336 



HORTICULTURE 



March 1C, 1907 



AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY 



Annual Meeting and Exhibition at Washington, D, C. 



Chicago Chosen as the Next Meeting Place 



Officers Elected 



PRESIDENT — Robert Simpson, Clifton N. J.; VICE-PRESIDENT — Philip Breitmeyer, Detroit, Mich.; TREASURER 



— Harry O. May, Summit, N. J.; SECRETARY — Benj. Hammond, Fishkill-on-Hudson, N. Y. 

 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE — P. Welch, Boston, Mass.; E. G. Hill, Richmond, Ind.; August Poehlmann, Chicago. III. 



The combined exhibitions of the 

 American Rose Society and the Florists' 

 Club ot Washington, D. C, opened in 

 Light Infantry Hall, Washington, on 

 Wednesday, March 13. 



ANNUAL MEETING. 



The annual meeting of the American 

 Rose Society convened at eight o'clock 

 p. m., on Wednesday, in the Light 

 Infantry Hall. President Robert Simp- 

 son assumed the chair and read his 

 address. 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



Ladies and Gentlemen; — Fellow 

 members of the American Rose 

 Society, we meet today in the 

 capital city of our country as guests 

 of the Washington Florists' Club. 

 Many of us are growers, and I am sure 

 that all of us are lovers of the rose. 

 Some ot you have come to Washing- 

 ton to place on exhibition your beauti- 

 ful flowers, some of you have come 

 chiefly it may be to admire the wonder- 

 ful productions of others, but a goodly 

 number of yon I trust are here to dis- 

 cuss with us problems in rose growing 

 and problems that confront our rose 

 society. In any event I am sure that 

 no one will say that mercenary motives 

 liave drawn you, some from the East, 

 some from the West, some from the 

 South, and others from the North, at 

 considerable expense of time and 

 money at this busy season of the year 

 to attend this meeting; it is to gratify 

 your love for the beautiful in nature, 

 and to signify your willingness to do 

 your part towards making this earth 

 more beautiful and attractive that you 

 are here today. I trust that our meet- 

 ing may be helpful and encouraging to 

 every grower of the rose, that we all 

 as a result may have higher ideals, and 

 go home more than ever in love witli 

 our business and calling and that this 

 shall prove to be an epoch making 

 meeting of the Rose Society. 



At the 1906 meeting in Boston the 

 matter of selecting the place in which 

 to hold the exhibition and annual 

 meeting of 1907, was left in the hands 

 of the Executive Committee, after a 

 discussion however which showed 

 plainly that the sentiment of the meet- 

 ing was in favor of going to some city 

 in the west, should the way be open 

 for us, and should such a course seem 

 to be for the best interests of the 

 Society. The executive committee left 



the matter open until July thus giving 

 every section of the country an equal 

 chance to compete for the privilege of 

 having the Rose Exhibition. The 

 Society did not receive any invitation 

 from the west; but it did have a very 

 hearty and pressing invitation from the 

 Washington Florists' Club, which sent 

 their president to New York to back 

 up their formal written invitation. 



The president, Mr. Bisset, assured us 

 that Washington and its people would 

 see tha't the local detail work of the 

 exhibition was taken care of properly 

 and that an exhibition there would be 

 a success financially. Whether they 

 have kept their promise you will see 

 for yourselves. 



There is a great amount of detail 

 work to be done in arranging for an 

 exhibition of this kind, particularly 

 when it is not held in connection with 

 some regularly organized horticultural 

 society where men have been trained 

 for the work, and where all the facili- 

 ties for the holding of exhibitions are 

 at hand; more perhaps than many of 

 you realize and I wish at this time to 

 express my appreciation of the hearty 

 enthusiasm with which the officers and 

 local members of the executive com- 

 mittee have entered into this work, 

 and have done willingly and gladly, 

 what ever was in their power to do. 

 Several meetings have been held in the 

 city of New York, and some of the 

 officers have not failed to attend a 

 single meeting. If the exhibition of 

 1907 shall prove to be equal in point of 

 interest and enthusiasm to that of 1906, 

 much of the credit is due to the push 

 and energy and painstaking work of 

 our secretary and the enthusiasm of 

 our young treasurer. The position of 

 secretary of the American Rose Society 

 is no sinecure I assure you if the in- 

 cumbent tries to do faithfully the work 

 that he finds to do, and just in pro- 

 portion to the quality of the man in 

 office will depend how much of the 

 work shall be done, or how much shall 

 be left undone. For good work the 

 salary is totally inadequate, but in the 

 present state of our treasury I dare not 

 ask for an increase. The work of our 

 present secretary during the past nine 

 months will meet with your entire ap- 

 proval, I am sure. 



As the program for this meeting in- 

 dicates we have arranged for the read- 

 ing of papers on Interesting subjects 



by men eminently qualified to talk on 

 the subjects treated and I trust we may 

 give to them our undivided attention 

 during the delivery of the same, and 

 in the discussion that shall follow, we 

 may be able to give out and gather 

 in a vast store of useful information. 



The society is to be congratulated on 

 the personnel of its essayists. It has 

 been arranged that gentlemen of large 

 experience and observation shall start 

 a discussion on matters of vital in- 

 terest to the .society; that of increased 

 membership, and new work that may 

 be done by the society as an organiza- 

 tion for its members and the public. 

 I do not wish to anticipate or forestall 

 what these gentlemen may advise, as 

 I hope for a very full discussion when 

 in the order of business these subjects 

 are taken up; however in this connec- 

 tion I may be permitted perhaps to 

 make a few observations, and possibly 

 offer a few suggestions. 



Much good work might be done by 

 the society if we had at command 

 funds with which to do the work; 

 much work should be done that has as 

 yet not been even attempted. For in- 

 stance a committee of half a dozen 

 men representing different sections of 

 the country and competent to deal with 

 the peculiar climate and other condi- 

 tions of that particular section, might 

 in conjunction with the secretary pre- 

 pare a list of roses with general cul- 

 tural directions suitable to the condi- 

 tions prevailing in those various sec- 

 tions that would be worth much more 

 to rose lovers than the annual mem- 

 bersliip tee. This committee could also 

 advise as to the best roses to purchase, 

 Dutch, French, English, home grown 

 budded, or own root plants, department 

 store stock, or stock direct from nur- 

 sery. There is a vast amount of igno- 

 rance amongst the general public along 

 these lines, and their ignorance is fre- 

 quently taken advantage of by un- 

 scrupulous dealers. 



What the society can offer its pros- 

 pective members as an inducement to 

 membership will no doubt be a control- 

 ling factor in seeking to enlarge that 

 membership, on the other hand larger 

 resources as a result of larger mem- 

 bership will permit the society to un- 

 dertake greater things. 



If the American Rose Society should 

 identify itself with the various horti- 

 cultural societies of the country to the 



