger of importing plants in- 
fected with disease has prompted this 
measure to be taken although it is 
permissible to import Lilies, Crocus, 
Slower (Brower 
Tulips, Narcissus, Lily-of-the-Valley, 
Hyacinths, seedling Wild Roses and 
fruit tree stocks, and, in our opinion, 
infection could be carried on these 
plants as easily as on Peony or Iris 
roots. A vigorous protest is being put 
forth by importers who will be prac- 
tically forced out of business if the 
measure goes through, as it now 
stands. 
W. F. Christman, Sec’y. 
Cultivating Wild Flowers. 
[Continued from page 31.] 
or seeds, often sporting pale yellow or 
red-streaked kinds. 
Wild Asters are legion, of all heights 
and in all soils. Under cultivation they 
furnish a mass of flowers when there 
is nothing else except it be Chrysanthe- 
mums to furnish a mass. Florally they 
outdo the ’mums, if the tops are 
pinched out the first of June and the 
last. 
There are good vines among the 
wild flowers. Woodbine has fine foli- 
age and fruits in fall, and the poison 
Ivy will never be brought home as 
Woodbine if one remembers that 
Woodbine has five fingers just as one’s 
hand. Wild Clematis is as fine as the 
cultivated except that it has no fra- 
grance. Balsam Apple, sometimes 
called Wild Cucumber, is a pretty, 
rapid-growing vine. Apios Tuberosa, 
listed by many seedsmen as a “wista- 
ria,” is a fine vine. Bitter Sweet, Cel- 
astrus Scandens, grows luxuriously 
but seldom perfects its berries under 
cultivation. Of the Wild Morning 
Glories there are two. The common 
pink and a fugitive white. The white 
will grow fifteen feet on trees. Solanum 
Dulcamara, common Nightshade, is a 
vine called poisonous but its poisonous 
properties have not been proved. It is 
reputed to cause blindness, and one 
can be careful in handling it. It has 
purple flowers and brilliant red berries 
which contrast beautifully with Clethra 
when planted among those shrubs. 
Among the shrubs Viburnums offer 
a good variety. They are called Dog- 
woods. They have amber or red bark 
on the young growth, and some of 
them have fine flowers. Panicled Dog- 
wood blooms for Memorial Day. 
Country folks call it Boxwood. Elder 
blooms in July, has fragrant flowers, 
and purple fruits following. Mountain 
Laurel and American Rhododendron 
are fine shrubs, but must have protec- 
tion from biting winter winds. The 
pink wild Azalea is lovely, and this 
blooms for Memorial Day. The white 
Azalea blooms in July and is very fra- 
grant. Shadbush and Chokeberry, a 
Pyrus, Spreading Dogbane, Andro- 
meda, the White Alder which has 
bright scarlet berries in early winter, 
Clethra and the pink and the white 
wild Spireas are very good shrubs, 
also. 
If one likes to exchange plants or 
seeds with flower lovers in other states 
many kinds may be gotten that way. 
But some states have inspection laws, 
and from those seeds should be asked 
for unless there is an authorized in- 
spector to be called upon. In exchang- 
ing, put the plants to be sent out in 
water to cover the roots and leave over 
night. When ready to pack squeeze 
out surplus water, roll roots in damp 
sphagnum and wrap whole plant in 
waxed paper with name tagged in pen- 
cil. Ink blurs. Pack closely in box 
lined with waxed paper, fill with crushed 
tissue paper to prevent shaking about, 
wrap box in waxed paper and tie se- 
curely. Mark the outer wrapper 
“ plants ” and they will be hustled on. 
When exchanging plants always send 
specific instructions as to packing, for 
many will pack carelessly if you do 
not. I have sent to Oregon blooming 
plants of the Cypripedium Acaule that 
reached there as fresh as when they 
started on their journey. Violets of 
all kinds, Trilliums, Ferns and Blood- 
root are splendid under walls or in 
somewhat shaded places. 
Before attempting to collect wild 
flowers it is best to get a reliable book 
on the subject and study it. Some 
wildings are classed as pernicious 
weeds. If one does not care to buy a 
book, they are to be found in almost 
all libraries. The flowers mentioned 
here grow mostly in the latitude of the 
New England states, but members of 
those native to warmer sections are 
hardy if covered well with leaves. For 
ten years I have experimented with 
wildings, and that is why and how I 
know they can be successfully trans- 
planted and grown in gardens. I do 
not care for a garden that is all floral 
aristocracy. 
| The Glad Philosopher’s 
i Musings. 
It is in the springtime more than at 
any other season that nature, like a 
conjuror, parades before our wonder- 
ing eyes her passing show of myste- 
rious phenomena. Trick follows trick 
in rapid succession -- the swelling of 
the buds ; the rising of the sap ; the 
return of the migratory birds ; the 
bursting of the chrysalid ; the unfold- 
ing of the flower— all these quickly 
pass before our vision and mystify us 
in the passing. 
Someday scientists will have found 
the key that unlocks many of nature’s 
baffling mysteries, and when the un- 
known is revealed and the why is un- 
derstood, we’ll marvel at the simplicity 
of the processes, and feel chagrined 
because of the slowness of our mental 
development. 
Of course there are some mysteries 
that never can be understood by mortal 
man ; for his finite mind is not capable 
of fully comprehending the complexi- 
ties of such subjects as time, or eternity, 
or space; abstract things which in 
their boundlessness have neither be- 
ginning nor end. And it is best that 
there are always mysteries just a little 
beyond our mental grasp, for as John 
Burroughs writes, "As soon as a thing 
is brought within our knowledge and 
