394 



HORTICULTURE. 



March 20, 1909 



AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY 



Annual Meeting and Exhibition Held at Iroquois Hotels Buffalo^ 

 New York, March M, J 8, 19 



New York Chosen As Next Meeting Place 



Officers Elected 



PRESIDENT — August Poehlmann, Morton Grove, III.; VICE-PRESIDENT — Frank R. Pierson, Tarrytown-on-Hud- 

 son, N. Y.; SECRETARY — Benjamin Hammond, Fishkillon-Hudson, N. Y.; 

 TREASURER— Harry O. May, Summit, N. J. 

 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE— For Three Years— Peter Bisset, William F. Kasting. 



A bright, sunny afternoon following 

 a somewhat squally morning wel- 

 comed the rose lovers to Buffalo, on 

 Wednesday, 17th inst. The gathering 

 of old friends was as usual at these 

 national meetings, delightful, and 

 west, east, north and south met and 

 greeted one another in the rotunda of 

 the Iroquois with hearty gratula- 

 tion while the exhibits were being put 

 in order and the judges were doing 

 the arduous duty in the big ball room 

 up stairs. Members of the executive 

 board of the S. A. F., fresh from their 

 sessions at Cincinnati, were on hand 

 full of cordiality and enthusiasm and 

 the intimate fraternal spirit always so 

 pronounced between the leaders of 

 the two national bodies was given a 

 fresh kindling. 



The First Session. 



The first session of the society was 

 called to order at eight o'clock on 

 Wednesday evening by President Au- 

 g\ist Poehlmann, who read the follow- 

 ing address, which was attentively and 

 appreciatively followed by the audi- 

 ence: 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Mem- 

 bers of the American Rose Society: 

 Following previous custom, it devolves 

 upon me to address you at this, our 

 tenth annual convention. 



Through the courtesy and cordial in- 

 vitation extended to this society by 

 the Buffalo Florists' Club, represented 

 by their able leader, Mr. William 

 Kasting, and associates, we find our- 

 selves here tonight. What these men 

 have accomplished to make us feel 

 welcome, no one can fail to see. 



Buffalo, lying as it does almost mid- 

 way between the large rose-growing 

 centers of the East, West, North and 

 South, is ideally situated for our con- 

 vention and exhibition. It is only 

 eight months ago since the Buffalo 

 Florists' Club in conjunction with the 

 Niagara florists, participated in enter- 

 taining the Society of the American 

 Florists most royally, ample proof 

 that we are indeed in the hands of 

 friends who appreciate our coming, 

 and whom we in turn can but thank 

 most heartily for their brotherly, gen- 

 erous, hospitable spirit. 



Here, then, are past friendships re- 

 newed, new friendships formed, and 



opinions exchanged.-^all of which 

 serve to make us enjoy this old world, 

 and enrich us in the knowledge of the 

 beautiful. From these gatheiings in- 

 spirations are given to something more 

 lofty, more divine; something in the 

 future superior to what we had here- 

 tofore. 



Here we find the real enthusiast, 

 wrapped up in wonder at the progress 

 made in the growing of the Queen of 

 Flowers. "The Rose." 



Who. that has any material interest 

 or love for roses, can help but admire 

 the beautiful specimens arrayed here 



F. ]!. FlEKSON 

 Viif-presidi'iit-elut American Hose Society. 



for our inspection. Who of you, lov- 

 ers and growers of the rose, but what 

 came to this gathering with a certain 

 object — that object to improve your- 

 self in your chosen profession? 

 Out-Door Roses. 

 In the matter of out-door roses and 

 other subjects, so many valuable sug- 

 gestions have been submitted in for- 

 mer conventions, which appear in the 

 Annual Bulletins, that I hardly know 

 what more to offer. To my mind, the 

 field for, and sale of, out-door roses is 

 unlimited wherever good rose soil is 



located or obtainable. Study well your 

 vaiieties, their habits, wants and hardi- 

 ness, the soils and localities wherein 

 they will thrive best, and then pro- 

 ceed. Comparatively little has been 

 done in this line, when we consider the 

 immense unbounded resources at our 

 hands, and the society's aim, which is: 

 "A Rose for every Home, a Bush for 

 every Garden." This branch of the 

 work is left almost entirely to the 

 nurserymen, many of whom have es- 

 tablished an immense business, and 

 who, like the commercial rose growers, 

 are ever on the alert for something 

 new with which to delight their cus- ' 

 tomers, and thereby advance their own 

 interests. 



By placing the various roses best 

 adapted to the different localities, past 

 the experimental stage where good re- 

 sults are obtained, you will do much 

 toward discrediting the doubts and 

 fears of the investing public and cre- 

 ate an unprecedented demand. 



In this connection, it occurred to 

 me that a good place to bring out- 

 door roses more prominently before 

 the public, would be to obtain permis- 

 sion from public officials to plant plots 

 or individual bushes in public squares, 

 gardens or parks, without charge, 

 showing the name of each variety and 

 of the party who supplied them, in 

 small yet plain letters. 



One of the principal attractions at 

 these annual exhibitions is to see those 

 new creations of the floral world, those 

 new wonders of the rose kingdom. We 

 see. we like, we buy, we try. They 

 make good, or we lose out. On first 

 failure, we may try again. A race- 

 horse is good only when he makes 

 good. He may be a good looker but 

 be out of the running. So with many 

 of our pets; they are relegated to the 

 background if the remuneration is not 

 sufficient. The ambitious grower is 

 never satisfied to leave the trial of 

 new varieties to his neighbor, but will 

 try himself to find a winner. Often 

 these new things turn out pretty hot 

 ones. It is quite natural that there are 

 many disappointments. It cannot be 

 otherwise. One winner, however, will 

 cover the shortcomings of a multitude 

 of raw ones. 



New Roses. 

 The breeders, hybridizers and intro- 

 ducers of new roses deserve encour- 



