18 
February, 1920 
Z3l)£ Slower (Brower 
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n i ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ii 1 1 1 1 1 ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiKiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiaiiiiiiiiiiiiaiL 
(Brower 
1 PUBLISHED MONTHLY ON THE FIRST OF THE MONTH BY ! 
| MADISON COOPER, CALCIUM, N.Y. f 
FOR BOTH AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL FLOWER GROWERS 
E i a ii a a ■ a a ■ a a ■ i n i a 1 1 1 a • E 
I Subscription Price : OUR MOTTO : Canadian and Foreign i 
i $1.00 per year. Special favors to none, and a Subscription Price i 
i 3 years for $2.00. square deal to all. $1.25 per year. | 
Growers are invited to contribute articles or notes over their own 
signatures, but the Editor reserves the right to reject anything which 
in his judgment is not conducive to the general welfare of the business. 
Copyright 1011) by Madison Cooper 
The contents of THE FLOWER GROWER, formerly “ The Modern Gladiolus 
Grower” are covered by general copyright. Permission is given to editors to use not 
more than one-third of any article providing proper credit is given at the beginning or 
end of such quotation, as follows: ‘‘From THE FLOWER GROWER, Calcium, N. Y." 
Special permission necessary for reprinting illustrations, long extracts or articles entire . 
Vol. VII February, 1920 No. 2 
atiaiaiiaaaaaaiaiaaaaaaaiiaiaaiaaaiaaaaaiaaaiaaiaiiiaiaaiiaiiiiiiiiiiiaiaaiiiiiaiiiaiiiiaaiiiaaiaiiiaiaiaaiiiaiiiiiaaiiaiiiiaaiiiiiiiiaiiaiaiiiiiiaiiiiaiaiaiiaiiiiilaiiiaii 
“ He who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a 
greater stock of religious merit than he could gain by the 
repetition of ten thousand prayers!' — Zoroaster. 
Grow Named Varieties of Flowers. 
What a stupid old world this would be if we knew all of 
our friends by their family names only, such as Jones, 
Brown, Smith, etc. There would be no possible way of 
distinguishing between the different families of the same 
name, nor between the different members of the same 
family, unless we used some descriptive words in referring 
to them, and even then it would give rise to endless con- 
fusion for we probably would not agree on the application 
of the description. 
It is just as stupid to grow flowers and know them by 
their family names only, such as Peonies, Irises, Gladioli, 
etc. An attempt to describe a particular variety, without 
referring to it by name, would be as confusing as the 
various shades and combinations of colors the particular 
flower possessed. 
Get chummy with your flowers, familiarize yourself 
with the different varieties of each family and learn to know 
and call them by name. There is a flower for every mood, 
fancy and taste and by studying and knowing the varieties 
you will soon learn which ones are particularly adapted to 
your likes. It takes no more energy, time nor money to 
grow these varieties than others, the particular color or 
form of which, may be distasteful to you. You are the sole 
judge of your flower garden, so why not have it 100% per- 
fect. 
You will get about as much enthusiasm out of a Peony 
lover in discussing simply a white, a pink or a red Peony as 
you will out of the Kaiser in discussing the battle of 
Chateau-Thierry. But, mention Marie Lemoine, Sarah 
Bernhardt or Felix Crousse to a Peony crank and he will 
rise to it like a healthy brook trout to a fly. That is differ- 
ent ; now you have something to talk about. 
You can no more expect an ordinary pink Peony to put 
forth blossoms like the incomparable Therese, than you can 
expect to make a racer out of a draft horse. It simply can- 
not be done. This is so self-evident that it seems fatuous 
to make the statement, yet this is exactly what a large class 
of amateur Peony growers are trying to do today. They pay 
no attention to varieties; wait until the last minute to 
order their roots, then, hurriedly running through a cata- 
logue, order a few pinks, a few whites and a few reds 
When their plants blossom they are grievously disappointed 
because their pinks are not like Therese, their whites not 
like Baroness Schroeder and their reds not like Felix Crousse, 
and like as not, blame the nurseryman and accuse him of 
sending inferior roots. 
Then there is another class we probably will always have 
with us, who are as irritating as an active cootie. They 
gather together all the catalogues within reach, laboriously 
pour over the pages, and carefully make out their order of 
named varieties. Then, as soon as the roots arrive, pro- 
ceed to remove all the labels. The result, of course, is a 
garden of nondescript flowers, nameless and soulless. They 
seem to forget that the nurseryman has spent a great deal 
of time, energy and money to keep his stock true to name, 
and that he has carefully selected and labelled the roots ac- 
cording to their order. For this service they have paid him 
money, three or four times as much as for unnamed varie- 
ties, and yet they deliberately proceed to undo all the work 
he has done for them, and thus cheat themselves in the bar- 
gain. 
A great many flower growers of the present time are 
still living in the age of unnamed varieties and are trying 
to reproduce their grandmother’s garden of their childhood 
days. Even if they succeed they will be greatly disap- 
pointed for nine-tenths of the charms of that garden is in 
their own imagination, and the romance with which they 
have surrounded it. Flower culture like most everything 
else, has advanced rapidly with the times, and we are now 
living in the age of named varieties. Their grandmother’s 
garden, like the old stage coach, is a thing of the past. 
Four or five years ago a friend of mine discovered a 
very beautiful red Peony in his garden which he was unable 
to identify, the name apparently having been lost. His gar- 
den consisted of some seven hundred roots, and about one 
hundred and fifty choice named varieties. Owing to the 
beauty of the flower, and not having another like it, he 
repeatedly tried to learn its identity but without success. 
Last fall he finally rogued it. Granting that a Peony, with 
or without a name, will be just as beautiful and smell just 
as sweetly, the fact, nevertheless, remains that there is 
no place in a well selected Peony garden of choice named 
varieties for a rogue. 
A person with a nondescript flower garden is like unto 
an old bachelor, who, being very fond of children, decided 
to adopt all the inmates of a foundling asylum. A most 
kindly act, but, bless his kindly old soul, what a lot he has 
missed by not having children of his very own about him, 
and to have experienced that indescribable pleasure of 
watching each child unfold and develop in the image of its 
parents, true to form ; a named variety. 
In gathering your family of flowers about you do not 
go out into the high-ways and by-ways, like the kindly old 
bachelor, and pick up a lot of unnamed, nondescript plants, 
the varieties and parentage of which you know nothing 
about, for, in spite of all the care you may bestow upon 
them, the net results will be simply flowers. Of course, 
if that is all you are seeking, you will undoubtedly be amply 
repaid for your efforts. But what a lot you will have 
missed by not growing named varieties and experiencing 
that delectable thrill of watching an unfolding bud burst 
into a beautiful flower in all its glory, true to name, true to 
form and true to your anticipations. With unnamed varie- 
ties the most you can do is to expect the worst and ardently 
hope for the best. Furthermore, by growing named varie- 
ties, and familiarizing yourself with each variety your in- 
