284 



HORTICULTURE 



August 31, 1907 



THE CONVENTION PROCEEDINGS CONCLUDED 



The discussion on Thursday fore- 

 noou following the excellent papers by 

 E. V. Hallock and W. B. Du Rie, on 

 the subject o£ horticultural education 

 in the public schools, brought out a 

 general interchange of views upon the 

 necessity of making the study com- 

 pulsor3% the importance of employing 

 eflicient teachers and the value of 

 school gardens and other practical 

 means of imparting a knowledge of 

 horticulture among children. The ad- 

 vances made along these lines, in re- 

 cent years, in New York, Massachu- 

 setts and other States were detailed, 

 and congratulations indulged in upon 

 the outlook. 



Prof. L. C. Corbett, of the Plant In- 

 dustry Bureau of the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington, D. C, ex- 

 plained that there are now 30,000 

 school gardens in actual operation in 

 the United States. He said the move- 

 ment had made rapid strides in the 

 South, where the young colored people 

 did not aspire to become clerics and 

 stenographers, but found a ready 

 means of advancement in a horticul- 

 tural and agricultural education. The 

 State of Mississippi is foremost in 

 making the study compulsory in the 

 public schools. New York, the sipeaker 

 said, has taken the lead in this branch 

 of education, and Massachusetts and 

 Maryland ranked next in the list in 

 their demands upon Washington for 

 assistance. Patriclc O'Mara, of New 

 York, spoke of portions of the "rough- 

 house" districts in that city, which 

 had been revolutionized in morals and 

 social character by the influence of 

 school gardens. 



The convention requested the com- 

 mittee on the subject to continue their 

 efforts for favorable legislation, and 

 made arrangements for furnishing all 

 societies, journals and boards of edu- 

 cation interested in it with copies of 

 the papers just read and the discussion 

 thereon. 



Thursday Evening. 



At the session on Thursday evening 

 a paper by Mr. Theo. Wirth on "Hor- 

 ticultural Education in Agricultural 

 Schools" was read and discussed. 

 Several speakers deprecated the lack 

 of practical education by college grad- 

 uates; and W. N. Rudd, of Chicago, 

 spoke of what had recently been ac- 

 complished in Illinois in the interest 

 of floriculture, where a strenuous ef- 

 fort had resulted in securing a State 

 appropriation of $15,000 for the exclu- 

 sive benefit of growers under glass. 

 The establishment at the State Uni- 

 versity of a school for practical train- 

 ing In floriculture was also probable 

 W. W. Castle, of Boston, said that in 

 the WejTnouth Agricultural School in 

 the Cape Cod district of Massachu- 

 setts, prizes are given to children for 

 the best specimens of plants and veg- 

 etables cultivated by themselves. 



J. K. M. Ij. Parquhar, of Boston 

 read a oaper on "Horticultural Educa- 

 tion by Horticultural Societies and 

 Clubs, including a review of the work 

 of the Boston landscape class." 



The outlook for the National Flower 

 Show in 1908 was discussed at some 

 length. Chairman Kasting, of the 

 committee on the subject, reported 

 that the subscriptions to the guaran- 



tee fund amounted to $10,490; that the 

 committee contemplated holding the 

 show in November, 190S. and that ar- 

 rangements had been made for the 

 printing of the first premium list by 

 the trade papers. He anticipated that 

 the committee, at its next meeting 

 would have to make a first call upon 

 the guarantors for money. He added 

 that it was his own belief that they 

 would eventually be able to pav all the 

 money back. In reply to inquiries he 

 explained that there was no apprehen- 

 sion that the Presidential election 

 would interfere with the success of 

 the undertaking, as the show won 

 not be held until the week following 

 the election. 



The discussion turned mainly upon 

 whether the spring of 1909 or the fall 

 of 1908 would be the better time to 

 insure the success of the exhibition, 

 financially and otherwise. Robert 

 Craig favored the spring as a time 

 when plants and flowers would be in 

 better shape, more numerous and of 

 greater variety. J. c. Vaughan pre- 

 ferred the fall because the people of 

 Chicago were accustomed to such ex- 

 hibitions at that season. He explained 

 that, as it would be a national and not 

 a local affair, the responsibility for its 

 success would devolve upon the flor- 

 ists of the East and West and not 

 upon those of Chicago. Irvin C. Ber- 

 tennan suggested that as the commit- 

 tee in charge of the matter had gen- 

 eral supervision of the details they 

 should be allowed to fix the date. On 

 motion of Mr. P. O'Mara the whole 

 matter was referred to the existing 

 Committee of Fifty (which includes 

 the Executive Board) with full power 

 to act. 



