286 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AUGUST 18, 1S9S. 



"To give to society its highest taste- 

 Well ordered home, man's best delight to 



make — 

 And by submissive wisdom, modest skill— 

 With every additional care, deluding art— 



To raise the virtue, animate the bliss. 

 And sweeten all the toils of human life:— 

 This be the female dignity and praise." 



Next in adoration. Our Country. Tlie 

 sound of strife is never welcome, but 

 the call to duty fell not upon deaf 

 ears in the brief arbitrament of arms 

 through which we have just passed 

 (and I beg to indulge the hope com- 

 pletely and entirely passed), as alike 

 to the victorious and to the van- 

 quished, it has about it much of sor- 

 row, hardship and tears, for the 

 booming of cannon and the rattle of 

 musketry is always followed by the 

 sound of muffled drums and the music 

 of funeral dirges. 



We express the return of peace with 

 the olive, which has mythologically 

 been sacred to Minerva, and alwa.vs 

 the emblem of peace since before the 

 Ark rested on Mount Ararat. Many 

 of our flowers have mythological crea- 

 tions with most beautiful legends. In 

 the dispute between Minerva and 

 Neptune it was decided bv the gods 

 that whichever of the two should give 

 to the inhabitants of the earth the 

 most useful present, great should be 

 the reward. The olive was brought 

 by Minerva, being the emblem of 

 peace, which was decided to be far 

 superior to Neptune's horse, the sym- 

 bol of war and bloodshed. The olive, 

 then, to-day be with you. and could I 

 stand and figuratively throw out the 

 emblem to all parts of the country 

 and to the whole world, I would now 

 waft myriads of leaves and let the 

 winds carry them to the uttermost 

 parts of the earth. 



And now, one more: To those who 

 have fought the Nation's battles, and 

 who are returning again to their fire- 

 sides to transpose the weapons of war 

 into the ploughshare and pruning 

 hook, we offer the nasturtium, which 

 is "a warlike trophy." And so, with 

 the Bard — 



"We brine- flowi-rs to strew in the con- 

 queror's path: 



He hath shaken thrones with his stormy 

 wrath. 



He comes with the spoils of Nations 

 back: 



The vines lie crushed in his chariot's 

 track: 



The turf looks red where he won the day 



Bring flowers to strew in the conquerer's 



Finally as peace hath its victories as 

 well as war. go on with your honest 

 emulation in endeavoring to inspire a 

 greater zeal and interest in your or- 

 ganization, a more widespread knowl- 

 edge of our Art. and wherever it is 

 possible to cultivate a love of it among 

 the enlightened and progressive peo- 

 ple of this our Glorious Country. 



Report of Secretary Stewart. 



Secretary Stewart made his annual 

 report as follows: 



Mr. President and Members: 



I am glad to be able to report a pros- 

 perous year for our society, in which 



we hav« not only held our ground, but 

 made also a slig'ht gain over the rec- 

 ord of the two preceding years. The 

 new method of assessing and collecting 

 annual dues, which went into opera- 

 tion with the beginning of the present 

 year, simplifies the work of collection, 

 and the discontinuance of the cumber- 

 some delinquent list removes a prolific 

 cause of friction. As to the effect of 

 the new system on our treasury, it is 

 yet too early to say, and in the pres- 

 ent transition year, practical and use- 

 ful comparisons of past and present 

 conditions as to finances or active 

 membership cannot be made. 



One hundred and thirty-five persons 

 who paid in ISDS had. up to August 10, 

 18.98, neglected to respond for 1S97 as- 

 sessment. 



The number of assessments collected 

 for the year 1S97 was ^)*M, of which 108 

 were from new accessions and 25 were 

 renewals of membership by former de- 

 linqueuts. each of the latter paying f2 

 extra for the privilege. 



The additions were credited to the 

 different states as follows: One each 

 from the District of Columbia, Georgia, 

 Illinois, Minnesota. New Hampshire. 

 Nebraska, Virginia; two each from 

 California. Maine. Wisconsin: three 

 from New Jersey; four from Ohio; five 

 from Connecticut; seven from Rhode 

 Island; twelve each from Pennsylvania 

 and New York; fifty-one from Massa- 

 chusetts. 



