August 25, 1917 



HOKTICULTURE 



plain that we made no mistake in meet- 

 ing in these sections, and that our 

 membership increased under natural 

 rather that abnormal conditions. 



I have been a little disappointed be- 

 cause of the small number of new mem- 

 bers secured through the efforts of the 

 State Vice-Presidents. While a few of 

 these officers have given evidence of 

 endeavor, the great majority have not 

 seemed to be able to induce florists in 

 their respective territories to join our 

 organization. I have sent out thou- 

 sands of pieces of mail through differ- 

 ent sections explaining our objects and 

 soliciting applications for membership 

 but the results from persuasion by mail 

 have been meagre. There is nothing 

 like personal solicitation by the man 

 on the spot. The Society long ago 

 made provision for the payment of in- 

 cidental expenses attaching to the office 

 of a State Vice-President up to the 

 amount of $25.00, and this sum would 

 cover the cost of quite a little mission- 

 ary work. 



The Florists' Telegraph Delivery is 

 doing good recruiting work as a sec- 

 tion of our Society, securing for us a 

 large influx of new members. It will 

 be noticed that we are publishing a 

 full report of the meetings of this or- 

 ganization in our Annual Proceedings. 

 Vpward of 121 pages appeared in the 

 1916 volume. We also publish a list 

 of their members, with addresses and 

 names of the retail establishments rep- 

 resented. Our Executive Board has 

 recommended that any appropriations 

 for publicity work made by the Society 

 shall be expended by the Society's Pub- 

 licity Committee in conjunction with a 

 similar committee appointed by the F. 

 T. D. This will insure that the inter- 

 ests of all branches of the trade will 

 be conserved in publicity work. 



The follov/ing have sent in one or 

 more names for membership since the 

 last Convention: 



FI.OUISTS' TELEGRAPH DELIVERY, 

 7S; A. L. Jliller. V. P. S. A. F., 20: Wallace 

 IL Eiss, State Vioe-I'res.. 5; Patrick Welch, 

 :■.: Max Sehlin^', State Vice-Pres., .'i : IL C. 

 NeubraniL State ^'^oe-Pre.s.. 2; Frank X. 

 Stnppy, 2; Kuucl Kayelaud, 2; Charles H. 

 Iiri)wn, 1 ; R. C. Kerr, 1 ; Thus. Sheltou, 

 State Vice-Pres., 1: ,TiiIes Bourdet. State 

 ^*^(•e-P^es., 1; F. C. Bartels, 1; C IL Green, 

 1; Ilarohi .Toy, State Vice-Pres., 1: C P. 

 .Mueller, State Vice-Pres., 1; H. W. Shep- 

 panl. State Vice-Pres., 1: ,T. J. Lane, 1; C. 

 L. Seybold, 2. 



Publicity. 

 Publicity for flowers and the best 

 means of getting it is a prol)lem your 

 Publicity Committee has been wrest- 

 ling with for some time. It is a matter 

 requiring deep thought, and any step 

 made must necessarily be in the right 

 direction, otherwise expenditures on 

 the project would be entirely wasted. 

 Many plans have been suggested but 

 none has yet been adopted. Von will 

 have noticed that in the report of the 

 meeting of the Board of Directors a 

 recommendation was made that the 

 Society appropriate $1,500.00 to the use 

 of the F. T. D. to augment the fund 

 which the latter is raising for a gen- 

 eral advertising campaign. 



Bureau of Credits and Collections. 



This is another of the Society's jiro- 

 jects in which the policy of "make 

 haste slowly " is paramount. The com- 

 mittee in charge of the proposition, 

 however, is beginning "to see daylight" 

 and it will not be long before a work- 

 ing plan will be evolved. The commit- 



tee is fortunate in having at its head 

 so able a chairman as Mr. Patrick 

 Welch. 



Mothers' Day. 

 The Committee on Mothers' Day 

 worked earnestly early in the year to 

 promote a fund for advertising flowers 

 for this day. as its report will show. In 

 collaboration with Chairman Olson. I 

 sent out 13,200 circular letters to flor- 

 ists, dealers in supplies, etc., soliciting 

 subscriptions. The amount received 

 was only $571.00 and the expenditures, 

 including postage, amounted to $516.50 

 — leaving a net balance of $54.50. 

 Next National Flower Show. 

 The work of the Secretary's office in 

 the promotion of the Fifth National 

 Flower Show has been active for many 

 months. I have been successful in 

 raising the required $10,000.00 Guar- 

 antee Fund and have published and 

 distributed two preliminary schedules, 

 important and necessary features of 

 the work. 



The plan to hold the 1918 Convention 

 of the Society in St. Louis in conjunc- 

 tion with the National Flower Show 

 while at first thought to be question- 

 able policy, is meeting with hearty ap- 

 proval, and I am assured on every hand 

 that it has been a wise move and un- 

 doubtedly pleases the majority of our 

 members. The double attraction should 

 insure a larger attendance of the trade 

 than we have hitherto had at any of 

 our gatherings, and the possibility of 

 combining the usual flower show trade 

 exhibits with the regular convention 

 Trade Exhibition should result in a 

 grand exposition of our florists' prod- 

 ucts, auxiliaries, suoplies and acces- 

 sories, as well as of everything used in 

 the line of horticultural work, both 

 professional and amateur. 



