784 



HORTICULTURE, 



June 13, 1908 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN 



Great Convention at Milwaukee, Wis.— Rochester, N. Y, Chosen as 



Next Meeting Place — Charles J. Brown of Brown Bros., 



Rochester, N. Y., Hected President. 



The 33rd annual convention of the 

 American Association of Nnrserymen 

 vas a great success, some three hun- 

 dred being in attendance. The wind 

 was ofi' the lalve and weather very 

 chiily though sunny. 



OPENING SESSION. 



The meeting was called to order at 

 9.30 by President Hill, introducing 

 Mavor" David S. Rose, who spolie of 

 Milwaukee as a most beautiful home 

 city and the best convention place in 

 the tTnion. It is a city of lowest per- 

 centage of crime of any great city, also 

 lowest percentage of drunkenness, and 

 only one city surpas.ses it in the per- 

 centage of people owning their homes. 

 It also has the lowest mortality of any 

 large city. He spoke at length of the 

 efforts to beautify the city by parks 

 and lawn spaces throughout the 

 streets, and ended by welcoming the 

 cit\ 's guests. 



Response was made by Geo. S. Jos- 

 selvn, who was humorously introduced 

 to the audience by President Hill. His 

 sallies of wit kept the audience in good 

 humor and at times he was interrupt- 

 ed bv roai-s of laughter. 



He" was followed by President G. \\ . 

 Hill who delivered his annual address, 

 which was listened to in silence and 

 loudly applauded at its close. The 

 president was followed by Secretary 

 Seagcr who in a short report spoke 

 of the 'work of his office and was fol- 

 lowed by Treasurer Yates. 



PRESIDENT HILLS ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen of the American Associa- 

 tion of Nurserymen: 

 Another cycle of three hundred and 

 sixtv-five days has passed since wc 

 bade each other farewell in Detroit 

 at the close of one of the most inter- 

 esting and profitable meetings of this 

 Association, and today we stand upon 

 the threshold of the 34th year of our 

 existence. 



The Association. 



Little did the few faithful men who 

 met a third of a century ago realize 

 the future magnitude, influence and 

 benefit of the oi-ganization which thoy 

 at that time brought into existence. 

 The career of the Association since 

 that time has been varied. Its path 

 way has not always led through rose- 

 bedecked bowers, but indeed more 

 frequently over the stony and hard 

 places of existence, the latter ot 

 which has given to it stability, influ- 

 ence and importance, and today it is 

 regarded as a strong, complete or- 

 ganization of the best men on the 

 American continent: men. whose 

 lives are largely devoted to that noble 

 vocation which has for its object the 

 betterment and uplifting of mankind. 



for what class of men does more to- 

 ward beautifying the home and pro- 

 viding for its occupants, the lucious 

 and healthful fruits of the orchard, 

 vineyard and garden. 



It I could with a single wand wipe 

 from the face of this beautiful land 

 of ours, all the effects, benefits and 

 beauties heretofore produced by the 

 nurserymen, what a desolate, forlorn 

 and distressing picture would be pre- 

 sented to you. You can scarcely con- 

 ceive of a greater calamity. The 

 members of this Association have 

 contributed lai-gely to the existing 

 condition of affairs as we see them 

 today, and each one should feel justly 

 jiroud of his high vocation. 



There are represented in our raem- 

 lership the leading men of this coun- 

 try: judges, lawyers, legislators, 

 bankers, congressmen, mayors, doc- 

 tors and others, who find time to de- 

 vote to the delightful occupation of 

 the horticulturist and nurseryman. 

 Few of us likely realize the magni- 

 tude to which this business has at- 

 tained. There are today invested in 

 the nursery business of the United 

 States more than sixty millions ot 

 dollars, and employment given to 

 about fifty-five thousand men and 

 three thousand women. The use ot 

 18.3IHI horses and mules is required 

 to cultivate a little over 200,000 acres 

 of land, upon which are annually re- 

 produced 4,200,000 000 plants and 

 shrubs, and fi22,000,000 trees. Thus 

 you can imagine something of the im- 

 portance of this organization of busi- 

 ness men. 



Absent Members. 



Upon looking over the audience, our 

 hearts are made sad, for we miss the 

 familiar faces of some whom it has 

 been our pleasure to meet annually 

 for more than a score of years. The 

 great reaper with his sickle has made 

 inroads upon our Association during 

 the past year, and removed from us 

 some of our best-known members and 

 wisest councellors. They now peace- 

 fully sleep upon the hillside amid the 

 flowers they loved so well, and know 

 not if it be day or night, know not 

 if the birds shall sing and the flowers 

 bloom, or if the storms shall rage, 

 and over their graves, unheeded drift 

 the winters' snow. They are gone 

 from amon.g us forever, but the mem- 

 bership of this organization will ever 

 hold in fond remembrance their 

 valued service and wise counsel, and 

 your President would :-ecommeud the 

 appointment of a special committee 

 to draft suitable resolutions to be 

 presented at a later session of this 

 convention. 



The Panic. 

 During the past year. we. like all 



other business men of the country, 

 were brought face to face with a fi- 

 nancial depression, which resulted in 

 what ex-Secretary Shaw claims to be 

 "the worst panic the world has ever 

 known." This condition of affairs 

 arose last fall at the time the retail 

 nurseryman was making his ship- 

 ments, and in many places poor de- 

 liveries were made, or clearing house 

 certificates, notes and other evidences 

 of Indebtedness were taken in pay- 

 ment for trees, but with the readjust- 

 ment of affairs, these have been 

 promptly met. Congress has just 

 passed the compromise currency bill, 

 and we are now. I trust, over the 

 roughest places, with nobody badly 

 hurt. 



The Past Year. 



The season just closed is generally 

 regarded as one of the best we have 

 had for many years. All stock, with 

 the possible exception of Kieffer 

 pears and some varieties of plums, 

 have commanded unusually strong 

 prices, and stocks were well cleaned 

 up. In consequence of this, I am in- 

 clined to think every man here today 

 is happy, and I see no reason why we 

 should not have an enjoyable and 

 profitable convention. 



The present conditions of the af- 

 fairs of the Association, with a mem- 

 bership of more than four hundred 

 and annual receipts about three thou- 

 sand, are in the whole, quite satisfac- 

 tory. Some aggressive action how- 

 ever, is needed along certain lines, 

 which I think would inure to our best 

 interests and which I shall mention a 

 little later. 



As far as I am able to learn, the 

 outlook for future business is good 

 with such indications as to justify us 

 in thinking that the present satisfac- 

 tory wholesale prices will be main- 

 tained, but the practice of our whole- 

 sale men in placing surplus stock on 

 the market late in the season, at 

 greatly reduced prices, I think is de- 

 moralizing and should be discon- 

 tinued. 



I am inclined to the opinion, how- 

 ever, that the retail nurserymen, who 

 constitute a large portion of the 

 membership of this Association, are 

 not getting from the planter prices 

 commensurate with the total cost of 

 stock handled. These prices should 

 be advanced and can be gradually 

 brought about by handling only first- 

 class trees of the grades specified 

 and consigning the inferior stock to 

 the brush pile rather than disposing 

 of it to department stores and unreli- 

 able mail-order concerns, which dump 

 it on the market at ridiculously low 

 prices, in competition with dealers of 

 first-class trees. Tell your customer 

 the truth, furnish him first-class 



