MARCH 3, 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



581 



After Taking. 

 ANNUAL DINNER OF THE NEW YORK FLORISTS' CLUB. 



"On this, our night, the grower, re- 

 tailer and florist join, meeting only 

 to drop all matters of barter and dis- 

 cussion, and to enjoy an evening 

 when you meet men you have not seen 

 possibly since the previous dinner — 

 guests you hear of or have read about, 

 gentlemen from other states. We wel- 

 come them here on our night. We 

 have had many reunions in this room, 

 but the magnificent display of flow- 

 ers on this occasion surpasses any- 

 thing we have previously had. In this 

 we show to our guests and ourselves 

 the advancement horticulture is mak- 

 ing in this country. It is so rapid a 

 man has all he can do to keep pace 

 with it. Mr. John Thorpe, at one of 

 our recent dinners here, stated that we 

 would see carnations four inches in 

 diameter, though few thought so 

 then. Mr. Thorpe is one of our emi- 

 nent horticulturists, who looks far 

 into the future. We have carnations 

 here to-night that measure three and 

 one-half inches, and we have seen car- 

 nations that would measure more than 

 that." 



The "S. A. F. A. O. H." was re- 

 sponded to by Mr. W. A. Manda, who 

 said he was proud to belong to that 

 body, and was trying to do all he 



could for its advancement. He would 

 have preferred that the subject had 

 been assigned to some of the society's 

 founders, who have been at the helm 

 and who are working to-day with the 

 same energy. It was owing to that 

 society that scores of minor societies 

 have been established, our own in- 

 cluded, which we should bear in mind, 

 and while working for the interests of 

 our own, should still do all we can to 

 further the national society. 



Proposing "The Experiment Sta- 

 tions," Mr. O'Mara said: "What the 

 lighthouse is to the mariner, what our 

 policemen and firemen are to our citi- 

 zens in protection against possible 

 danger, so it may be said the experi- 

 ment stations are to the florist and 

 nurseryman. The men who delve into 

 the mysteries of nature, for which we 

 have not the time nor the ability — we 

 look to them for advice and counsel 

 when we meet foes or cannot discover 

 the nature of the diseases attacking 

 our plants. A gentleman who stands 

 foremost in the ranks of his profession, 

 an entomologist, is Prof. J. B. Smith, 

 of New Brunswick, N. J." 



Prof. Smith, replying, said that a 

 few years ago it would have been a 

 questionable compliment to have been 



asked to reply as an entomologist, as 

 such an individual was supposed to 

 be afflicted with a malady, not, per- 

 haps, very dangerous, but of a simple 

 nature and of a character that one was 

 supposed not to pay much attention to 

 anything such a one said. It is not 

 many years since an action was 

 brought to set aside the will of Lady 

 Greenville, who was said to have been 

 insane at the time of making it, and 

 the greatest proof adduced was her 

 possession of a collection of insects 

 and her interest in entomology. Even 

 at the present time they were sup- 

 posed to be afflicted somewhere, or to 

 have a maggot loose, and were called 

 bugologists by some. A popular im- 

 pression has got about that an ento- 

 mologist is .something appertaining to 

 the individual, hence the term of 

 praise, "There are no flies on him." 

 In many states every package of 

 plants has got to bear a certificate 

 that they are free from all scale, and 

 the certificate has to be given by an 

 entomologist, who therefore becomes 

 important, and gets an invitation to 

 a good dinner. It is coming to be a 

 serious matter, this practice of making 

 laws to cover possible and impossible 

 things. If there is anything wrong in 



