Septeaii»T %, WIT 



HOST I CULTURE 



279 



REPORT OF THE NATIONAL 

 FLOWER SHOW COM- 

 MITTEE. 



In submitting my report to the con- 

 vention, 1 wish briefly to touch upon 

 its objects, which it is understood by 

 the committee from instructions re- 

 ceived at the various conventions, are 

 to promote horticulture in all its 

 branches and to make same self-sus- 

 taining, the idea of profit being a sec- 

 ond consideration. 



The committee has also taken the 

 stand that they must work equally 

 hard for the interest of the eshibit^iir, 

 to provide for him adequate recom- 

 pense by bringing to the exhibitioBs 

 enough of the public to encourage him 

 in making his exhibit the last word in 

 horticulture. 



This also applies to our exhibitors 

 in the trade section. While our 

 charges for foot space have been 

 more than doiible that charged at the 

 conventions, yet the exhibitors at the 

 ■National Shows have always said that 

 it paid that much better to exhfbit at 

 the shows than at the conventions. 

 This can be readily seen as making a 

 decided change pertaining to the con- 

 ventions of our society, and in my 

 opinion the time is very soon at hand. 

 If not now when there should be a 

 National Flower Show in the spring 

 of every year and at this time the con- 

 ventioi should also be held. 



Stat.stics kept by the secretary, 

 show that the attendance at tlie 

 Nationxl Flower Shows by the mem- 

 bers of our society are three times as 

 great a.i at the conventions. It is also 

 a natuial buying season and the ex- 

 hibitor finds the florist visitor at the 

 convention in a mood for buying. 



The ittendance at the conventions 

 held during the summer the last few 

 years has decidedly dropped off and 

 this is rot to be wondered at as most 

 people prefer to enjoy the taking of 

 a vacatijn during the summer months 

 and as ihe business of the society by 

 the incieased membership on the 

 Board ol Directors, by the affiliation 

 plan has gone to this body for their 

 consideration. It also wants to be 

 taken inti consideration by the mem- 

 bers the fact that these National Flow- 

 er Shows are great educators and as 

 tliere are so many cities in the coun- 

 try where they should be held, it is 

 only possible to cover the ground by 

 holding th5m as often as possible. 



There are not many buildings in 

 the countrr large enough to stage the 

 exhibition as carried on now. In the 

 city of St. Louis where we go next 

 spring, we were forced to lease land 

 adjacent tc the beautiful Shrine Tem- 

 ple, to erect a temporary structure to 

 stage our :how, but there is a great 

 indication ii a number of larger cities 

 to build laige convention halls and in 

 a very few years there will be a num- 

 ber of large buildings available in a 

 number of :ities where the exhibition 

 can be held 



I wish to call to the attention of the 

 members tie necessity of the spirit of 

 patriotism in this exhibition. Your 

 committee s merely your agent for 

 promotion aid advertising of our busi- 

 ness. It neans the selling of more 

 flowers and the bringing before the 

 public the ^est quality and the latest 

 novelties in our profession. We are 

 going to th! city of St. Louis as you 

 all know, nfxt spring. There are not 



A HOUSE OF CYCLAMEN. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 a house of the high-grade cyclamen, 

 selected and improved for many years 

 by J. A. Peterson, of Cincinnati, of 



which we gave an account in a re- 

 cent number of Hortici'lti'te. This 

 strain has attained a countrywide rep- 

 utation. 



a large number of big growers close 

 to St. Louis. Tlierefore, our commit- 

 tee must look for the support of the 

 growers throughout the country. If 

 the committee does not get this sup- 

 port, it will work a severe hardship 

 on them and will not reflect to the 

 credit of our society or our business. 



The American liose Society will 

 hold their convention and exhibition 

 in connection with the show, also the 

 American Carnation Society, who 

 were represented at our last meeting 

 in St. Louis and signified their inten- 

 tions of making a great effort at the 

 next show. We were greatly encour- 

 aged also by the Missouri Botanical 

 Garden, conrmonly known as Shaw's 

 Garden. Mr. Ohlweiler, the director, 

 assured me that he would do every- 

 thing possible, and if necessary they 

 would move the garden to our exhibi- 

 tion hall. This is the spirit taken by 

 tbe florists in general in St. Louis, but 

 if this show is to be national, we 

 ought to have exhibits, not only from 

 the Atlantic Coast but from the Pacific 

 Coast as well. 



There has been some talk, early in 

 the preparatory part of the exhibition 

 about abandoning the show on ac- 

 count of the war. This, the commit- 

 tee unanimously believes would be a 

 serious mistake as the motto "business 

 as usual" has been supplemented by 

 "business better than usual" and as 

 this is strictly a business exhibition 

 and our line in particular must keep 

 in advance of the times. 



The committee was fortunate in se- 

 curing a location that compares some- 

 what to the one at the recent Philadel- 

 phia show, being located on the prin'-i- 

 pal boulevard, and in the heart of the 

 city, adjacent to four of the most 

 prominent car lines, also being on the 

 principal drive, surrounded by some 

 of the finest homes in St. Ix)uis. There 

 also Is a triangular park space belong- 

 ing to the city, immediately In front of 

 the building, which the park commis- 

 sioners have promised to plant accord- 



ing to the wishes of our committee. 



We are very much encouraged by 

 the spirit shown us by the St. Louis 

 Florist Club and Its members. The 

 dates for the show are April 6th to 

 15th, inclusive, giving us ten full show 

 days as the laws in St. Louis allow 

 exhibitions open on Sunday. The 

 weather in St. Louis, from statistics 

 gathered, is shown to be a delightful 

 climate and quite warm at that sea- 

 son. 



The lot as leased by the committee- 

 is 350 feet long by 150 feet deep and 

 is now levelled off and being seeded. 

 We have also contracted for an orna- 

 mental electric light billboard to be 

 placed there which will be in opera- 

 tion this week. The billboard shows 

 the prospective building with wording 

 announcing to the public the contem- 

 plated show. Every effort is being 

 made by the committee which is 

 composed of L. P. Jensen, head gar- 

 dener of the Busch estate, Mr. Strehle, 

 superintendent of parks in St. Ix)uis 

 and Mr. Baumann. landscape archi- 

 tect, to have a beautiful planting ef- 

 fect, shrubbery, flower beds, etc. There 

 is no doubt that in the eight months 

 tins board will be up, it will give great 

 publicity and most of the St. Liouis 

 people will know of the enterprise. 

 We have also started a publicity cam- 

 paign, the first of which appeared in 

 the loading papers last week in the 

 way of editorials commenting on the 

 enterprise. 



Moolah Temple is one of St. I ouis' 

 ii'ost beautiful structures, consisting 

 of two large auditoriums, one on the 

 lower floor being used now as a main 

 dining room and drill hall. It is in 

 this hall that we intend to place the 

 trade exhibit, it being, without doubt, 

 ideal for that purpose. On the upper 

 floor, it is the intention o' the com- 

 mittee to stage the retail florists' ex- 

 hibit.'!, using the large stage for effec- 

 tive decorations and special features. 

 There is a large balcony in this hall, 

 which will seat 1500 people, thus pro- 



