Evening star., 1942-09-19
Membership of
Peony Society
Grew Rapidly
First Shoes Helped
To Further Cause
OF the Flover
Bv J. Sfealev EIms

Il otC"C " At"o
We have seen, in previous ar
ticle, how the American Peony So
ciety was organized and success
fully accomplished its first impor-
tant undertaking, the compiling OF
an accurate checklist of peonies by
name and color. BY the time the
test planting at Cornell had served
its purpose the membership had
grown from the charter group of
81 to about 100 peony enthusiasts,
including the country's most i'm
portant professional and amateur
growers.
While the first few annual eXhibi-
tions held by the society were per-
haps important in the sense that
they were of practical value in
furthering the cause of the peony,
the completion of the Cornell
checklist gave the impetus neces-
sary for an au-out campaign to
buttress this checklist through
these annual exhibitions. Visitors
attending these shows could check
their own plants against the we'll
staged blooms In the show and clear
up uncertainties In their own stock.
Compared to the annual exhibitions
of today, these early shows would
fill only q small portion OF the ex-
hibition hall.
The first time the society's gold
medal was awarded was at an ex-
hibition held in Chicago in 1914,
when it was won by B. H. Farr of
Reading, Pa, who also repeated in
1916 when New York was the host
city.
Perhaps one of the society's best
contributions toward spreading, ac-
curate information on the peony
was the starting of an official or
gan, first appearing as the Bulletin
of Peony News, and now more ap-
propriately as American Poeny So
ciety Bulletin.
This publication, issued three or
four times year, is a storehouse Of
valuable peony information. Rec
ognized peony authorities contribute
articles to it; its pages are open
to the experiences of amateurs and
praise and criticism are welcomed.
One important feature is full COW
, erage of the national shows, partic-
ularly the descriptions of the new
introductions recognized at the
shows.
Aside from ones own practical
experience, it would be difficult to
find more complete glossary of
the peony than these bulletins and
the Manual of the American Peony
Society.
This manual. with its appendix,
Is really textbook on the peony
1t contains the names of all the in
Productions both in this country
and abroad. Those which rate 80
or higher are described in detail
If the peony is not included in this
checklist you may be sure that it
has been dropped from commerce
Other chapters treat of the propa :
cation of the peonv. culture, dis
eases, marketing, exhibiting, breed
kg, etc.
10 the student who plans to dc
some research work on the plant
there is a valuable and complete
photography by Prof A. P. Saun-
ders. The money needed to compile
this manual was obtained from the
sale of roots from the test garden
at Cornell. During the course ol
10 years several attempts were made
to get the manual started, but II
seemed too big a task to impose
upon any one man. Finally Jane.
Boyd, of Haverford, Pa, volunteered
to assume the work and the result
OF his endeavors surely entities him
to enduring renown in the peony
world.
With the rapid development ol
peony growing and introduction O!
new varieties, it was felt that there
should be some means of deciding
the exact merits of one variety ovel
another, so the society established
a peony symposium. In 1916 a lis
OF recent foreign varieties was SEN
to all members of the society with
a request that they should mari
them for excellence on a scale O.
10. These votes were then tabu
lated, the averages compiled, ant
the results were published in tn,
third issue of the bulletin Thi
idea met with favor, and the lis
of varieties, including American in
Productions, was supplemented il
1919. Then in 1921 a new set 0
votes was taken and published il
a special symposium number of tn,
bulletin.
One OF our local peony growers
DR.. Earle B. White, of Kensington
Nd, has just finished a term a,
president of the society and is a
present q member Of the Board o
Directors.