October 6, 1917 



HORTICULTURE 



375 



The annual meeting of this society 

 in New York last week was harmon- 

 ious and full of spirit. About forty 

 members were present. We take 

 pleasure in presenting the address of 

 President Vincent and the annual re- 

 port of Secretary Dick. The reports 

 by Professor Hall on Nomenclature 

 and LeRoy Cady on the dahlia trials 

 at St. Anthony Park, St. Paul, Minn., 

 were thorough and will be notable 

 additions to our dahlia literature. The 

 old board of officers was unanimously 

 re-elected to serve for another year 

 except that Major Vandt of San Raph- 

 ael, Cal., succeeds W. O. Wyckoff as 

 a vice-president. It was voted that 

 the society buy a $100 Liberty Bond. 

 There was an enjoyable banquet in 

 the Hotel Navarre, about forty guests 

 being at the table. 



PRESIDENT VINCENT'S ADDRESS. 



Once more the hand of time has 

 brought us together at this our third 

 annual Dahlia Show, and with this 

 grand exhibit, the interest and enthu- 

 siasm being shown makes me feel cer- 

 tain that we can show to the world our 

 ability and the necessity to carry tor- 

 ward the American Dahlia Society to 

 as great a success as any other or- 

 ganisation of a similar character. 

 With united effort there is undoubted- 

 ly a great future before us. 



I appreciate more than ever, as the 

 society continues to grow and broaden 

 out, the high honor you conferred up- 

 on me when you elected me president. 

 Although there has been considerable 

 work connected with this office, it has 

 been for the main part a work of love, 

 especially so with the kind assistance, 

 good help and cheer from the various 

 members of my staff and co-workers, 

 particularly the secretary and the ex- 

 ecutive committee. 



We aim to get everyone that has a 

 garden and plants flowers interested 

 in growing a few plants of the newer 

 and more beautiful types of Dahlias, 

 knowing that if they once do, and any- 

 thing like a reasonable success crowns 

 their efforts, they will continue to be 

 lovers of this lovely flower the rest of 

 their days, and will soon become mem- 

 bers of the American Dahlia Society. 

 co-operating with us and helping us to 

 get other new members. 



The past year has shown an increase 

 in membership, not the number we ex- 

 pected, but showing the ever-increas- 

 ing interest in the Dahlia; our mak- 

 ing a straight membership fee seems 

 to have worked successfully. 



Our quarterly bulletin is doing a 

 great work. The articles have been 

 plain and to the point regarding var- 

 ieties suitable for every purpose, also 

 the mode of propagating, planting, 

 growing, fertilizing, staking, storing 

 roots, etc. Every point necessary, as 

 far as possible, has been touched upon 

 to such an extent that any interested 

 amateur ought to be able to get suffi- 

 cient knowledge from these articles to 

 make him a successful grower of good 

 Dahlia blooms. 



Let everyone who loves this beauti- 



ful flower co-operate with us by inter- 

 esting their friends to become mem- 

 bers, telling them of the wonderful 

 capabilities o£ the Dahlia, although 

 it looks as if we had reached the 

 highest point to which the Dahlia can 

 be brought, but with the constant de- 

 velopment shown at this exhibition in 

 new and improved seedlings and var- 

 ieties, it would take more than a wiz- 

 ard to tell us to what point of per- 

 fection our hybridizers will bring us. 



It is hard to figure out how much 

 we are indebted to the American In- 

 stitute and its oflicers for their assist- 

 ance in the placing of these rooms at 

 our disposal, also in the amount of ad- 

 vertising, publicity, etc., and above all 

 the help from the secretary and other 

 officials connected therewith. 



We needed just such help, especially 

 during the present season when al- 

 most everything is being reserved for 

 war purposes, but with the dark 

 shadow of war upon us we realize, as 

 we never did before, the necessity of 

 keeping something of the bright side 

 of life before the people, and we are 

 doing it with the Institute's help, in 

 giving this beautiful Dahlia show, and 

 we hope you appreciate our efforts 

 and the courtesy and kindness of the 

 officers and directors of the Institute. 



