202 



HORTICULTURE, 



August Zo, 190S 



THE CONVENTION AT DAYTON 



A Vast Throng in Attendance 



Officers Elected — Wm. J. Stewart^ President ; P» J. Hauswirth, Sec- 

 retary ; H, B, Beatty, Treasurer 



A Trade Exhibition of Great Magnitude 



The twenty-second annual conven- 

 tion of the Society of American Flor- 

 ists and Ornamental Horticulturists 

 opened under most inspiring auspices. 

 The meeting hall — one of several can- 

 vas-covered pavilions adjoining the big 

 exhibition hall — was draped with wild 

 smilax and oak branches and the cool 

 breezes blowing through the open sides 

 furnished the ideal place for a sum- 

 mer meeting. On all sides skirting the 

 green lawns were to be seen the bril- 

 liant flower beds of the out-door dis- 

 play, contributing a charming effect 

 and causing much regretful comment 

 on the costly mistake the ornamental 

 nurserymen had made in failing to take 

 advantage of this unprecedented op- 

 portunity for showing their goods. 

 For the past two months the number 

 of visitors to the Cash Register works 

 adjoining has been 1200 people daily, 

 and the fair ground floral display has 

 attracted thousands of them to inspect 

 and admire. For a week the big 

 octagonal exhibition hall has been a 

 scene of bustle and activity. In extent 

 and variety the exhibition is the peer 

 of any of its predecessors and in ar- 

 rangement it would be impossible to 

 Improve upon it. The decorations are 

 lavish, there is to be music continu- 

 ously every day aud altogether the ex- 

 hibition is, in its perfection and impres- 

 siveness, a feature which alone well re- 

 pays the visitor whether he come from 

 the Atlantic or the Pacific coast 



A heavy thunder storm Tuesday 

 afternoon delayed opening proceedings 

 until nearly 4 o'clock. Vice-President 

 Altick called the assemblage to order. 

 He regretted the inauspicious weather 

 conditions, but promised improvement 

 for the balance of the week. The 

 Mayor being away from the city, Judge 

 Dale eloquently extended the welcome 

 of the city of Dayton to the visitors. 

 Response on behalf of the societv was 

 made by Prof. J. P. Cowell of Buffalo. 

 President Kasting was then introduced 



and after the applause had subsided 

 proceeded to deliver his address. 



ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT W. F. 

 KASTING. 



Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Mem- 

 bers of the S. A. F. & 0. H.: 

 Tw-enty-two years ago. I am told, 

 while this society then new-born, was 

 holding its first meeting in the City of 

 Cincinnati, there came an invitation to 

 visit this city and view the horticul- 

 tural wonders as set forth at the 

 Soldiers Home and other places. To- 

 day we come again, increased an 

 hundred fold, to see not only the 

 Soldiers Home but to see and admire 

 the thousands of plantations in the 

 streets, squares, and about the homes 

 of the people; plantations that have 

 made the name of Dayton known the 

 world over and have been an incentive 

 for other municipalities and an object 

 lesson in civic cleanliness and good 

 taste. 



Amid such surroundings, I trust our 

 deliberations as a Society may be im- 

 measureably pleasant anu profitable, 

 and that as individuals we may carry 

 away impressions and ideas that will 

 enable us to improve our own environ- 

 ment, and add to the beauty and gen- 

 fral attractiveness of the localities 

 which w-e severally represent. 



Twenty-two years is not a long time 

 in the history of a nation or even of a 

 society, but it is time enough, I think, 

 to prove the solidity of our organiza- 

 tion, and time enough for us to have 

 profited by our experiences. If there 

 was a need for an organization of this 

 character twenty-two years ago, how 

 much greater is the need to-day, with 

 the enormous expansion of our busi- 

 ness that has come in two decades. 

 The wisdom of the Fathers has been 

 amply demonstrated. We cannot 

 afford, however to stand still and rest 

 upon the records of the past — we must 

 put forth new efforts and keep pace 

 with the great procession. 



The question comes home to us — Are 

 we making the most of our opportuni- 

 ties as a society with such broad aims 

 and splendid possibilities? Would it 

 not be well to pause in our congratu- 

 lations and our commendations and in- 



dulge in a season of introspection, and 

 see if we cannot profit by example and 

 still further augment our usefulness. 

 Let us take a leaf from the history of 

 our Host City and clean up our back 

 yard and put our front in such condi- 

 tion that it may be an example to all 

 men, to the end that we may become 

 a .greater power for good in the years 

 that are to come. Let us take an ex- 

 ample too by the work that the 

 National Cash Register has done, and 

 in our wider dwelling place be leaders 

 in improvement and education. 



There are certain questions that 

 seem to be perennial sources of dis- 

 cussion, which crop up annually for 

 our consideration. Occasionally one is 

 settled; but its place is immediately 

 taken, anu it is only by constantly 

 hammering at them that they are 

 brought into shape and disposed of. 



I propose briefly to refer to the more 

 important of these problems, not with 

 the idea of giving you any fresh argu- 

 ment, but rather that they may not 

 he allowed to rest until they are solved. 



Among the questions discussed by 

 ray predecessors, perhaps none are of 

 more general importance than those 

 pertaining to education. 



We as professors of garden art and 

 craft will continue to be looked up to 

 as those having authority to speak, 

 and it devolves upon us to be pre- 

 pared, so far as we may, to lead in all 

 matters relating to horticultural pur- 

 suits. How can we best reach the peo- 

 ple who are interested in garden mat- 

 ters, and increase their love for vernal 

 surroundings, as well as to implant 

 desire where no desire exists, are 

 questions of vital Importance and 

 worthy of our most earnest considera- 

 tion. Exhibitions as a factor in edu- 

 cation are of the greatest value. It is 

 by the eye more than by the ear that 

 people are instructed. The value of, 

 local displays of plants and flowers, 

 happily on the increase have done 

 much to stimulate a more general love 

 for flowers and incidently have in- 

 creased the demands for the product 

 of our art. Probably still more far 

 reaching on account of its greater 

 publicity and more elaborate and com- 

 prehensive display would be an exhibi- 



