July 10, 1915 



HOETICULTUEE 



37 



TEXAS STATE FLORISTS' ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



This youngest and liveliest of the 

 State Florists' organizations has been 

 holding a meeting at Fort Worth this 

 week as indicated in our advance 

 notices in recent issues. Next week 

 we shall be able to give an account of 

 the proceedings. For the present our 

 readers will find in the address of 

 President Kerr plenty to interest and 

 perhaps a new light on the present 

 condition and promise for the future 

 of floriculture in a section of the coun- 

 try hitherto in semi-obscurity. 



• President Kerr's Address. 



Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of 

 the Texas State Florists' Associa- 

 tion. — Ever since you paid me the 

 great honor of electing me to the 

 highest oflice within your gift, I have 

 anticipated this hour, not so much to 

 harvest the honors and privileges ex- 

 tended to your presiding officer as 

 for the opportunity to express to you 

 my deep felt gratitude and apprecia- 

 tion of your kindness and good will 

 toward me. 



Our First Year's Work. 



The twelve months past since we 

 last met have been busy ones for 

 those entrusted with the affairs of our 

 organization. Your standing commit- 

 tee have also been faithful to their 

 trusts and duties, as their reports 

 will reveal to you. We have pro- 

 gressed and increased our influence to 

 such a degree that a review of the 

 year's proceedings might well be de- 

 voted to laudations rather than to 

 suggestions or criticisms. 



It is certainly gratifying to note 

 the widespread interest in our or- 

 ganization the first year. When we 

 consider the comparatively short time 

 the Texas State Florists' Association 

 has been in existence, it is remark- 

 able what an immense growth it has 

 made and what a power tor good it 

 has become. The large gathering here 

 today is self-evident testimony of the 

 fact that the florists of Texas are 

 awake to the importance of organiza- 

 tion. Organizing as we have done 

 has not come voluntarily, but the ne- 

 cessity of the times demand that we 

 must pull together if we expect the 

 accomplished results. One of our 

 most valuable assets is to get to- 

 gether and get acquainted. How 

 many florists have you met at our 

 two conventions, that you had heard 

 of, or done business with, but had 

 never seeu until met in the conven- 

 tion hall? This alone is worth our 

 time and expense of this organization. 

 Let us keep up this good work and 

 enthusiasm. 



Texas to the Front as a Flower 

 Market. 



This organization is only one year 

 old, and in that short time we have 

 done wonders toward making this a 

 better flower market. There were 

 more flowers shipped to the outside 

 market this year than the past five 

 years combined. We have grown 

 more and bought less this year than 

 any one year previous, and at the 

 same time business has been normal 

 — which goes to show what real good 

 can be accomplished by real co-oper- 

 ation. 



A HANDSOME WISTERIA. 



The picture which appears herewith 

 is reproduced from a photograph sent 

 to us by Edmund Lawrence, gardener 

 to Mrs. A. V. Schlaet, Westport, Conn. 

 Concerning this beautiful Wisteria, 

 Mr. Lawrence writes as follows: 



Please flnd enclosed a photograph of 

 a Wisteria chinensis in my Italian 

 garden which is one of the many 

 climbers around the 150 ft. pergola. 



forming a semicircle. This plant had 

 649 perfect clusters measuring from 

 17 to 29 inches in length. The photo- 

 graph does not show all of the blooms, 

 there being a large number over the 

 top of the pergola. Gardeners say 

 they have not seen anything like it 

 around this locality. My culture, is 

 to cut the tap root at the right time 

 and to prune top growth severely in 

 growing season. 



That Experimental Range of Glass 

 for Commercial Cut Flowers. 



Prof. Kyle will tell us today what 

 the possibilities are for this experi- 

 mental station. I believe that it is 

 the consensus of opinion that the 

 florists of Texas are entitled to some 

 means of carrying on practical ex- 

 periments with commercial cut flow- 

 ers. 



The great amount of money spent 

 each year for flowers is amazing, and 

 to think that about 90 per cent of 

 this is going out of the state is cer- 

 tainly something that needs remedy. 

 Every florist in the state of Texas 

 should be vitally interested in this 

 movement and avail himself of every 

 opportunity to help the good work 

 along. I believe our best means of 

 securing this experimental range will 

 be through the Horticultural Depart- 

 ment at College Station — this being 

 centrally located. I would like to see 

 a good strong committee appointed to 

 work on this matter and keep ham- 

 mering away until we accomplish 

 what we want. 



The Annual Flower Show 



We consider our first annual flower 

 show a grand success. It demon- 

 strated to us that this is the best 

 means of educating the public in the 

 proper use of flowers, also for creat- 

 ing a greater demand. It is also a 

 great education for the florists. Every 

 designer and grower produces the best 

 that he has — and then as the saying 

 is, "No man knows it all." Then in 

 this way good ideas are both scat- 

 tered and gathered and taken home 

 and put into practical use. I believe 

 that the members will all agree that 

 this Is really the most important work 

 of our association. I sincerely trust 

 that the committee appointed for the 

 ensuing year will work vigorously to 

 see that this year's show will be 



larger and even better than last 

 year's. 



The Southern Trade Paper. 



Every florist in the South should 

 rally to the support of the "Southern 

 Florist." This is our official organ 

 and should be the means of communi- 

 cating and carrying on our work. It 

 is filling a long felt want. I want to 

 state here that we could not be with- 

 out the other trade papers, as they 

 cover a field that we cannot cover, 

 and the "Southern Florist" is not con- 

 sidered a competitor by the other 

 papers. Every florist should contrib- 

 ute articles, also send in all news 

 items from their respective towns. 

 Practically every florist in Texas is 

 a subscriber, and we have a wide cir- 

 culation throughout the South. If you 

 are interested in the welfare of the 

 Southern florists, you will rally to the 

 support of this organ. Uut, being a 

 subscriber is not all: we need mate- 

 rial to keep the South posted. 



It is not my intention to criticise 

 the other papers, but up to the last 

 few months how many articles per- 

 taining to Southern Florists, or South- 

 ern Floral Culture, have you noted in 

 these papers — and why? It is not 

 because they are not interested in us, 

 for they are: vitally interested in 

 every section of the United States; 

 but the real reason is that they are 

 experiencing the same trouble we are 

 having right now. and that is in get- 

 ting the florists of the Southern cities 

 to report and co-operate. They stand 

 ready at all times to publish the 

 news and any other articles submitted 

 to them. We believe we have solved 

 a problem by establishing a trade 

 paper in our midst. Let every florist 

 in the South realize that this medium 

 is their paper and is working for their 

 interest, and go home determined to 

 l;ike more interest in the future wel- 



