that is the veriest folde-roL Listen to this de¬ 
scription of Monsier Jules Elie, the King of Peonies: 
“What skall we say of it? Enormous size, rickest 
coloring, sure free bloomer, deliciously perfumed, 
tke form so opulent of ckarm, so perfect in chisel- 
ing as to ke beyond compare, tke overlapping 
convex petalage-a marvel of curves and sinuosi¬ 
ties like fairy convolutions. Tke sunburst of color, 
eloquent of divinest passion, radiating from a core 
of glossy pink as from some lmjstic fountain con¬ 
cealed under fluffy laciness, silvery pink kere, 
pearl pink tkere, and baby pink everywhere. 
Tke colors blending and intermingling to a skeen 
of satiny pink, lit by a sunset glow, a tiny flame 
from tke lambent furnace of some angel s keart; 
tke form combined witli tke color in a harmonious 
whole difficult to describe; tke petals winding in 
and out and curved jauntily as if consciously 
recurving from the mass of marvelous bloom and 
foliage around it; shimmering silvery tones height¬ 
ening up to a climax of rickest pink in a natural 
and indeed inevitable inflorescence. If you love 
beauty this flower shoots through you an unwonted 
thrill; you turn again and again that ijou might 
verify and prolong tke pulsing wave of poetry by 
excluding tke surroundings from your vision. The 
colors gleam with light as if it were burnished 
clouds touched by morning. It is indeed a won¬ 
der of fragrant loveliness. Great is tke King!” 
Overpraise? Why, tke above with its numerous 
tones and shades of pink does not tell half tke 
story. Compare it with tke earlier descriptions of 
some of tke French varieties that read like this: 
“Violaceous Pink.” And then to think that any 
modern Peony salesman, after reading these French 
descriptions, could only ejaculate, “Hull! me too!” 
NEW INTRODUCTIONS 
Many of tke best Peonies have been introduced 
in tke past ten or fifteen ijears, being disseminated 
by those painstaking Frenchmen, M. Dessert and 
M. Lemoine. Nothing in tke line of Peonies that 
had gone before equaled or approached suck 
varieties as Alsace-Lorraine, Aurore, Bayadere, 
Germaine Bigot, Enchantress, Le Cygne, La France, 
Madame Emile Lemoine, Madame Jules Dessert, 
Mignon, Monsieur Martin Cahuzac, Sarah Bern¬ 
hardt, Solange, Tkerese, Tourangelle, etc. 
Kelway, of England, has enriched Peonies for 
all time by suck superb sorts as Baroness Schroe- 
der, Kelway s Glorious, James Kelway, etc. 
Mr. Blaauw, of Holland, added a grand variety 
recently in President Taft. 
These are necessarily higher in price than the 
older sorts as they have been so recently sent out 
and the stock of them is very limited, but let us 
tell ijou that ijou will miss a large part of the 
charm of the Peony until you see these wonders 
of the floral creation. We could sell you fifty 
thousand Festiva Maxima or twenty-five thousand 
Marie Lemoine at prices quoted and be glad to 
do so, but we could not sell you one hundred of 
such varieties as Le Cygne, La France, Solange, 
etc., for the reason they are not to be had at any 
price, and at the prices quoted for them we are 
not anxious to sell them. We make this assertion 
and will stand by same that the greatest creations 
in Peonies the world has ever known are the 
recent introductions of Messrs. Dessert and Lemoine. 
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and 
it is almost the invariable rule of visitors to our 
Peony fields, while in bloom, to make choice of 
these new varieties. We go to some length in 
this matter as some dealers endeavor to create the 
impression that most of the new Peonies are fakes; 
we want if possible to correct this impression, 
which is absolutely erroneous. 
AMERICAN PEONIES 
Of Peonies originating in America those by 
John Richardson, of Massachusetts, from 1 857 to 
1887, are prominent His Dorchester, Grandi- 
flora, Milton Hill, etc., are of the finest varieties 
in existence. George Hollis, also of Massachu¬ 
setts, and H. A. Terry, of Iowa, have sent out some 
good varieties, but unfortunately for us the labors 
of these three Peony growers are ended. The 
Rev. Harrison and Mr. Rosen field, both of Ne¬ 
braska, also Mr. Shay lor, of Massachusetts, have 
very recently added to our Peony lists in America. 
Mr. Brand, of Minnesota, commenced his work 
with Peonies in 1 886. His Archie Brand, Eliza¬ 
beth Barrett Browning, Frances Willard, Long¬ 
fellow, Mary Brand, Martha Bulloch, Richard 
Carvel, etc., are as good as the best. It behooves 
every Peony enthusiast to keep his eye on the 
Brand Peonies. 
Let me introduce to you Brand's Peonies. 
(Tlie little child is showing ijou a flower of the 
famous Martha Bulloch.) 
The Good & Reese Company, Springfield, Ohio 
Page Five 