We are still short of the number of 

 S. A: F. members which we hoped to 

 obtain, and if we could have accom- 

 plished this it would have given us a 

 standing on the board of the mother 

 society, equal to the Rose and Carna- 

 tion Societies. Let us strive earnestly 

 during the coming year to accomplish 

 this, as in doing this we will help 

 build up the Society of American Flor- 

 ists and Ornamental Horticulturists 

 as well as our own, to that point 

 which we hope to see reached by 

 every horticultural organization. 



Classification and Nomenclature Com- 

 mittee. 



We believe the report of our nomen- 

 clature committee, through Prof. Hall, 

 will be found interesting, but every- 

 thing cannot be accomplished at once, 

 as we have a peculiar flower to deal 

 with in the different types that are 

 being brought forward, and no one at 

 the present time can say where this 

 is going to end. 



I, for my part, advocate as many 

 different types as possible. We cer- 

 tainly must not curtail them, but 

 rather encourage them, as we know 

 not what the future has in store for 

 the Dahlia lover. What is wanted is 

 to reduce, to a certain extent, the in- 

 different varieties that already exist. 

 We also think our nomenclature com- 

 mittee ought to pass on new varieties 

 carefully before the premiums or cer- 

 tificates are given, as this is some- 

 times the cause of duplication of var- 

 ieties. 



There has been some criticism re- 

 garding the classification as adopted 

 by our society with the different types 

 running into one another. We realize 

 that the committee has a difficult task, 

 and no doubt as the years go by there 



will be more problems for them to 

 solve. 



The thanks of the society ought to 

 be given to the nomenclature com- 

 mittee for its untiring work and en- 

 ergy in separating classes and nam- 

 ing varieties, and it is my sincere 

 wish that the same meml)ers of the 

 committee be retained, as they 

 thoroughly understand the work that 

 has been placed before them. 

 Trial Grounds. 



We have not as yet succeeded in 

 getting a trial field in the Government 

 Grounds at Arlington similar to the 

 one the Rose Society has, but hope to 

 in the near future. 



We are looking for good results 

 from Prof. Hall, of Geneva, N. Y., Ex- 

 periment Station, and also from Prof. 

 LeRoy Cady of St. Paul, Minn., re- 

 ports of which will be published in 

 the bulletins later. We have also had 

 a number of applications from differ- 

 ent sections for Dahlias for trial pur- 

 poses. Some of our members respond- 

 ed; others, like ourselves, had to de- 

 cline, both on account of shortage of 

 stock and lack of sufficient labor to 

 help select and label varieties. 



bur neighbors on the Pacific Coast 

 have also a trial ground at San Rafael, 

 and are testing out a number of vari- 

 eties of California origin, also new 

 and old varieties of American and 

 European origin, and we expect to 

 have a report published in our bulle- 

 tin. They have, in the California 

 Dahlia Society, one of the strongest 

 floral societies on the Paciflc Coast, 

 and our good wishes are with them. 



The ambition of our society is to 

 see all varieties thoroughly tested out 

 and every opportunity will be given, 

 to amateurs, as well as large growers, 

 to exhibit, and it they wish to have a 

 place in the trial gardens for their 

 seedlings alongside of others of like 

 character, and have them tested out 

 and prove their quality. 



SECRETARY'S REPORT. 



The year has been one of consider- 

 able activity, although no new feat- 

 ures have been added to the society's 

 program. 



The publication of the bulletin has 

 been much appreciated by the mem- 

 bers. Three issues have been made, 

 one in December, 1916, a double edi- 

 tion in March, 1917, an eight-page 

 bulletin in August last, and before 

 the end of the present year another 

 will be published. 



A large number of cultural matters 

 have been dealt with, while there 

 have been articles also discussing the 

 best varieties in the leading sections 

 of the Dahlias, others discussing the 

 classification of the flower, and there 

 have been papers dealing with the 

 commercial cultivation and selling of 

 Dahlias. 



The society has yet to publish its 

 definition of the term "amateur," and 

 has still to adopt a scheme of points 

 for judging. 



The committee regrets that owing 

 to the very considei-able expense that 

 would be entailed in the proposed pub- 

 lication of Prof. F. H. Hall's list of 

 6,000 Dahlia names, this matter has 

 had to be indefinitely deferred. 



Reports from the trial grounds last 

 year were published, and in the next 

 bulletin reports from Geneva and St. 



