8J2 



HORTICULTURi: 



June 12, 1909 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN 

 Thirty-Fourth Annual Convention^ Rochester^ N, Y. 



The preeminence of Rochester as a 

 convention centre, combined with its 

 commanding position as the hub of the 

 great nursery interests, proved a great 

 attraction and drew together a most 

 representative gathering of the nurs- 

 ery trade people of the continent. Re- 

 mote and widely separated sections 

 were well represented and the social 

 and business advantages of the occa- 

 sion were taken full advantage of by 

 one of the most comprehensive and 

 cosmopolitan audiences that ever con- 

 gregated to listen to the opening ad- 

 dresses of a nurserymen's convention. 



The lecture hall in the Seneca Hotel 

 was well filled when at 10 a. m., June 

 9, one hour later than the program 

 announcement, President Brown called 

 the meeting to order and introduced 

 Hon. H. H. Edgerton, Mayor of the 



JlENRV B. ClIASi: 

 Member Execntlve Committee. 



City of Rochester, who incidentally 

 complimenting the promptness dis- 

 played, extended in an informal way 

 a hearty welcome and cordial greet- 

 ings to the visitore, who, he said, rep- 

 resented the industry that has made 

 Rochester famous. George S. Josselyn 

 of Fredonia, responded on behalf of 

 the Association. Being a man of a 

 poetical turn of mind, his response 

 was in verse, telling in a most impres- 

 sive manner, how they "do it In 

 Rochester" and reverting in plaintive 

 strain as to how they "did it in Mil- 

 waukee." Many local and personal al- 

 lusions, found iavor with the audience 

 which was not slow to "see the point." 

 President Charles J. Brown then 

 made his address, speaking first as a 

 Rochester man in recognition of the 

 honor to his city which he recognized 

 in this visit and then as representing 

 the Association of which he is the 

 chief official. He referred to the last 

 meeting of the .Association in Roches- 

 ter, twenty-six years ago and called at- 

 tention to the great awakening which 

 had taken place since that time in 



Rochester as a city and in the nurs- 

 erymen's industry. He recommended 

 the Rochester slogan, "Do it for 

 Rochester" as worthy of adoption by 

 every city and town. The spring of 

 1909, he adinowledged, had been a rec- 

 ord breaker in the nursery trade, 

 everything sold at good prices and 

 stocks exhausted. He asserted that 

 the nurserymen were following the 

 most delightful avocation in the world, 

 in daily contact with nature and those 

 who love nature and advised the sup- 

 port and holding up of the hands of 

 those who are interested in park and 

 playgi'ound movements. As pertinent 

 subjects he suggested the question of 

 how much capital a nurseryman can 

 afford to invest in land, whether he is 

 not better equipped to carry land than 

 the ordinary investor and advised the 

 young men to keep on the alert for 

 wise purchases of land. 



The secretary, George C. Seager, 

 then presented his report, showing re- 

 ceipts and disbursements, and was fol- 

 lowed by the treasurer, Charles L. 

 Yates, with a detailed report on simi- 

 lar lines, showing a balance of $3853. Ou 

 in the treasury. Messrs. Hill, Harri- 

 son and Moon w-ere appointed au 

 auditing committee. 



Irving Rouse, chairman of the Tar- 

 iff Committee, was then called upon 

 for a report. He intimated that, al- 

 though much hard work had been 

 done by the committee in connec- 

 tion with the tariff revision now un- 

 der consideration at Washington, no- 

 thing definite had as yet been secured, 

 although the paragraphs in the new 

 schedule as at present accepted by 

 the Senate Finance Committee, levy- 

 ing specific duties on various kinds of 

 stocks, evergreen seedlings and roses, 

 and 25 per cent, ad valorem on all 

 other nursery' or greenhouse stock, 

 was now expected to stand and become 

 law. A hearty vote of thanks was ac- 

 corded this committee. 



"Nurserymen Pulling Together a 

 Little More," was the text for a very 

 vigorous paper by J. H, Dayton, of 

 the Storrs, Harrison Co., which came 

 next on the programme. Mr. Dayton 

 urged the need of a better business 

 education for nurseryman, so that 

 they would all realize that the per- 

 centage of actual cash cleaned up 

 would be the only criterion of value 

 of a sale of goods. He condemned the 

 methods of price cutting, bargain sales 

 and other depreciative resorts for dis- 

 posing of stock, and advocated the 

 bonfire as a preferable recourse. The 

 questions of who should be entitled 

 to the benefit of wholesale prices, the 

 necessity of a better system of grad- 

 ing, etc., were referred to and their 

 consideration with a spirit of fairness 

 urged. It was an eloquent and practi- 

 cal paper and elicited tumultuous ap- 

 plause. T. B. Wilson was the next 

 speaker, his subject being "The Re- 

 lationship Between the Nurseryman 

 and the Farmer or Fruit Grower." He 

 advocated more education for the lat- 

 ter and more consideration by the for- 

 mer as the best means of remedy- 



ing existing difficulties and misunder- 

 standings. He emphatically condemn- 

 ed substitutions in filling orders and 

 gave good reasons for his belief. The 

 necessity of budding from prolific bear- 

 ing stock of the best type of best 

 varieties was strongly urged. 



The report of the Transportation 

 Committee by F. H. Stannard was next 

 presented and the committee was ac- 

 corded a vote of thanks for its suc- 

 cessful efforts in having the objection- 

 able "release clause" rescinded at the 

 R. R. meeting in Mobile. 



Prof. Wm. B. Alwood then gave a 

 very interesting address on "The By- 

 products of Food," giving the results 

 up to date of investigations being con- 

 ducted by the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture- in computing and ascer- 

 taining the comparative value of sugar 



E. M. SllKKlIAN 

 Member Executive Committee. 



and acid contents of fruit and explain- 

 ing the necessity of having a well- 

 defined standard to aim for in select- 

 ing and developing desirable qualities 

 in varieties of grapes, apples, etc. 

 Many questions were asked from the 

 floor and a very interesting running 

 debate was carried on. 



Last on the forenoon program was 

 a paper by S. C. Moon on Evergreen 

 Conifers. It was just such a paper as 

 might be expected from this eminent 

 authority and was listened to with 

 marked attention. In the remarks 

 which followed, it was commented up- 

 on as touching on a phase of the nurs- 

 ery business hitherto rather neglected 

 in the programs of the Association, 

 and an innovation worthy of further 

 attention. 



Wednesday Afternoon Session. 



Wednesday afternoon was devoted 

 to a ride through Rochester streets 

 and parks as guests of the Western 

 New York Nurserymen. Tallyhos and 

 park wagons and phaetons in long ar- 

 ray were required to accommodate the 



