THE BONNEWITZ GARDENS, VAN WERT, OHIO 
nice eyes with a piece of root no larger in size than the first joint of my finger 
had become detached during the shipment. 
I did not consider this very small root with one eye of any value, but as 
an experiment I planted it three feet distant from the very large root which 
possessed four eyes. I watered this small root several times during the fall 
and again during the following spring; the very small root with one eye sent 
up a very strong, vigorous stem which carried a large bloom; the big root with 
four eyes sent up four stems, none of them as tall or as vigorous as the plant 
with the single stem, and more surprising still, none of these stems carried 
any bloom. Two years later I divided both of these plants, and the one grown 
from the one eye division, gave me more divisions for planting stock, than the 
large root which started with four eyes. 
And so it happened, that at least two years before I joined the peony 
society, and before I began to accumulate a stock of high priced peonies, I ac¬ 
cidentally discovered the fact, that if properly planted, watered, and cultivated, 
peony divisions with a single eye are as valuable to a grower, and in some cases 
even more valuable, than divisions which are larger and carry many eyes. 
However every reader of these lines should know, that if no attention is 
given to a new planting of peonies, that the larger roots with many eyes, can 
better withstand a long drought than the small divisions with single eyes, for I 
am convinced that the only use value the root itself possesses, is to furnish 
moisture for the growth, which is produced by the plant life, which resides in 
the eye. 
But here is the sad part of the story. The five eye root sent by Mrs. Pleas’ 
daughter, which developed so splendidly from its very small one eye division, 
was not jubilee at all. It was a smaller but very beautiful pink peony, which 
Mrs. Pleas had named opal. You know of course that at this stage of the game, 
opal was not a satisfactory substitute for jubilee, and I was more determined 
than ever to get one, and this is how I accomplished it. 
I asked Miss Anderson what grower was the best informed peony man in 
the United States, and she gave me the name of E. J. Shaylor, of Auburndale, 
Massachusetts. I immediately wrote, asking him to give me a list of the five 
or six best peonies in his garden. In his reply he told me that “le jour,” a 
white single peony, with beautiful yellow stamens in the center, was the best 
peony of its class; that “philippe rivoire” was the very best red double peony 
in the whole world and that it was fragrant; that “alma” was a pink Japanese 
peony of his own origination, which he wished to include in the class I asked 
about. He told me also that “Frances shaylor” was a strikingly novel cream 
peony, because one half way between its center and circumference, it dis¬ 
played a broad band of yellow stamens unlike any other peony he had ever 
seen; that “exquisite” was a most beautiful and satisfactory pink landscape 
variety, which he had obtained from Kelway’s garden in England; that “kel- 
way’s glorious” was the largest and most beautiful white peony in the world, 
and I believe that his statement is just as true today, as it was twenty years 
ago. “mary woodbury shaylor” was a dwarf variety of light mottled pink 
color, which he thought good enough to name for his mother, and that “william 
F. turner” was a splendid quality bright red peony, not so good however as 
‘philippe rivoire.” In his letter which came with the list, he told me that he 
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