302 



H E T I C U L T U K E 



March 10, 1917 



ILLINOIS STATE FLORISTS^ ASSOCIATION 



The Twelfth Annual Convention of 

 the Illinois State Florists' Association 

 was held at the Floricultural Building, 

 University of Illinois, Urbana, 111., on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, March 6-7, 

 with the following program : 



Opening session, Tuesday, March 6, 

 2 o'clock. 



Welcome— J. C. Blair, head of De- 

 partment of Horticulture. 



President's Address — C. W. Johnson, 

 Morgan Park. 



Report of Secretary — J. F. Ammann, 

 Edwardsville. 



Report of Treasurer — F. L. Wash- 

 burn, Bloomington. 



Report of Fertilizer Work— F. W. 

 Muncie, Urbana. 



Report of Pathological Work— B. M. 

 R. Lamkey, Urbana. 



Report of Instructional Work — H. 

 B. Dorner, Urbana. 



Nomination and Election of Officers. 



Evening Session Tuesday, March 6. 



Discussion — "How Can We Increase 

 Flower and Plant Sales." 



(a) By Better Arrangements. 



(b) By Better Salesmanship. 

 Morning Session, Wednesday, Mar. 7. 

 Unfinished and New Business, and 



Inspection of the Greenhouses. 



President's Address. 



President Johnson's address was as 

 follows : — 

 Fellow members of the Illinois 



State Florists' Association: 



We are now assembled for our 12th 

 annual meeting. A year ago we had a 

 very successful meeting at Moline in 

 the extreme western part of the state, 

 and now we meet again here at Ur- 

 bana under the auspices of the Depart- 

 ment of Horticulture of the University 

 of Illinois. I am sure every member 

 joins me in expressing our apprecia- 

 tion of the privilege we have in meet- 

 ing at this institution. Here we come 

 in touch with the work that is being 

 undertaken by the University of Illi- 

 nois to solve some of the problems 

 which we as individuals have to con- 

 tend with in our work connected with 

 the cultivation of plants and flowers. 

 Not only this but the work being 

 carried out along the lines of land- 

 scape gardening affords much of inter- 

 est to the landscape gardener as well 

 as to the retail florists whos business 

 is partly of this order. 



Every florist of this state whether 

 he is a grower or a retailer should 

 feel it his duty to take a great deal 

 of interest at what is being done here 

 for floriculture, and the Illinois State 

 Florists' Association as a body should 

 never be neglected in giving its aid 

 and support to those in charge of the 

 work. The young men who are devot- 

 ing four years of their life to be es- 

 pecially trained in the work we repre- 

 sent are going to be a power not only 

 in the business but also in the socie- 

 ties allied thereto. 



As your president it gives me pleas- 

 ure to congratulate you on your efforts 

 of the past year. It has been a fruit- 

 ful one. At Bloomington last Novem- 

 ber our first fall flower show was held 



in many ways. First and foremost, it 

 was well supported l)y the members 

 not only by their presence but by con- 

 tributing largely of exhibits. Every 

 part of the state was well represented; 

 not only the members with large estab- 

 lishments to make their selection from 

 but those not so well equipped did 

 their part by either sending or bring- 

 ing along an exhibit. The exhibits 

 were of the highest order, receiving 

 much commendation by the visiting 

 public, and we are proud to say that 

 every exhibit was contributed for the 

 good of the cause without any chance 

 of remuneration, it being a free will 

 show in every respect. 



1 feel it my duty to call the atten- 

 tion of the members of the association 

 to the good work done by our fellow 

 members, the Washburn Bros, of 

 Bloomington, in their efforts to make 

 the show the success it was and to 

 them we owe a vote of thanks. The 

 Commercial Club of Bloomington was 

 also untiring in its efforts to make our 

 visit both pleasant and profitable, and 

 to them we owe our thanks. 



The purpose of the meeting at this 

 time is the nomination and election of 

 officers, to hear reports of the work 

 of the different departments by the 

 professors in charge and to transact 

 such other business as may come be- 

 fore the association. I ask your active 

 participation in all the details of the 

 meeting which will not only help the 

 association but be of mutual benefit 

 to every member. 



