February 2, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



AMERICAN CARNATI ON SOCIETY 



Twenty-Seventh Annual Meeting and Exhibition — A Superb 



Exhibition, an Interesting Meeting and Enjoyable 



Banquet — C, S. Strout^ Biddetord^ Maine, 



Elected President 



THE MEETINGS. 

 The greater part of the first day was 

 spent in setting up the exhibition, 

 judging, hand-shaking and exchanging 

 views on war time problems, etc. The 

 opening business session started at 8 

 o'clock p. m.. Vice-president C. S. 

 Strout occupying the chair. The first 

 regular order was the message from 

 President W. J. Vesey, Jr., now in 

 military service. 



President's Address 

 Fellow Members of the American Car- 

 nation Society: 



Gentlemen: — Although I am many 

 hundreds of miles away from you to- 

 night, my heart is with you and I am 

 glad of this opportunity to wish you 

 all a prosperous and happy year, and 

 may your convention and exhibit be a 

 wonderful success. 



I am supposed to present a Presi- 

 dent's address, one that shows a thor- 

 ough acquaintance with the business, 

 a clear knowledge of what is being 

 done at the present time to combat the. 

 ever increasing problems of the trade, 

 one that will suggest improvements in 

 many ways, one that will deal with 

 the heart of our business with clear in- 

 sight and I might say a foreknowledge 

 of the conditions to come. 



In the position I now find myself, it 

 is utterly impossible for me to make 

 any worthy suggestions, having been 

 away from my business and the neces- 

 sary problems for over three months. 

 Events happen rapidly in these days, 

 and I feel confident that I am already 

 behind the times. 



You know, gentlemen, there is a 

 song in the army that goes something 

 like this: "We are in the army now, 

 and not behind the plow." The song 

 fits my case with exactness, as I have 

 been away from the plow for so nifiny 

 weeks that I have grown rusty, and 

 so, gentlemen, please forgive me for 

 not helping you in carrying your bur- 

 dens. 



My position is not an uncommon one 

 and no doubt many of you present to- 

 night have an empty chair in your 

 home, where a boy has gone forward 

 to help the cause. Your burdens have 

 now become twofold, but I feel that 

 there isn't a man present but that will 

 do more than his share and be happy 

 in the knowledge that he too is doing 

 all in his power to help our wonderful 

 country toward a victory. 



I know that the coal question has 

 been uppermost in the minds of you 

 gentlemen, for many weeks. The high 

 prices you now pay for coal is a prob- 

 lem indeed and so far as I can see 



there will be no drop this winter, but 

 even the price isn't the worst feature; 

 I believe it is the simple question of 

 delivery. The government having 

 taken over the control of the railroads 

 may lighten the car shortage some, 

 but no doubt it will be many weeks 

 before even a slight improvement will 

 be noticed. The only remedy I can 

 suggest for another year would be to 

 buy eight months' supply of coal in 

 May and June and store it on your 

 place. 



I also know that express deliveries 

 have been deplorable for many weeks. 

 Many times, no doubt, you were un- 

 certain when your express would be 

 transported, owing to priority ship- 

 ments, refusing to take your ship- 

 ments at one time for two days. The 

 question of prompt express service is 

 serious with us, and I think you should 

 take the question up with the S. A. P. 

 & O. H. and see if some agreement 

 can't be reached with the express com- 

 panies whereby they will assure us of 

 prompt deliveries. 



I want to thank Vice-President 

 Strout at this time for the able work 

 I know he has accomplished and for 

 taking my work upon his shoulders, 

 for I know from experience that the 

 man in charge of a carnation show 

 doesn't have much time to do any- 

 thing else but look after his own work. 

 Although I am not present to see, I 

 feel confident that he has accom- 

 plished splendid results. I want to 

 thank Secretary Baur for his conscien- 

 tious work during the past year, and 

 I am glad to be able to tell you, gen- 

 tlemen, that a secretary of his calibre 

 would be hard to find. Don't let him 

 get away. 



I also want to extend my hearty 

 thanks to the members of the associa- 

 tions in the city of Boston for the 

 able work they have accomplished in 

 helping make this show a success, and 

 for their hospitality to the visitors. 



I am indeed sorry that I am unable 

 to be with you tonight, to see your 

 faces again and enjoy your pleasant 

 and interesting company, but I will 

 live in hopes that before another year 

 rolls away I will again be among you 

 and helping to the best of my ability. 



Secretary's Report. 



Secretary A. F. J. Baur then read his 

 annual report as follows: 



During the past year we have added 

 31 new members to our list and re- 

 instated 15 who had run delinquent. 

 There are at this time 344 members 



in good standing, there being 333 an- 

 nual members and 11 life members. 

 After deducting a number who are in 

 arrears, we have a net gain of 21 in 

 annual members and a loss of one life 

 member. 



On October 4th, we lost one of our 

 ex-presidents and a life member in the 

 death of J. A. Valentine of Denver, 

 Col. Mr. Valentine served this society 

 as president during the year 1911, he 

 being elected at the last meeting held 

 in this city. We were apprised of his 

 death too late to send any flowers to 

 the funeral. We also lost two annual 

 members in the deaths of F. C. Bartels 

 of Cleveland, 0., who died on Sept. 

 13th, and A. J. Baur of Erie, Pa., who 

 died on August 13th. All these men 

 were known favorably to most of you. 



During the past year we have col- 

 lected in 



Dues J592.(Xl 



Advertising 251.09 



Misci'lliineoua 43.50 



Total $886.59 



all of which was turned over to the 

 treasurer. 



On account of the unsettled condi- 

 tion of business early in this winter, we 

 were able to secure only 22 pages of ad- 

 vertising for the premium schedule as 

 against 26 pages in the 1917 schedule. 

 We note, however, that practically all 

 of our regular advertisers are repre- 

 sented. Our members should show 

 their appreciation by patronizing these 

 advertisers at every opportunity. 



A number of special classes were 

 added to the regular list of premiums, 

 the premiums being donated by the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 and the Gardeners' and Florists' Club 

 of Boston. The Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society's premiums were with- 

 drawn after the premium schedule had 

 been distributed. One other special 

 class was made possible by the dona- 

 tion of a $75.00 solid silver vase, by 

 The Chicago Feed and Fertilizer Co. 

 of Chicago. This vase should bring 

 out some lively competition. We also 

 call attention to the fact that every 

 carnation disseminated last season is 

 included in our section C. 



The unsatisfactory express service 

 has prevented growers residing at a 

 distance from making entries in the 

 competitive classes. .This has had the 

 effect of localizing the competition. 

 The growers of the vicinity of Boston 

 are to be commended for the fine list 

 of entries sent in, which should insure 

 a splendid exhibit. We would suggest 

 that for next year's convention a cen- 

 trally located city be selected, so that 

 shipments may be made from all dire<'- 