Payment of Dues 

 I would particularly direct the atten- 

 tion of members to the fact that all 

 dues are payable on January 1st, and 

 should not be permitted to run until 

 convention time. The dues are small, 

 and remitting is easy, so why not make 

 an immediate remittance on receipt 

 of the bill from the Secretary's office 

 and save the Society the unnecessary 

 postage entailed by subsequent bill- 

 ings? 



The Convention Garden. 

 I regret to say that in spite of the 

 most strenuous efforts I could put forth 

 interest in the Convention Garden 

 lagged to a surprising extent, notwith- 

 standing the great advertising oppor- 

 tunity presented and the fact that plant- 

 ings could lie continued without cost for 

 several seasons. The support received 

 by the Society in the Garden project 

 this year has been meagre indeed. In 

 this great city of New York, with its 

 extensive suburbs where horticulture 

 is a general hobl)y of the residents, 

 plantin.gs of novelties or meritorious 

 varieties in plants and flowers would 

 liave obtained pul)licity the value of 

 which could hardly be estimated in 

 dollars and cents — and at such little 

 cost. 



The Trade Exhibition. 

 When we consider the disturbed 

 condition of commerce, lack of trans- 

 portation facilities, and other draw- 

 backs at i)resent in evidence, it must be 

 admitted that our Trade Exhibition is 

 as large and comprehensive as could 



be expected. While it compares favor- 

 ably with other exhibitions, had times 

 been normal it would, undoubtedly, 

 have been exceptionally larger. 



Our Convention. 

 In line with recommendations made 

 from time to time by our Executive 

 Board that organized entertainment in 

 convention cities be discontinued for 

 the reason that they detract from the 

 interest of our Society's meetings, such 

 entertainment forms no part of our 

 program. Feeling that a precedent 

 might better be established in a large 

 city. New York has set an example, the 

 sincerity of which is unquestioned, 

 and it is meeting the approval of the 

 majority of our membership. If the 

 precedent is turned into custom, very 

 many more cities will find it their un- 

 hampered privilege to offer themselves 

 for future conventions. 



Our Committees. 



I desire at this time to express pub- 

 licly my appreciation of the most con- 

 genial relations which have existed be- 

 tween the committees of our Society 

 and the secretary's office. Such rela- 

 tions I recognize to be very important 

 in conducting the work of the Society, 

 and it is a great pleasure to me to 

 testify to the very great harmony pre- 

 vailing. I am at all times ready to 

 render any assistance in my power to 

 committee work, promptly and most 

 cheerfully. 



The Trade Press. 



It is also fitting at this time that I 

 should mention the great services 

 rendered to the Society by the trade 

 press. Our trade. papers have promptly 

 pulilished the large number of articles 

 sent in by me during the past year 

 and their unselfish assistance in our 

 work should be recognized to the full- 

 est extent possitile. 

 Registrations Since Last Convention. 



Xo. (;4."i. Oct. 14. iniO. Rose, Mrs. Sarnh 



Yeats, hy (i. E. Y"e.its, Cham- 



paijjii. Illinois. 

 No. I14G. Dec. 2. llilli. Dahlia. Mrs. John 



Gribbel. hy ^^'. Atlee Burpee & 



Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 

 No. G47. Dec. 2, lillli. Dahlia. Joan Kerr. 



by AV. Atlee Burpee v*c Co., Phila- 

 delphia. Pa 

 No. (US. Dec. 2. IVilCi. Dahlia. .Tohn D. 



Rockefeller, by W. Atlee Burpee 



vV Co., Philadelphia. I*a. 

 ,\c). M'.i. Feb. 10, 1!I17. Canna Evening 



Star, by Conard & Jones Co., 



West Grove. Pa, 

 No. (l.")ll. Feb. 10. 11117. Canna Snow Queen. 



by Conard & Jones Co.. West 



Grove, Pa. 

 No. t!,-.l. Feb. 10. am. Canna Druid Hill. 



by Conard & Jones Co., West 



Grove. Pa. 

 No. (i.52. Fi'b. 10. 1017. Canna Morning 



Glow, by Conard & Jones Co., 



A\'csl Grove. Pa. 

 No. V,x;. April 21. Iill7. Laelia Cattleva, 



Adela Griswold, by William E. S. 



Griswold, Wyudhurst, Lenox, 



Mass. Alfred J. Loveless, Gar- 

 dener. 



Necrology. 



We have lost through death: 



William C. Barry, Rochester, N. Y'. Dec. 12, 

 initi: Lawrence Cotter. Jamestown, N. Y., 

 March 24. 11(17: Thos. M. Fitzgerald. Bea- 

 ver. I'l'iui.. Nov. 14. i:il(i: .v. L. Glacer. 

 Dnbuiiue. Iowa. April 12, 1'.117: C L. Hus- 

 croft. Stenbenville, Ohio, Got. 21, 11110: T. 

 C. Joy. Nashville. Tennessee, Nov.' 10. 1916; 

 W. L. Krneschell, Chicago. Ills., .Nov. 2». 

 lilK!: Henry M. Lehr. Broi>klvn. Maryland, 

 .March 20. 11)17: A. C. Oelschig. Savannah, 

 (ieorgia. Oct. 12. lillli: Fred Pouting. Cleve- 

 land. Ohio. April 1,S. 11117: N. J. Rupp, Chi- 

 cago. Illinois. Dec. 27. 10111; Henry .\. Sal- 

 zer. La Crosse. Wisconsin. Aug. 22. lOlli; 

 C. (i. Weeber. Brooklyn. N. Y'.. Stay S. 11)17; 

 John A. Bopp, Cumberland, Md.,' Aug. 1, 

 1017. 



