The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



331 



Prom a Photo by Rowley. Buffalo, taken laat Thursday afternoon. 



John Burton, President-Elect Society of American Florists. 



HOME IMPRESSIONS OF THE 

 CONVENTION. 



Loukiuy liaek afler it is all oMi . I 

 hope that the Buffalo convention will be 

 eonsidered in many or all respects a «iie- 

 less. We think it was the largest repre- 

 sentative convention in the history of the 

 society. It is true tliere were a fe«- of 

 our best known men not present, promi- 

 nent among them being Mr. Wm. K. 

 Smith, Robert Craig and Jolm N. May 

 and others. We regi-et their absence, but 

 lake it altogether it was a very large 

 c-rowd. 



The trade e.xliiliil was iiul quite up to 

 Xew York, lint tliiil nm- so far exceeded 

 any of them that we .an allord to be sec- 

 ond to il. I iidniilitedly the trade exhibit 

 i- a III. .-I ini|...i laiit factor in the success 

 .il a . .iii\ .III i.iii ,111(1 we -ai'e delighted to 

 Ileal 1 1] at I li.' .xliihitors sav this was one 

 ,i|- llie m..M -iir,,„t,il I'r.'.iii a hiisiness 

 p..inl, all luuin.j .l..ne ^^.■ll 



I'lie address ..I I'l .m.I.iiI nWlaia, «itli- 

 i.iit casting the slight. -I r.^lle.t i..n .m 

 -..me very line and al.l.- ...l.li .--. - that 

 preceded it, was und.iiil.te.llv ih. iii'.-t 

 .■omplete ever offered the -...i.iy ami 

 .■iiibraced every topic of real live int. Test 

 to us in the most concise form. Our 

 l.i.al men were much alarmed for several 

 iM-eks previous to the eouveiitioii I hat 

 .riir meeting hall wa- le.! lai-e .iMniuh 

 anil it proved to be -liuhil) mi mli'i.ni 

 for the crowd at the .i|i.iiiim -.--i 'h .ihI 

 .liiiino- Mr. Fnrquhai's l..tin,, \i ,ill 



other times it was amply large enough, 

 tmd it is perhaps better to be slightly 

 crowded than have a few people in a 

 large hall. 



Personall}', the writer wished the so- 

 ciety to come to Buffalo not alone for the 

 Pan-American, but to visit again (and 

 with many for the first time) our beau- 

 tiful city, and the many expressions of 

 admiration and delight spoken of our 

 city were most gratifying. We expected 

 about two hundred ladies to take the 

 carriage ride but it turned out there 

 were four hundred, and that caused some 

 delay, but only added to the pleasure. 



There is one function connected with 

 the society which we do not approve of, 

 and that is the president's reception. 

 Not but what this one was as pleasant 

 as any, and we hope as well conducted, 

 but we do think it is a useless and em- 

 barrassing- affair. What is the good of 

 hall a .li./.Mi )....>ple standing up there in 

 .'\. nin- .1).--. shaking hands with five or 

 sK I1U11.I1..I ..ther people whom we have 

 all kii.uMi l.ii- v.-ars'' It ..eeitpies vnlti- 



Irust that we sti\ 

 falo, and I feel 

 the opinion of th. 

 I hope the presi 



rather a poor grace, but wc do not inti 

 mate in the least that you were too long 

 with us. Two days less of business would 

 have given you more time to have seen 

 the Pan-American. Yon cannot get peo 

 pie to listen to long essays and we should 

 be in favor of cutting them out. It is 

 almost an insult to a man who is read- 

 ing a really instructive essay to liave no 

 more than 100 people to listen to it. If 

 they were sent and ordered printed in 

 the report, that would be sufficient. 



The illustrated lectures are all right. 

 The one by Mr. Farquhar was particu- 

 larly attractive and more would have 

 listened to it had they been able to find 

 an entrance to the room. It was not only 

 entertaining, but there were some valu- 

 able points for the florist and horticul- 

 turist. We thought the lecture by Mr. 

 F. W. Taylor on "The Pan-American as 

 an Educator" particularly good, I don't 

 suppose but what everyone attending the 

 convention visited the Pan - American, 

 but we did feel that if that lecture could 

 have been given on the first night, anyone 

 seeing those views would have been bound 

 to see the real thing. With our pre- 

 tended belief in the good of these essays 

 and papers, there is not one in fifty who 

 comes to the convention who cares to 

 listen to them. We believe they are of 

 great value to the trade and the profes- 

 sion but are much better digested when 

 read at home. The trade papers publish 

 them, as well as the i-eport of the society. 

 By all of which I mean that the business 

 of the society could be done in two days 

 and leave two days for entertainment, 

 sports and recreation, for it is recreation 

 that 90 per cent of the people want. In 

 the early days of the society there was 

 much more extreme conviviality going 

 on than at present, and it is well that it 

 is now seldom seen. 



We are under the impression that the 

 shooting tournament went off about as 

 smoothly and successfully as any since 

 its introduction at Atlantic City, yet it 

 is hardly the sport of many of the flor- 

 ists, although we think it a more scien- 

 tific and better sport than bowling. We 

 regret that the fine alleys that were 

 promised us did not materialize, and that 

 what we had to play on made such a 

 bad impression at first, although we be- 

 lieve that on the day of the match there 

 was not much to find fault with. Talk 

 about form! Where were the men who 

 used to be considered cracker jacks? And 

 how the before unheaid of did shine out ! 



It never rains but it pours, and honors 

 and prizes fell thick on John Burton. 

 Wc are well aware that Mr. Burton 

 could have been president of the society 

 years ago had he had the slightest wish 

 for it. Everyone knows what an excel- 

 lent business man he is and our society 

 is to be congratulated on its choice. 



There is quite a difference of opinion 

 about the meeting place for 1902. We 

 are not entirely a trade organization. At 

 least we have, or should have, a broader 

 \iew before us, and if a very few of our 

 hrethven below Mason and Dixon's line 

 liav.. joined our ranks, we are now 

 -ti.iiiu .■ii..ii[:h to go to them and show 

 111, 111 that we are really the S. A, F. & 

 11 II 111 all the country in deed as well 

 ,1 w'\-'.. Don't tell people 'you are not 



,,i)ij ii .\sheville, because you don't 



I \,,iir-.lf at present, and most like- 



lii ...iiclusion, the writer has many 

 i.asons to be thankful that he lived to 

 til,, vear 1901. The manv kind words 

 -ai.r ah.iiit his humble efforts at llie 



