ACUUST 21. IMII 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



379 



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AN INTERESTING MEETING UNDERNEATH 

 THE ANGELS' FEET. 



Next Meeting to be Held at Milwaukee, Wis. 



OFFICERS FOR 1903: 



President, JOHN BURTON, Philadelphia, Pa. 



Vice-President, C. C POLL WORTH, Milwaukee, Wis. 

 Secretary, WM. J. STEWART, Boston, Mass. 



Treasurer, H. B. BEATTY, Oil City, Pa. 



WJii-n I be couvcution coiiveueil for the 

 first session on Tuesday afternoon the 

 Jarg^e Atulitorium was well filled and the 

 number in atten.huu-e was certainly very 

 gratifying. The exhibits were ^irranged 

 at the sides of the large hall an J on the 

 back of the stage, \vhile in the center of 

 the floor were seat? for four or five hun- 

 dred people. 



"Vice President Deake called the con- 

 vention to order at 3:30 p. m. and ex- 

 pressed regret that the recent bereave- 

 ment of President Burton, in the loss 

 of his son. would prevent his attendance. 

 He then introduced A. S. Barnard of 

 Asheville, who extended a welcome to the 

 visitors whirh proved that the society 

 contained otlier eloquent speakers than 

 the gentleman who adressed the society 

 at Buffalo. He said that the fact that 

 Asheville had been selected as the first 

 Southern city for a convention of the 

 society was an honor much appreciated 

 by its citizens. He eulogized the profes- 

 sion of horticulture and fioriculture, and 

 said that its existence was an evidence 

 of an advanced stage of develo] raent in 

 our industrial life, as the appreciation 

 of beauty was an evidence of retiriemeut. 

 He held that the elevating and I'umaniz- 

 ing influences of the pi-ofession were 

 evident wherever it was practiced. He 

 said that the crowning triumph of civil- 

 ization is co-operation and unity of ac- 

 tion, and he rejoiced that the florists 

 were enjoying its great advantages. He 

 said that the complete reconciliation of 

 the North and South after the great dif- 

 ferences that once, unfortunately, divided 

 them, was due more than anytliiug else 

 to visitation and contact between the peo- 

 ple of the two sections, such as the gath- 

 ering of florists from all over the Union 

 now in this city. He assured his hearers 

 that nothing would be left undone to 

 make the stay of the visitors a pleasant 

 one. His eloquent address was received 

 with long continued applause. 



Mr. P. O'Mara responded on behalf of 

 the society in his usual happy ■^ay. He 



said that a look at the faces of tliose 

 present was sufficient respons.' to the 

 eloquent words of welcome. AVhen Mr. 

 Deake was addressing the convention at 

 Buffalo last year he said that angels 

 hovered over the mountains in the vicin- 

 ity of Asheville. but did not say whether 

 they were Southern or Northern angels. 

 He did say. though, that they were so ac- 

 commodating as to let their feet hang 

 down sufficiently so they might be tickled; 

 l)ut, said the speaker, the Northern flor- 

 ists did not come to see angels. They 

 came to visit their Southern brothers and 

 to extend to them the hand of fellowship. 

 He said that the business tlie members 

 were engaged in was founded upon the 

 esthetic sense, and that only tliose having 

 this sense were able to make a success of 

 it. He referred to the way in which the 

 word gardener had been misused and 

 applied to men who had no title ivhatever 

 to it. He hoped steps would be taken to 

 l>reserve the impressive meaning of the 

 name. The president 's message was then 

 read by !Mr. O'Mara. as follows: 



President's Message. 



Toadies and Gentlemen : 



It is customary for the president to ad- 

 dress a few words of greeting to the 

 members on the occasion of the opening 

 of the annual convention, and, although 

 T regret being unable to be with you, I 

 take the opportuuit.v to call your atten- 

 tion to some matters pertinent to the 

 welfare of the society. 



The year just passed has. I Vielieve, 

 lieen .a very prosperous one for the great 

 majority of those engaged in commercial 

 lioriculture. A large amount of new 

 building has been going on, and that not- 

 withstanding the increased cost of glass 

 and other building materials. This I be- 

 lieve shows our business to be in a 

 healthy condition and is a state of affairs 

 on which we have every reason to con- 

 gratnlate ourselves. 



The wisdom of the founders of the 

 Society of American Florists, in giving it 



the widest scope instead of nuikiug it a 

 close trade organization, has been often 

 called in question. 



To many it Iras ajipoared inconsistent 

 and unnatural to try to combine com- 

 mercial and amateur gardening under 

 one head. An am.ateur florist or gardener 

 is int(>rested only from an esthetic stand- 

 point and can's little as to whether gar- 

 dening as a liusiness be profitable or the 

 reverse. The commercial florist, on the 

 other hand, is in it for a li\ing. or to in- 

 crease his income. ]Iqw then could any 

 good be accom])lished by trying to com- 

 Viine these two contradictory elements, 

 and why not let the commercial men con- 

 tine themselves strictly to the business 

 end of the problem and by combination 

 safeguard and ]iromote the interests of 

 the trade only J 



To many of us the latter seemed the 

 best course, and many think so still ; but 

 the die wns i-ast in the Iteginning for good 

 or ill and what wc havi' to consider now is 

 the jnactical results. To all appearances 

 no liarm has come of the liberal ])rovisions 

 as to memliership; lui tin' contrary, the 

 society renuiins practically a trade or- 

 ganization for the pri'servation and pro- 

 motion of conmiercial floriculture, while 

 welcoming within its ranks the amateur 

 who desires to aid in the promotion of 

 florii-ulture for its own sake, and the two 

 elements seem to have worked together 

 in entire hannony. A re.-llization of this 

 fact leads to the thought that perhaps 

 we have not given as much consideration 

 as to how we might utilize the patron or 

 i-onnoisseur as we sIkuiIcI have done. 



Tlie C(mimercial florist and the amateur 

 are both marcliing towards the same goal, 

 namely, to make everv part of North 

 America blossom like the rose. They 

 march towards this goal for radically 

 dift'erent reasons, it is true, but so long 

 as they are going the same way they 

 might ius well join forces and get the 

 benefit of co-operation. A beginning in 

 this direi-tion has alreadj' been made by 

 oft'ering the society's medals for merito- 

 rious new plants exhibited under the 

 ausi)ices of amateur organizations, which 

 mo\e is highly commendable and should 

 be so extended as to include cultural skill 

 on any class of plants, taste and skill in 

 the arrangement and care of flower gar- 

 dens and grounds, ami for conspicuous 

 service in relation to improving by selec- 

 tion or otherwise of any class of plants. 

 Recalling the pride with which prominent 

 men in gardening matters exhibite<t their 

 A'ictorian medals while visiting our coun- 

 try suggests to us that services of a simi- 

 lar nature here might be suitably re- 

 warded in the same way and ser^e also 

 to stimidate and encourage the younger 

 element. When we remember the labors 

 of such men as Paul, Barr, Baker, Elwes, 

 Burbldge .-ind Wallace on the Rose fam- 

 ily, till' Lily family, the Daffodil family, 

 etc., we can readily see a vista opening 

 out before us in this country where the 

 efl'orts of the amateur as well as the 

 commercial florist might be stimulated 

 and encouraged liy such a liody as ours. 

 There are many families of plants, as 

 for instance, the phlox aud the peony, 

 that from various causes are not culti- 

 vated as much as the}- deserve, and which, 

 by concentrating on them the eft'orts of 

 expert committees, might be made ex- 

 tremely popular over a wide section of 

 the country to the great delight of the 

 amateur and the great profit of the com- 

 mercial florist. I n most sections of this 