The Ladies' Outing at Willow Grove. 



Three hundred ladies participated in 

 an outing to Willow Grove, on Thurs- 

 da.\ afternoon, under the auspices of 

 the local club. The route was by trol- 

 ley for fifteen miles through a beauti- 

 ful rural section adorned with palatial 

 residences and large private estates 

 including those of the millionaire man- 

 ufacturer John B. Stetson and the 

 merchant prince John Wanamaker. 



Arriving at the park the visitors 

 were entertained in the music pa- 

 vilion, where they listened to Sousa's 

 celebrated military band. Lunch was 

 served in the Lakeside Cafe. The re- 

 mainder of the afternoon was spent in 

 viev/ing the attractions of the Park 

 and listening to the music. 

 Friday Morning. 

 The convention met on Friday morn- 

 ing in the hall of the local club, at 

 Horticultural Hall, and resumed busi- 

 ness promptly at nine o'clock. E V 

 Hallock submitted for use by the com- 

 mittee on the subject a draft of a stat- 

 utt for the establishment of school 

 gardens, to be submitted to State Leg- 

 islatures. Upon his motion the mem- 

 bevship of the committee was in- 

 creased by adding thereto Messrs 

 Patrick O'Mara and F. R. Pierson. A 

 report from the Committee on Pub- 

 licity, recommending individual work 

 m disseminating information, prepared 

 by S. S. Skidelsky was read and filed, 

 and the Executive Board was author- 

 ized to expend this year $200. in co- 

 operation with the Council of Horti- 

 culture, in disseminating through three 



thousand newspaijers information 

 about flowers and plants. 



The Committee on Plant Registra- 

 tion and Xomenclature reported rec- 

 ommendations which the Executive 

 Board were instructed to carry out. 



Announcement was made of the pre- 

 sentation to the Society, by ex-Presi- 

 dent Dean of Preeport, N. Y., of two 

 bound volumes containing the entire 

 recordi^ of the conventions of the So- 

 ciety. 



The Outing at Belmont Mansion. 

 A glorious day's outing at Belmont, 

 ill Faivmount Park, as guests of the 

 Florists' Club of Philadelphia, was at- 

 tended by about 1000 members and 

 their ladies. The party was conveyed 

 to the park in electric busses, some 

 of which stopiied on the way to in- 

 spect the ferouuds at Girard' College 

 in charge of Superintendent Edwin 

 Lonsdale) and Horticultural Hall. The 

 program of the day included dversions 

 of all kinds from automobile rides and 

 dancing to field sports. There was a 

 base ball game between a nine from 

 the local club and a picked team from 

 other clubs, the latter winning by a 

 big score. The Philadelphia team ap- 

 peared in natty uniforms but this 

 availed them nothing against the sci- 

 entific work of pitcher C. J. Graham of 

 Cleveland. 



A threatening rain storm was fortu- 

 nately side-tracked until every one 

 had taken refuge under the mammoth 

 tents in which the dinner was served. 

 The dining tables were tastily deco- 

 rated with ferns, bouquets of gladioli, 

 late roses, phlox and golden glow. 

 After the dinner the bowling and 

 shooting prizes were presented to the 

 successful competitors in the contests 

 of the previous day. Ex-President 

 O'Mara made the presentations and 

 accompanied each with a humorous 

 and pertinent little speech. Presi- 

 dent Stewart then briefly expressed 

 the gratitude of the visitors for the 

 hospitalities and many kindnesses 

 they had received. He said the Phil- 

 adelphia brethren had abundantly ful- 

 filled their promise to make this the 

 banner convention and called upon 

 the Committee on Final Resolutions 

 for their report. The report was read 

 by Mr. Farquhar and embraced reso- 

 lutions of thanks to the local club and 

 its officers, the Mayor and ladies of 

 Philadelphia, Mr. \\m. F. Dreer and 

 others for courtesies and co-operation 

 in making the convention a success 

 and was adopted amid tumultuous ap- 

 plause. 



Friday Evening. 

 The convention held its final ses- 

 sion on Friday evening. A memorial 

 in honor of the late Thomas Meehan, 

 of Philadelphia, was adopted. A com- 

 munication from W. N. Rudd com- 

 plaining that because of the lack of 

 uniformity of moulds, "standard" pots 

 do not nest and breakage results A 

 committee of three was appointed, 

 consisting of Robert Craig of Philadel- 

 phia, F. E. Palmer, Brookline, Mass 

 and John Rirnie, W. Hoboken, N J 

 to investigate the pot question and 

 make report next year. 



In accordance with the recommenda- 

 tion of the Executive Board an appro- 

 priation to cover expenses in connec- 

 tion with the late suit against the 



