HORTICULTURE 



July 6, 1918 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS 



AND 



ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURISTS 



THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION. 



Judging from the reports received 

 from many parts of the country, a 

 more than ordinary interest attaches 

 to the preparations now in progress 

 for the 34th Annual Convention of the 

 Society, which is to be held in St. 

 Louis, August 20, 21 and 22. Quite a 

 numher already have reserved space 

 in the Trade Exhibition and it is fully 

 expected that this feature of the Con- 

 vention will be as complete as ever. 

 The geographical position of St. Louis 

 makes the city an ideal choice for con- 

 vention purposes, ' in fact, it is the 

 hub of a very extended circle of trade 

 area. Moolah Temple, where the Con- 

 vention is to be held, is a most desir- 

 able building for the great service ex- 

 pected of it by the Society. The 

 facilities for a handsome staging of 

 the Trade •Exhibition are all that 

 could be wished, and, as the official 

 plan shows, there will l)e no necessity 

 for crowding, aisle room being a- 

 plenty. 



Vice-President Bourdet and the 

 Secretary are now working on the of- 

 ficial program, which will go out to 

 members about thirty days prior to 

 the Convention. The subject matter 

 of this schedule of events will this 

 year be of a most important char- 

 acter. Considerable time will be set 

 apart for discussion of the reports of 

 the Publicity Committee and the 

 Finance Publicity Committee, indeed 

 the whole question of publicity for 

 fiowers will be gone into at length, 

 and one or two notable publicity ex- 

 perts will, it is expected, present their 

 views and comments upon the work 

 of the Society so far accomplished. 

 The coal situation, too. will be dis- 

 cussed from all standpoints and much 

 information will be evolved from a 

 full and complete presentation of con- 

 ditions as they are affecting our mem- 

 bers in different sections. It is ex- 

 pected that a gentleman competent to 

 speak with authority on fuel matters 

 will be present, and that there will 

 be much enlightenment result upon 

 details which at the present time are 

 vexing to say the least. 



The Secretary reports a large influx 

 of members from various sections, in 

 fact, never before was experienced 

 such a flocking to the standard of the 



Society. The good work which the 

 organization has successhilly carried 

 out, and the Secretary's personal ef- 

 forts, are of course, responsible in 

 great measure for this. In order to 

 stimulate effort on the part of our 

 State Vice-Presidents and others to 

 bring more florists into the member- 

 ship fold. President Totty is offering 

 a .$100 Liberty Bond to the member 

 who presents the greatest number of 

 applications for membership up to 

 midnight of August 20, and a $50 

 Liberty Bond to the member who 

 presents the next largest number. 

 This very generous offer should be an 

 inducement to many to get busy, for 

 not only have they the power of their 

 own persuasion, but they can point to 

 the most excellent work of the Society 

 looking to the betterment of condi- 

 tions among the whole trade. 



THE PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN 



In response to the wishes of 

 Chairman Henry Penn of the Publicity 

 Corrimittee, and Chairman George 

 Asmus of the Publicity Finance Com- 

 mittee, President C. H. Totty called a 

 meeting for a conference of these offi- 

 cials with the Secretary and Presi- 

 dent to take place at the Iroquois 

 Hotel, Buffalo, on Saturday, June 22. 

 It was considered inadvisable to sum- 

 mon the whole committee member- 

 ship at this time, owing to the mileage 

 expense thereby incurred. The con- 

 ference was very largely for the pur- 

 pose of reviewing the campaign work 

 for the past five months, and arrang- 

 ing data which would enable the 

 Chairmen to make an intelligent re- 

 port at the forthcoming Convention of 

 the Society In St. Louis. Buffalo was 

 chosen as the place of meeting for the 

 reason that it was a central point, and 

 the Secretary was already there in the 

 course of his western trip. S. A. 

 Anderson of Buffalo was present as a 

 resident committeeman, and W. J. 

 Palmer of Buffalo was in attendance 

 by invitation. The Secretary sub- 

 mitted a report showing what he had 

 accomplished through the trips so far 

 made, and the same meeting with 

 hearty approval he was instructed to 

 continue the work of visiting the 

 trade until further notice. Matters of 

 great importance in connection with 



the Campaign were discussed, but 

 definite action was deferred until such 

 time as a general meeting of the Com- 

 mittees could be arranged, when the 

 individual views of the members 

 could be obtained upon various phases 

 of 'the work, and their votes recorded 

 upon action to be taken. 



The Secretary in his report made 

 feeling reference to the very many 

 courtesies extended to him by the 

 trade in the different cities visited up 

 to the time he reached Buffalo — Bridge- 

 port, New Haven and Hartford, Conn; 

 Providence and Pawtucket, R. I.; Bos- 

 ton, Mass.; Albany, Troy, Schenecta- 

 dy, Utica, Syracuse, Barnards, Ironde- 

 quoit, Rochester and Buffalo, N. Y. 

 With the assistance cheerfully ren- 

 dered him his work was greatly facili- 

 tated and his time conserved to a con- 

 siderable extent. Later in Detroit, 

 he received material assistance from 

 Philip Breitmeyer, Albert Pochelon 

 and Robert M. Rahaley, the latter 

 .gentleman devoting practically his en- 

 tire time to the work during the 

 period of the visit. Besides sub- 

 stantially increasing the Publicity 

 Fund, these trips have resulted in 

 large and important additions to the 

 membership roll of the S. A. F. & O. 

 H. They have provided opportunities 

 not otherwise obtainable for exploiting 

 the work of the Society and establish- 

 ing the fact of its great service to the 

 florist industry. 



The fact of the great benefit de- 

 rived from the Publicity Campaign is 

 becoming clearly established, and flor- 

 ists who have not already subscribed 

 need no longer hesitate to "do their 

 bit." It is only by generally expressed 

 interest on the part of those the 

 work is to help that the campaign can 

 continue. This interest is of the dol- 

 lars and cents kind, something that 

 can he exchanged for the publicity we 

 are after. The risk of exploitation 

 has already been taken, and doubt as 

 to satisfactory results need no longer 

 exist. Help to make this a whole- 

 hearted movement. Few florists are 

 too poor to give at least a little as- 

 sistance — "flowerless days" are not 

 yet on the calendar, nor will they ever 

 be if this campaign -is rightfully sup- 

 ported. Without this effort to keep 

 flowers constantly in the public mind 

 the future might be dark for the flor- 