Four deaths have been reported 

 since we last met: Morris A. Hill, An- 

 sonia. Conn., died on May 27; Thomas 

 Cartledge, Philadelphia, May 17; N. 

 Karlson. Exeter, N. H.. July" 4; Philip 

 Wieland. Boston, July S. 



The Providence convention was a 

 memorable one. creditable alike to the 

 society and to the local florists and 

 gardeners of Providence and Newport. 

 Its history has been fully told in the 

 annual report of our society, and noth- 

 ing in connection with it requires spe- 

 cial mention at this time, except that 

 some of our members were once more 

 made the victims of an untrustworthy 

 photographer, who collected money for 

 pictures that were only deliye:-ed 

 months afterwards and under pressure 

 exerted through the secretary's office. 



The trade exhibition at Providence 

 was a large and comprehensive one 

 and managed with great ability The 

 competition for the society's medals 

 brought out some exhibits of the high- 

 est educational interest, notably that 

 of home-grown rhododendrons and aza- 

 leas. The visit to Newport's lovely 

 gardens was equally valuable as an ob- 

 ject lesson 



The printed list of new plants intro- 

 duced to the American trade in 1897. 

 as ordered by the society, required 

 much labor in compilation, but ap- 

 pears to have been a good move, and 

 the list of succeeding years will be 

 more easily done, also more complete. 



There is a strong demand for a sys- 

 tem of official registration of names 

 given to new varieties of plants on 

 lines similar to the plan adopted by 



the American Carnation Society. Your 

 secretary believes that something of 

 this kind should be provided for at this 

 meeting. 



Our life membership fund has been 

 subscribed to by fourteen members. It 

 was hoped that this list would have 

 reached larger proportions by this 

 time— forty or fifty, at least— so that 

 we might start off with a substantial 

 permanent fund. 



Railroad transportation has been a 

 most annoying and tedious problem 

 this year. The railroads have moved 

 cautiously because of the entangle- 

 ments that would follow rate cutting 

 to the Exposition, and the concessions 

 which were finally granted us, al- 

 though very satisfactory otherwise, 

 came too late to materially affect our 

 attendance from distant points. 



Rarely since the formation of this 

 society have we seen so much interest 

 manifested as was shown by those 

 present at the executive committee 

 meeting at Washington last spring. 

 The holding of the general session of 

 the committee at a place other than 

 the location of the next convention, 

 for financial reasons which the com- 

 mittee well understood, and the refer- 

 ence of local convention arrangements 

 at Omaha to the president, vice-presi- 

 dent and secretary, although produc- 

 tive of some unfavorable comment at 

 the time, is now generally conceded to 

 have been a wise course under exist- 

 ing circumstances, and the question 

 arises whether this plan or a modifica- 

 tion of it might not with advantage be 

 followed regularly hereafter. 



On the most important result of the 

 committee's deliberations, the pro- 

 posed new special departments of pur- 

 chase, credit information, arbitration, 

 claims, and legislation, our programme 

 calls for action at tomorrow's session. 

 The importance of careful deliberations 

 in deciding as to whether the society 

 should strike out into these new fields 

 of endeavor, must be apparent to all. 

 and it is greatly to be desired that every 

 member in attendance should be pres- 

 ent at this and every other business 

 session and do his part towards shapT 

 ing wisely the future policy of the or- 

 ganization. 



The special field in which the so- 

 ciety labored so well in its young days 

 is now preitty well covered by our en- 

 terprising trade journals, and we are 

 called upon to move on to live issues. 

 Just in proportion as we keep in close 

 touch with the practical business prob- 

 lems and present needs of the Florists 

 of America, so will the shifting charac- 

 ter of our support and membership be 

 removed; we shall be strong where we 

 are now weak, and we shall obtain the 

 desired permanence and stability. 



We meet this time in a locality far 

 remote from the scenes of our past ac- 

 tivity, and the wisdom of this new de- 

 parture has naturally been the theme 

 of some discussion. Upon what we do 

 here we shall be judged. Let it not be 

 said that we are trifiers. We are here 



