HORTICULTURE 



September 28, 1918 



LANCASTER COUNTY FLORISTS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



Through the courtesy of Willis B. 

 Girvln of Leola, Pa., the September 

 meeting was held on his veranda 

 Thursday, Sept. 19th, with a goodly at- 

 tendance of members and with S. S. 

 Pennock of Philadelphia, and James 

 Brown of Coatsville as visitors. A 

 letter of invitation to the Vincent 

 Dahlia farms was read but owing to 

 labor and other conditions it was 

 deemed best to omit this trip as a 

 club affair this season. 



The programme was a discussion 

 opened by B. F. Barr with a paper en- 

 titled "How to make both ends meet." 

 The paper was discussed by different 

 members of the Club. Harry Rohrer 

 said that we certainly should watch 

 our expenses closer than most of us 

 do and that we should take advantage 

 of every possible side line that we 

 could work in so that the end of the 

 season would find us with a margin 

 of profit. Mr. Pennock said that the 

 curtailment of shipments in times of 

 a glut would help the market if it 

 could be carried out so that each 

 grower would share his part of the 

 burden. He also said that on account 

 of a number of florists intending to 

 run their places this fall until chrys- 

 anthemums were over, the fall would 

 probably find a rather over-supplied 

 market, but many of these places 

 would then close down and he be- 

 lieved that the season would average 

 up good. He fully agreed with Mr. 

 Barr and others that florists should 

 keep more records of cost and re- 

 turns, instead of depending on their 

 bank account to show whether they 

 had made money or not. Speaking of 

 the business in general he said it is 

 anything but a non-essential and that 

 the French people consider the use of 

 flowers right now as more important 

 than ever before and that the French 

 government recognizes the import- 

 ance of flowers as a means of keeping 

 up the spirits and the morale of its 

 people. Fred Ritchy said that he saw 

 a piece in the Ladies' Home Journal 

 that advised people not to buy flowers 

 but to put that money into Liberty 

 Bonds or War Savings Stamps and 

 that he could not understand why this 

 business should be singled out for 

 such articles when there were other 

 things much less needed than flowers. 



Mr. Barr further said that while his 

 remarks applied principally to their 

 own establishments, that he had looked 



up the advertisements in the trade 

 papers and finds that there has not 

 been an increase of 5 per cent in the 

 wholesale prices of stock advertised 

 in 1918 over those of 1916 and this 

 was not enough as the increased cost 

 of production was over 40 per cent. 

 The number of failures in this line of 

 business does not help our standing 

 as a business either with our bankers 

 or the government and the only way 

 to avoid this is to keep such accounts 

 so that we know where we are losing 

 money. 



After a vote of thanks to the host, 

 Mr. Girvin, the meeting adjourned to 

 meet in the Chamber of Commerce 

 rooms the third Thursday of October. 



The Ladies Au.xiliary had a meet- 

 ing at the same time and the same 

 place with a 98 per cent attendance so 

 that we can expect some doings the 

 coming winter. 



After the meeting home grown 

 apples, peaches, plums and grapes 

 were served and their appearance and 

 quality demonstrated that Leola is a 

 good fruit producing section. Pre- 

 vious to the meeting an inspection 

 was made of the greenhouses where 

 carnations are the principle feature 

 with only three varieties in evidence, 

 Matchless, Supreme, and Mrs. C. W. 

 Ward. Three houses of roses are being 

 grown and have proved a profitable 

 investment. He is especially im- 

 pressed with the new Columbia and 

 has one house that will be run cold 

 until spring; in this he has planted 

 Kaiserin and Killarney. He also has a 

 number of houses to chrysanthemums 

 that will be matured and the houses 

 run cool for the balance of the sea- 

 son. In addition to the greenhouses 

 there is a model Lancaster County 

 Farm with a varied line of products, 

 all paying better now than the green- 

 house output. Twenty acres of to- 

 bacco are being cut and stored for 

 curing. Albert M. Herk. 



AMERICAN DAHLIA SOCIETY. 



WISCONSIN STATE FLORISTS' AS- 

 SOCIATION. 

 The florists of Vi'lsconsln have or- 

 ganized the State F'orlsts' Association 

 under very promising auspices. The 

 following officers have been elected; 

 President, C. C. Pollworth, Milwau- 

 kee; vice-president, J. E. Ma- 

 thewson, Sheboygan: secretary, H. 

 J. Seel, Milwaukee; treasurer, Gustav 

 Rush, Milwaukee; directors, Richard 

 Haentze, Fond du Lac: F. Rentschler, 

 Madison; Wm. Zim:nerman, Milwau- 

 kee. 



Annual Address of President R. Vin- 

 cent, Jr., at New York. 

 My friends, members and co-workers 

 of the American Dahlia Society: 



By the kind hand of Providence we 

 meet here again in our annual ses- 

 sion, and while the year has had its 

 trials and strenuous ones, It Is my 

 pleasure as President to have the 

 privilege of welcoming you here at 

 this our fourth annual meeting. The 

 secretary's report will show you of 

 our continuous success and the inter- 

 est being taken in the Society, and a 

 fairly good increase in membership. 

 The treasurer reports our finances in 

 good condition, so with your help and 

 assistance, we may look forward to 

 continuous prosperity. 



This year has not been without its 

 lessons, both in the cultivation of the 

 old and new varieties, and also in the 

 uses to which the dahlia flower can 

 be put, and we want the slogan of our 

 mother Society, the S. A. F. & O. H. 

 kept up, — ^"Say it with flowers," and 

 "Dahlia flowers whenever in season" 

 — as the dahlia has come to be re- 

 garded as a flower of quality when 

 grown in its fullest perfection, and 

 we know that it will always repay 

 for all the care and attention that can 

 . possibly be given it. 



The Secretaryship. 

 Much has been said and written 

 regarding our loss by the death of our 

 beloved secretary, J. Harrison Dick. 

 He came into our society just at the 

 time when an able hand was needed 

 to steer our enterprise. Although 

 not strong physically, and burdened 

 with other duties, he consented 

 through friendship and love of the 

 work to help and assist us, the 

 American Dahlia Society, in our ef- 

 forts to make good. The sympathy 

 of our Society and others has been 

 expressed to his widow and child and 

 it is our earnest wish that they may 

 never lack for friends. It has been 

 suggested and sanctioned by our Ex- 

 ecutive Committee, and I sincerely 

 hope it will be carried out, that the 

 best new dahlia of 1918 'origin, If 

 agreeable to the introducer, when 

 selected by the judges be named 

 after our late secretary, as an honor- 

 able recognition of his worth and 

 work for horticulture, and my sincere 

 hope is that it will be a good com- 

 mercial variety that will perpetuate 

 his name for many years to come. 



