462 



HORTICULTUEE 



April 1, 1916 



AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY 



Till' aiiiiiial iiiifUiiK "f llie Aiiiorl- 

 fun Rose Society was held in ii side- 

 room of Convention Hall, Philadel- 

 plila, on Monday evening, March 27. 

 President S. S. Pennock opened the 

 session with an address full of optim- 

 ism and Inspiration which was atten- 

 tively listened to and cordially re- 

 ceived by a good sized audience. Re- 

 ports of secretary, treasurer and com- 

 mittees followed. The report and rec- 

 ommendations of the special commit- 

 tee on system and standard measure- 

 ments for the classification of cut 

 roses, which was presented by Harry 

 O. May for the committee was as- 

 sailed by several members and a 

 spirited discussion was precipitated, 

 with the result that the report was 

 finally referred back to the committee. 

 George C. Thomas made an exhaustive 

 report on the scales of points for use 

 in judging outdoor roses. He admit- 

 ted that the scales as suggested are 

 somewhat experimental and that after 

 being tried out in practice modifica- 

 tions would doubtless be found desir- 

 able and it was decided to adopt them 

 for the present as read. 



The old officers were unanimously 

 re-elected to serve for the coming 

 year, viz.: S. S. Pennock. president; 

 L. J. Reuter, vice-president; Harry O. 

 May, treasurer; Benj. Hammond, sec- 

 retary. Admiral Aaron Ward was 

 elected to fill the unexpired year of 

 Eber Holmes' term and E. Allan Peirce 

 succeeds John A. Dunlop for a three- 

 year term. Robert Pyle was re-elected 

 for three years. Admiral Ward made 

 a most delightful speech in acknowl- 

 edgement of his election, extolling the 

 dignity and honor of working in the 

 garden with one's own hands. J. 

 Horace McFarland was elected an 

 honorary member. A proposition to 

 make the retiring president an ex- 

 officio member of the executive com- 

 mittee for one year was favorably 

 acted upon. The award of a gold 

 medal to H. A. Dreer for the beauti- 

 ful garden of roses in the Flower 

 Show as recommended by the judges 

 was duly sanctioned. Selection of the 

 place for the next annual meeting was 

 left to the executive committee. 

 Secretary's Report. 

 This is the 17th annual meeting of 

 the American Rose Society. It is 

 twelve years ago since this society 

 held its last annual meeting in the 

 city of Philadelphia, and in the years 

 which have elapsed since then the de- 

 velopment of the American Rose Soci- 

 ety as evinced at this time by the 

 exhibition in this Convention Hall is 

 wonderful. Since our last visit to this 

 city the society has been in Boston 

 four times, to Washington, Chicago. 

 Buffalo and Detroit once; New York 

 City three times. 



Our membership varies from year 

 to year. The past year, Ifll.";. we had 

 the pleasure to receive another life 

 member, R. Witterstaetter. The life 

 membership helps us in building up 

 our permanent fund which now reach- 

 es the sum of three thousand two hun- 

 dred dollars ($3,200.00). Our annual 

 members who have paid up for the 



.Mar ;it lln^ dalf nunihcr 17!l, ol wlnun 

 ■17 are a.ssociale nienibers. 



The Test Rose Gardens which be- 

 gan in Hartford, Conn., and now em- 

 brace a garden at Washington. D. c. 

 at Ithaca, N. Y., and at Minneapolis. 

 .Minn., which are watched over with 

 special committees appointed by the 

 American Rose Society and which 

 certainly have awakened much practi- 

 cal interest, the bushes to be tested 

 being furnished gratis by rose grow- 

 ers. Two lots were sent from Europe, 

 one from Kallen & Lunnemann, of 

 Boskoop, Holland, embracing 29 vari- 

 eties, 168 plants. These all went to 

 Ithaca. Messrs. Hugh Dickson, Ltd., 

 Belfast, Ireland, sent ten each of four 

 varieties. These are for competition 

 in the test gardens and were divided, 

 half going to Hartford, and half to 

 the Washington gardens. The detail 

 of the results in these rose gardens 

 is presented in the "Rose Annual" to- 

 gether with the awards made. Muni- 

 cipal rose gardens are being pushed 

 in England as things of popular beau- 

 ty. Under date of .January 23, 1916, 

 a letter from Waratah, Etigland. came 

 to the secretary saying: "You people 

 are far more progressive in America 

 as regards municipal rose gardens 

 than we are over here, and should be 

 gratified if you could send me details 

 of any public rose gardens established 

 in America." This writer is an ama- 

 teur and holds the championship both 

 for exhibition roses and decoratives of 

 all England. Our amateur societies 

 are looking to the American Rose So- 

 ciety for information and recognition. 

