August 19, iy<J5 



HORTICULTURE 



199 



sideration that members of tluse clubs 

 in good standing be admited to mem- 

 bership in the S. A. F. at a reduced 

 rate, the dues for such local clubs to 

 be remitted by the sccr.tary of these 

 clubs not later tlian .Tiil\ ! "i' ■ a. i, , ai-. 

 Your committer' (ni .in .i i i at 



Pittsburg in is:'.'.. M. ,, i: . nil 

 and Beatty recniiiiii.il, I, m| Mia' ia .m- 

 cials of our society endeavor to arrange 

 for the admission of florists' clubs and 

 members of the Florists' Hail Associa- 

 tion to the Society of American Flor- 

 ists by the payment of a certain gross 

 sum which should entitle each member 

 of these clubs and associations to a 

 yearly membership in the society, said 

 sum to be fixed annually. This is in 

 line with my suggestions. It is worthy 

 of your consideration that our society 

 also admits all members in good stand- 

 ing of the carnation, rose, chrysanthe- 

 mum, and other like societies at a re- 

 duced rate. 



As I believe the leading officials of 

 these kindred societies are present to- 

 day, our committee to consider these 

 matters might be made large enough 

 to include one of their representatives. 

 Hear what President Wood said in 

 1900: 



Our members should be constantly 

 thoughtful and active for the society 

 in obtaining new members, soliciting 

 every one who trades with them to 

 become a member of the society, fol- 

 lowing the example set by that dis- 

 tingHished horticulturist, C.M. Hovey 

 of Boston, when he was trying to ex- 

 tend the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society. He and his superintendent 

 and clerks solicited every person who 

 came to his nurseries or jf eenhouses 

 become a member of that society. In 

 this manner I became a member at 

 the age of 24. 



Practical Education. 



This subject has been referred to a 

 number of times in the history of our 

 society, and I can only repeat the con- 

 clusion that our work should be done 

 through some of the universities al- 

 ready established. The states of New 

 York, Massachusetts. Michigan, Mis- 

 souri, Indiana, Illinois, and probably 

 others, contain universities which af- 

 ford fairly good opportunities for hor- 

 ticultural education. 



If the treasury of this society con- 

 tained a somewhat larger permanent 

 fund, or if some of its well-to-do mem- 

 bers would combine and contribute to 

 such a fund, the society might well 

 endow a chair of practical floriculture 

 in some of the already established col- 

 leges or universities, or it might pro- 

 vide for practical lectures to be given 

 at certain times during the year at one 

 or all of the above named universities. 



I would suggest that, should you at 

 this time see fit to appoint a commit- 

 tee to consider the subject of promot- 

 ing the adoption of a text book on plant 

 life in our primary schools, this 

 last question can well be left with the 

 same committee. 



Something Besides Book Learning. 



John N. May said in 18i»;i: 



It is a deplorable fait that many 

 graduates from agricultural and hor- 

 ticultural institutions, altlicuigh well 

 versed in the theory, are lamentably 

 deficient in practical experience. 

 A vice-president of our s-oeiety in a 

 great horticultural centre, himself a 



leader, says: "Our business is just at 

 the dawn. Why, we haven't started." 

 He said further: "I am sure you can 

 do nothing better at Washington than 

 try to inspire our young men. Say, to 

 them, foundation of success is honor, 

 next patience, do your work well, do 

 it a little better than the other fellow. 

 Know that you can do some one thing, 

 if only one. That is the first requisite. 

 Let the young man be able to say defi- 

 nitely, I can do this." 



Of five agricultural college gradu- 

 ates tried by him. all failed. They were 

 bred and trained away from the actual 

 doing of the work. They were trying 

 to direct working men to do that which 

 they themselves could not do well. 

 Build On Right Lines. 



The awakened interest in floriculture 

 means that many customers, and the 

 best ones, are seeking information, the 

 names of flowers and plants, how they 

 grow, their care. Y'ou are looked upon 

 as trained horticulturists. Your abil- 

 ity and willingness to supply informa- 

 tion helps to lay a broad foundation 

 for your business. There are, as you 

 know, some shops bearing florists' 

 signs whose owners handle our produce 

 simply as merchandise, without techni- 

 cal knowledge. They not only cannot 

 tell the customer what he may wish to 

 know, but they purposely mislead or 

 exaggerate. While such misinforma- 

 tion reacts mainly on themselves, the 

 effect is bad for the trade generally. 

