August 9, 1913 



HOETICULTURE 



171 



CONVENTION TOPICS 



Our Doty to one Another 



Are all the many advantages of our conventions and 

 trade cxliibits understood and recognized, and are we all 

 doing our share to advance those advantages for the com- 

 mon good of the trade in general? 



This question has undoubtedly presented itself to all 

 who make it a practice to attend the S. A. F. and 0. H. 

 conventions regularly or at intervals, and no one will 

 undertake to answer same in the affirmative. True, we 

 are progrctsing continuously, but we do not, in fact not 

 even a majority of us, show the spirit which should en- 

 thuse us to really great work. More of the many men 

 who, through their own personal achievements, are pros- 

 perous and have won for themselves positions of promi- 

 nence in tlie trade, and power and influence amongst the 

 craft and fellow citizens, should recognize that to the 

 trade, through which they have gained the position they 

 enjoy in life, belongs a certain amount of support, as- 

 sistance and sacrifice which they do not now give in full 

 share. This is true, notwithstanding the fact that there 

 is no body of men who, as a whole, can cancel the spirit 

 of friendship, good-will and comradeship as it exists 

 among the horticulturists, not only in the states, but all 

 over the world. Such friendship and good will, how- 

 ever, do not accomplish all they are capable of unless we 

 employ them in a more telling and effective manner in 

 some of our business relations amongst ourselves and 

 with our trade in general. I believe that the speaker at 

 a recent meeting of the Florists' Club of Philadelphia 

 was entirely right in saying that "we do not always 

 give each other the square deal,'' and his remarks which 

 were dealing in the main with existing relations between 

 growers and retailers, can well be applied and are equally 

 true in a still broader sense when we consider the rela- 

 tions between the craft as a whole, and our endeavors to 

 advance and explore to the fullest extent our large and 

 ever promising field of work. 



An Opportunity Neglected 



The truth of this fact is well demonstrated through 

 the comparatively small interest shown by the growers 

 and dealers of this country in the undertaking of an out- 

 door exhibit in connection with the coming convention. 

 Xo better opportunity has ever been offered to any 

 grower or dealer to display his plants adapted for out- 



door culture, than the garden now planted, which from 

 a cultural point of view is now in a very promising con- 

 dition. The expense for space was very low and the 

 assurance given for the proper care, cultivation and 

 protection of the exhibits could not have been made more 

 satisfactory. 



The benefits of such exhibits are manifold and must 

 be clear to all progressive and wide-awake horticulturists. 

 From a strictly business point of view they cannot help 

 but be a good advertisement. They are an education to 

 the craft as a whole, and also to the public in general, 

 whose love and understanding of plants and flowers are 

 well worth stimulating and cultivating. What better 

 means can we employ to call attention to good, meritori- 

 ous novelties, and to make comparisons between classes 

 and varieties of plants? In what better way can we 

 demonstrate the achievements of our skill and our en- 

 deavors — not so much amongst ourselves as to the public 

 whose servants we are, must be, and want to be. 



Every horticulturist should be willing to contribute 

 his share and sacrifice to gain the attention of the public 

 to the work and accomplishments of our noble profession 

 and to do this he should be able and willing to give a 

 page in his ledger for the intrinsic value of his goods 

 and forget for a moment the grind of the dollar. 



The answers to our appeal for exhibits received from 

 some of the leading firms, and the marked indifference 

 shown by the great majority of growers and dealers, is, 

 to say the least, discouraging, and not very creditable to 

 the craft as a whole. Out of the thirty-one exhibitors 

 in the Convention Garden, seventeen are outsiders, and 

 fourteen local concerns who eame to the front to help 

 make the garden a success. 



The only reasonable excuse for the lack of better sup- 

 port for this undertaking is that it is a new venture in 

 connection with our convention. Good weather prevail- 

 ing, the success of this Exhibition Garden is assured, and 

 it is hoped same will result in similar displays at future 

 conventions, to which the trade will surely give better 

 support. 



Minneapolis Convention Number 



Will be issued August i6. Goes to press, August 13 and 14. Will introduce you to 

 a fresh field for business enterprise and a new line of prospective customers. 



Will be circulated where it will do you good. 



Dy. 1\/|* t-4- Send Copy and Instructions Early. 



on I LtJISS It We'll Do The Rest. 