 The affiliation membership rate was 

 first placed at ten cents each, but this 

 sum was not sufficient and has by the 

 executive committee been changed to 

 25c. for each member. 



There is in supporting members of 

 the Rose Society a lack from the men 

 growing outside roses; at every show 

 we hold there is more or less expense 

 and the support of the society has 

 hitherto been mainly from the cut 

 flower producers. 



The broadening of the membership 

 of this society involves a great deal of 

 detail work, and one piece of work 

 that has at last come to pass is the 

 printing in first class style of the 

 annual report of organization work of 

 the society in bool\ form, with various 

 essays complimentary thereto. This 

 work of publication involves a greater 

 amount of outgo than hitherto the 

 revenue of this society warranted, but 

 J. Horace McFarland assumed the 

 work and risk of cost attending the 

 same, and for this service we are cer- 

 tainly indebted to him. The propor- 

 tion directly paid for this work by the 

 society was $200. <iO and customary 

 postage; beyond this the cost has 

 been assumed by the publishers. 



For this spring's exhibition the 

 number and value of special prizes 

 contributed by individuals has not be- 

 fore been equalled. All this is clear 

 evidence that our society is full of 

 vigor and the gathering together of 

 citizens of our common country in 

 associated work which tends to bring 



beauty to the homes of all the people 

 is to be highly commended. 



"A Hose for Kvery Home, a Bush 

 for Every Garden" Is emblematic of 

 Peace nnd Beauty from Ocean to 

 Ocean. 



Bk.n.).\min IIammomi, Sec. 

 Report of Harry O. IVIay, Treasurer. 

 Summit. N. J. 

 March 22, 1916. 

 l{«'ceipls, $2..'')01.20 



Disbursements $1,453.28 



Cash In bank 1,047.92 



$2,501.20 

 Investment Account. 

 Westchester & Bronx Title 

 & Mortgage Guaranty 

 Company 

 Tliree mortgage certifi- 

 cates J3.000.00 



Summit Trust Company 



Permanent Fund 200.00 



Hubbard .Medal Fund,.. 250.00 



HORTICULTURAL LITERATURE. 

 Leonard Barron, of .\e\v York, ad- 

 dressed the .Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society at Horticultural Hall, 

 Boston, on Saturday, February 26, on 

 the subject of horticultural literature, 

 past, present and future. The address 

 was a splendid effort, evidently pre- 

 pared with much thought and a fin- 

 ished literary production in itself. We 

 have space only for a short abstract. 



Of the future for garden writings, 

 the lecturer said: 



"It may indeed be said that a knowl- 

 edge of gardening is a necessary part 

 of a liberal education across the sea. 

 whereas with us an intelligent ac- 

 quaintance with gardens is indeed 

 quite exceptional. How many Amer- 

 ican ladies will naturally invite you to 

 stroll around their gardens to see the 

 latest novelty in herbaceous plants, or 

 the newest shrub from China? How 

 many American men will invite you 

 to stroll into the conservatory or 

 greenhouse after dinner? Until these 

 things or something like them happen 

 garden writings of the expository kind 

 cannot be successfully produced among 

 us because the publishers cannot af- 

 ford to produce them for an unrespon- 

 sive public." 



He said that garden writing in 

 America may be claimed as a feature 

 of the last 25 years. Many of the 

 earlier productions were printed from 

 sheets or plates imported from Europe, 

 he explained, leading to much con- 

 fusion. 



"This city of Boston," he declared, 

 "is inseparably associated with the be- 

 ginning of gardening here in America, 

 of which fact the organization under 

 whose auspices we are now gathered 

 is in itself sufficient proof: and today 

 this section of the country still stands 

 as perhaps the most advanced center 

 of garden interest in the United States. 

 "The period of textbook w-ritings 

 has, I feel, reached its zenith, but 

 other books of a more imaginative 

 type have reborn the interest in gar- 

 den work, and are making it something 

 far aheatJ of what it was 100. 50 or 

 even 20 years ago. The appearance of 

 this particular kind of writing has 

 been marked by the development of a 

 new type of garden writer — the skilled 

 observer — the professional teacher or 

 experimentalist. 

 "While we need the teacher, and 