I would suggest for your considera- 

 tion and discussion the various dis- 

 eases and insects which attack plants. 

 The Carnation Yellows is still an un- 

 solved problem though good work is 

 being done to get at the bottom of the 

 trouble. Every year some fresh dis- 

 ease or insect seems to come to the 

 front. At the last meeting of the 

 Chrysanthemum Society of America 

 held in Philadelphia last November a 

 member spoke of the trouble growers 

 ot his vicinity were having with a 

 form of clyndrosporum or fungoid 

 growth which, commencing at the bot- 

 tom of the chrysanthemum plant, 

 quickly rises upward, covering the 

 under surface of the leaves with a 

 varnish-like coating that closes up the 

 pores and stops all growth. Another 

 member spoke ot the gall fiy which at- 

 tacked his plants very seriously. Ex- 

 ])eriences of the members with these 

 or any other difficulties should be 

 brought before the meeting and freely 

 discussed for the benefit of all. 



To the officers and members I extend 

 my thanks and appreciation for their 

 support during my two terms as your 

 president, and trust the same will be 

 extended to my successor. Our asso- 

 ciation has done a lot of good for the 

 florists of Illinois, but each year 

 brings its new responsibilities need- 

 ing the support and co-operation of 

 every one interested in our business. 



In these troublesome times it is in- 

 deed a pleasure to again meet and 

 shake hands with our fellow crafts- 



gether the best part of our lives for 

 the good of our common cause. 



Secretary's Report 



Secretary Ammann's report was as 

 follows: 



The one great event in the history 

 of the association was the Fall Flower 

 Show held at Bloomington, 111., in No- 

 vember. This was indeed one great 

 success. There were forty exhibitors 

 and all donated the flowers as the 

 show was non-competitive, and all but 

 one or two prepaid the express on 

 flowers sent to the show. This truly 

 shows a spirit of good fellowship, and 

 yet I doubt if any better advertising 

 medium for flowers could be had than 

 such a show. Six certificates of merit 

 were awarded. The attendance was 

 unusually large, over 100 members at- 

 tending the banquet. 



We hope now that the fall show and 

 good fellowship meetings will come to 

 be an annual affair. The association 

 is now the proud owner of 200 vases 

 for exhibition purposes, the executive 

 committee having purchased them 

 from the A. L. Randall Co., at a very 

 liberal reduction from the regular 

 price. Five life memberships have been 

 added to the list, making our present 

 lite membership 58, which together 

 with an annual membership of 239 

 and an honorary membership of four 

 makes the total membership 301. The 

 receipts for the year were Sfl27.00; 

 disbursements $157.38. 



-a flower sliow that was remarkable men — friends wlio have worked to- 



METHODS FOR INCREASING PRO- 

 DUCTION OF ROSES AND 

 CARNATIONS. 



Report of F. W. Muni-ie, Assor-iate ni 

 Floricultural Cliemistrv, Illinois Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, to the Illinois 

 State Flori-sts' Association. 



A bulletin from the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station which has 

 just come from the press on "The Use 

 of Commercial Fertilizers for Roses," 

 embodies the information contained 

 in my report of March 7, 1917, witli 

 practical suggestions to florists. This 

 report contains further experiments 

 along the same line and uncovers a 

 new line of promise in the study of 

 variability of production by roses and 

 carnations. 



Is acid phosphate superior to bone 

 meal? 



In the bulletin above and in a num- 

 ber of papers which I have read before 

 this association and one before the 

 American Carnation Society, I have 

 advocated the use of acid phosphate as 

 a thoroughly safe and effective form 

 of fertilizer for supplying phosphorus 

 to rose and carnation plants. In no 

 previous paper have I been able to 

 recommend acid phosphate as super- 

 ior to bone meal, although I have been 

 rather widely quoted to that effect and 

 a number of growers are trying out 

 acid phosphate in comparison with 

 bone meal. In order to test out this 

 point, two sets, 144 rose plants of each 

 of the varieties Richmond and Killar- 

 ney, are being grown during the pres- 



