August 23, 1913 



HORTICULTURE 



265 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS AND 

 ORNAMENTAL HORTICULTURISTS 



A Well Attended Convention and the Exhibition a Splendid Success 



Boston, Mass,^ Next Meeting Place 



Officers Elected 



PRESIDENT — THEODORE WIRTH, Minneapolis, Minn. 

 VICE-PRESIDENT— PATRICK WELCH, Boston, Mass. 

 SECRETARY— JOHN YOUNG, New York, N. Y. 

 TREASURER— WILLIAM F. KASTING, Buffalo, N. Y. 



OPENING SESSION. 

 Two P. M., Tuesday. 



President Desmond of the Minne- 

 apolis Florist Club called the conven- 

 tion to order and introduced Vice- 

 President Theodore Wirth, whose 

 words of welcome were roundly ap- 

 plauded and who was followed by 

 Mayor Wallace G. Nye. The Mayor 

 eloquently voiced the greeting of the 

 city and awakened much enthusiasm. 

 William F. Gude responded in an 

 equally appropriate vein on behalf of 

 the society. 



President Farquhar then read his 

 address, as follows: 



THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of 

 the Society of American Florists 

 and Ornamental Horticulturists: 



Never has it fallen to the lot of a 

 president to make his convention ad- 

 dress under such favorable conditions 

 as exist in our Society at this our 

 29th annual meeting. 



Since we last met, we have prog- 

 ressed and increased our influence to 

 such a degree, that a review of the 

 year's proceedings might well be de- 

 voted to laudation rather than to sug- 

 gestion or criticism. 



We did well in deliberately deciding 

 upon beautiful Minneapolis for our 

 meeting this year. The wisdom of the 

 selection is already manifest; nor did 

 we choose Minneapolis alone — but the 

 Twin Cities, which are one in horti- 

 cultural spirit, one in effort for a suc- 

 cessful convention, and one in wel- 

 coming us to their midst. Yonder 

 river does not divide the twins; they 

 are linked beyond its waters. 



A Busy Year. 



Since our Chicago Convention, the 

 Society has been unusually active. 

 The great success of the New York 

 Flower Show was accomplished only 

 by the untiring work of your officers 

 in co-operation with those of the New 

 York Florists Club and other local or- 

 ganizations. Especially must I com- 

 mend the zeal and work of Mr. Charles 

 H. Totty. 



Meanwhile, our Vice-President, Mr. 



Theodore Wirth, has been busy with 

 his out-door garden exhibit in connec- 

 tion with this Convention, a feature 

 but once before attempted and then 

 on a comparatively small scale. 



Mr. W. F. Gude, our Washington 

 representative, as chairman of the 

 Committee on Tariff and Legislation, 

 has done much to secure satisfactory 

 action on the classification of horti- 

 cultural imports in the new tariff. 



Officers. 

 Our by-laws wisely provide that sev- 



Pateick Welch 



Vice-president-Elect Society of American 

 Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists. 



eral of our committees shall change 

 gradually, as in the case of Executive 

 and National Flower Show Commit- 

 tees. I am opposed to spasmodic 

 changes, and I believe that our State 

 Vice-Presidents, where they have been 

 active in promoting the interests of 

 the Society, might well be re-appoint- 

 ed by incoming presidents, as has been 

 done not infrequently. 



State Vice-Presidents. 

 A former state vice-president re- 



cently asked me, "What besides mak- 

 ing a report of trade conditions in his 

 state is there for a state vice-presi- 

 dent to do?" I replied that at present 

 the Society did not seem to be making 

 all the use it could make of its state 

 vice-presidents. I think that the an- 

 nual report, the submission of which 

 is in some instances neglected, is but 

 a small part of the work that officer 

 might do. 



I am convinced that great good 

 would result if the vice-president of 

 each state would consider the S. A. P. 

 & O. H. members therein as consti- 

 tuting a society of themselves under 

 his (or her) charge; and if he or she 

 would call these members together 

 once or twice each year, matters af- 

 fecting their interests could be dis- 

 cussed and acted upon. Then through 

 the Secretary and Executive Commit- 

 tee the full support of the Society 

 could be accorded to the members of 

 any state, when in need of its helpful 

 influence. 



Such state meetings might be held 

 in connection with any important flow- 

 er show or other horticultural meeting 

 in a leading town, under the direction 

 of our state vice-president. 



Headquarters in Washington. 



Frequently, attention has been 

 called to our obligation, under our 

 charter, to establish a permanent 

 domicile in Washington. 



In a few years it will be necessary 

 for us to petition Congress for permis- 

 sion to hold property beyond the pres- 

 ent limit of our charter, which is flfty 

 thousand ($50,000.) dollars. We should 

 at once begin to make good our de- 

 linquency in having failed up to the 

 present time to establish our office in 

 Washington, and, having done so, we 

 will be in better standing when we 

 ask Congress to permit us to hold 

 property up to ten or twenty times 

 our present limit — a round million 

 would be none too much. 



Parcel Post. 



The recent raising of the parcels 

 post limit to twenty pounds weight by 

 the Postmaster General, is a step in 

 the right direction. It is to be hoped 

 that soon the horticultural interests 

 will be able to obtain a better rate 

 than the present one of eight cents 

 per pound for their products. 



