f the ones first selected as No. 1 from the seed bed, about thirty-five
in number, we finally kept eight; of those marked No. 2, about sixty. We
afterwards selected two as first class.

Those plants simply marked double in the seed bed were planted in a
regular field bed by themselves. Each plant was divided and staked. This
bed was allowed to stand three years and the plants were carefully noted
each year as they bloomed for varieties that we might have accidentally
overlooked in the seed bed. Among these thousands of plants we found two
sorts which we called first class. One of these, though it is sixteen
years since the seed was planted, we are just about to send out.

I have given you the history of this single bed because it shows about
how the seedling peony must be handled. We have since varied our method
in handling in a single respect. We no longer plant our seed direct in
the field. We find it much better to plant broadcast in seed beds. These
are much more economical to keep clean the first year. After the little
seedlings are one year old or, better, after they are two years old, we
lift them in September and plant them in a permanent bed.

[Illustration: Our seedling Harriet Farnsley, a very late all one color
pink. This variety is in bloom at the same time as Richardson's Rubra
Grandiflora, at a time when most good peonies are gone. The flower from
which this photo was taken measured seven inches across.]

Now if any of you are tempted to grow peonies from seed let me warn you
not to get too enthusiastic in anticipating results. The chances are
that 999 out of every 1,000 will have to be discarded. Test thoroughly
before you decide to keep. The flower my father and I both decided our
best when it first bloomed we no longer keep. Our best flower is one we
took no particular notice of the first two years it blossomed.

But do not let me discourage you. Though eight or ten choice varieties
may seem small returns, still there is a pleasure in the work that you
cannot fail but feel. And when you go forth into your fields after your
stocks of better sorts have increased so that you can have each kind
blooming about you in long rows, and as you see first this beautiful
variety and then that come into bloom, you feel well repaid for the
years of waiting and the labor you have bestowed upon them.

Mr. Brand: A great many people ask the question whether just as soon as
the peony has blossomed they cannot cut the