 Chemically colored or distorted flowers 

 are also to be avoided. You "magnify 

 your office" by freely yet carefully dis- 

 pensing this knowledge. You acquire 

 a reputation among business men in 

 your community by your ability to sup- 

 ply this information. Books of refer- 

 ence in horticulture at hand which the 

 customer may look over at a conven- 

 ient desk are a benefit; books on gar- 

 dening may be given out. The telling 

 of how to do these things passes on to 

 others and to your credit. 



A Field For Women. 



President Norton said at Toronto: 



We should not forget the ladies! 1 

 would recommend they be given an 

 opportunity to enter the business. 

 Their correct taste and their aptitude 

 for recognizing the beautiful in form 

 and color make their services desir- 

 able as artists and designers, where 

 harmony of color is so essential. 

 There are many womep today 

 throughout the country who are do- 

 ing a profitable business on their 

 own account, and there is room for 

 many more in an occupation which 

 is so appropriate and pleasant, and 

 for which they are so admirably fit- 

 ted in refinement and taste. 

 AVhile quite a percentage of our retail 

 flower stores for many years have been 

 owned or have been actively cared for 

 by women, more recently they have 

 taken up the work of house decoration. 

 This is particularly the case in the 

 Pacific coast cities where their business 

 is of sufficient importance to require 

 well equipped shops on good streets. 

 There are further good opportunities 

 in horticultural lines for women with 

 business tact who are willing to take 

 the time to equip themselves with a 

 thorough horticultural education. 

 Landscape gardening, for instance, is 

 an almost untried field for women, al- 

 though there is no good reason why 



with training they should not make it 

 a successful and lucrative profession.. 

 Tariff Hardships. 

 The liiyh protective tariff on glass, 

 flowering bulbs and plants has fre- 

 (H:ently lieen complained of by many 

 of our members, but without effect, 

 and many of those who have labored 

 hard for relief in former years have 

 finally abandoned the case as hopelass. 

 1 am glad to see at this time that help 

 seems to be at hand. The continued 

 enforcement of a high and arbitrary 

 tariff, which in many cases causes an- 

 noying and vexatious details for both 

 seller and buyer, together with fines 

 and arbitrarily increased valuations, 

 have borne their natural fruit and va- 

 rious foreign countries are meeting 

 us more than half way with high tariff 

 rates for merchandise which we have 

 been selling liberally abroad. Fur- 

 ther, they are placing duties as high 

 as 75 per cent, against goods received 

 from countries whose known protec- 

 tive tariff is excessive, and are making 

 the duties as low as 15 per cent, when 

 the tariff of such countries is moder- 

 ate. 



This legislation is evidently aimed at 

 the United States and the merchants' 

 association of New York is alive to the 

 trade and demands reciprocity treaties 

 which will do justice to all countries. 



It would be well for our legislative 

 committee to give all possible aid to 

 such associations, that our own bur- 

 dens may be lessened. 



In Detroit, in 1899, Patrick O'Mara, 

 chairman of your legislative commit- 

 tee, recommended that specific duties 

 be asked on plants and bulbs instead 

 of the present system of ad valorem 

 duties. He also recommended that our 

 legislative committee act with the nur- 

 serymen in these matters. 

 Postal Reform. 

 For our members who print cata- 

 logues and mail their wares, and their 

 number and percentage is increasing, 

 this is perhaps the most important na- 

 tional matter affecting us. It seems 

 reasonable that the third and fourth 

 class matter should be combined on a 

 basis of one cent for two ounces. We 

 should have a bulk rate per pound for 

 catalogues without the per ounce weight 

 limit which now compels us to trim 

 each catalogue to an exact fraction, 

 with no gain to the government. 



Lastly, we should have a trial of the 

 parcels post. Many of those who have 

 given the subject much study and who 

 know its workings, are firm believers 

 in it, and it certainly seems well worth 

 while to give it a trial. Each member 

 could write his congressman concern- 

 ing these reforms and could induce 

 others to write also. We ought to en- 

 courage our legislative committee by 

 pledging ourselves at this meeting to 

 give such support. The seedsmen and 

 nurserymen, the agricultural imple- 

 ment association, and other strong na- 

 tional associations are with us. This is 

 the time to act. 



State Aid on Experimental Lines. 

 President Rudd said in 1899: 



We are not as a class receiving 

 from the experiment stations— insti- 

 tutions established and conducted 

 with public funds, and for the public 

 good — those benefits to which we are 

 entitled. For this state of affairs no 

 one is to blame but ourselves. We 

 have neglected to make our wants 



