August 21, 1915 



HORTICULTURE 



235 



H. Tottf, Madison, N. J.; Adolph 

 Farenwald, Roslyn, Pa.; Wm. P. Craig, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



1915 Convention Advisory Committee. 



Daniel MacRorie, San Francisco, 



Ca!.; H. Plath, San Francisco, Cal.; 



Angelo J. Rossi. San Francisco, Cal. 



Other Officers. 



Botanist— Prof. J. F. Cowell,» Buf- 

 falo. N. Y. 



Pathologist~Pro(. H. H. Whetzel. 

 Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 



Entomologist — Prof. W. E. Britton, 

 State Entomologist, New Britain, Conn. 



Chairman Committee on Hfjorts — 

 Chas. E. Critchell, Cincinnati. O. 



S up er i ntendent of 

 Trade Exhibition — 

 John Young, 53 W. 28th 

 St., New York City. 



S u p e r i ntendent of 

 Convention Garde n — 

 Daniel MacRorie, 430 

 Phelan Bldg., San Fran- 

 cisco, Cal. 



Sergeant - at - Arms — 

 Daniel Raymond. 



of John McLaren who presides over 

 the horticultural interests of the city 

 and had transformed the wilderness of 

 shifting sand dunes to beautiful Golden 

 Gate Park. 



Wm. F. Gude responded on behalf 

 of the visitors to the Mayor's words of 

 welcome, acknowledging with deep 

 gratitude the conlial reception re- 

 ceived. Mr. Gude, continuing said: 

 •'As practical florists, it may be thai 

 we appreciate more than the average 

 visitor to your shores, your floriculture 

 and horticulture, and, from the expres- 

 sions I have heard already, every mem- 

 ber here present of our Society has 

 experienced a double pleasure — that of 



• Deceased. 



Tariff and Legislative 

 Committee. 



W. F. Gude, Chairman. 

 Washington, D. C; 

 James McHutchison, 17 

 Murray St., New York 

 City; Wm. F. Kasting. 

 Buffalo. N. Y.; Ralph 

 M. Ward, New York 

 City; Julius Roehrs, 

 Rutherford, N. J.; Wm. 

 H. Siebrecht, Jr., Long 

 Island City, N. Y. 

 Committee on School 

 Gardens. 



Benjamin Hammond. 

 Chairman. Beacon, N. 

 Y.; Irwin Bertermaun, 

 Indianapolis, Ind.; Gust. 

 X. Amrhyn, Supt. of 

 Parks, New Haven, 

 Conn.; Michael Barker, 

 Chicago, 111.; Leonard 

 Barron, Garden City. 

 N. Y. 



On Tuesday morning 

 the proceedings wore 

 ushered in with a trip 

 around the Bay on the 

 U. S. revenue cutter Uu- 

 alga, participated in by 

 visiting and local flor- 

 ists, gardeners, park 

 superintendents and 

 others, including many 

 ladies. Refreshments 

 were served on board 

 the boat returning at 

 noon. 



OPENING SESSION. 



The opening exercises took place in 

 Hall H., east side of the fourth floor 

 of the Civic Center Auditorium. The 

 hall was handsomely decorated with 

 boxwood trees, palms, ferns, asters and 

 garden lilies. Vice-president MacRorie 

 Introduced the several speakers, the 

 first item on the program being an ad- 

 dress of welcome by Hon. James Kolph, 

 Jr., Mayor of San Francisco. It was 

 an elaborate and graceful spccrh re- 

 coimting the city's new birth after the 

 great disaster of earthquake and fire, 

 and voicing a warm welcome to the 

 land of sunshine and bright flowers. 

 He spoke in great praise of the work 



P.\Tuiciv Wi:i,cii 

 I'lisiil.nt Sotiiil.T of American Florists ami Oriiamcnlal Horticulturists 



the thrill which prevades every citizen, 

 and the practical feeling of the florist 

 when he considers how you have 

 seized pn, and multiplied the advant- 

 ages given you by Nature." 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



President P. Welch received an ova- 

 tion as he stepped forward to read his 

 address. The message in full was as 

 follows: 

 I^adies and Gentlemen: 



On any occasion the members of this 

 Society, especially those residing east 

 of the Rockies, could have visited this 

 city with pleasure and profit, but at 

 this time when the great Panama-Pa- 



cific 'International Exposition is being 

 held here, we deem ourselves most 

 favored. 



It is needless for me to say that I 

 am honored as the presiding officer of 

 this great National Society, one of the 

 few in the United States possessing a 

 charter issued under a special act of 

 the National Congress and signed by 

 the President. 



This great opening of our Couveu- 

 tion proves that we are not an associ- 

 ation of New Yorkers, New Bngland- 

 ers, Pennsylvanians or Virginians, but 

 conlirms our boast that we are a na- 

 tional association in representation as 

 well as in name. 



We should and we de 

 feel proud of our profes- 

 sion for the w^ouderful 

 progress it has made. 

 According to the 

 last available census — 

 that of 1899-1909— the 

 sale of plants and flow- 

 ers advanced from 18,- 

 7.'58,8t>4 in 1899 to 34,- 

 872,329 in 1909, an in- 

 crease of 91 per cent. 

 The total uumlier of es- 

 talilishments .in the 

 United States in our 

 business in 1909 was 

 lil.(il4. 



The leading states in 

 value of flowers and 

 plants produced are — 

 .New York, $5,110,000; 

 Pennsylvania, $3,761,- 

 00(1: Illinois, $3,081,000;. 

 New Jersey, $2,839,000; 

 .Massachusetts, $2,432,- 

 000: Ohio, $2,357,000; 

 California. $1,374,000: 

 Indiana. $1,202,000: 

 Michigan, $1,132,000; 

 Connecticut. $1,042,000. 



Membership. 



A society gains much 

 of its influence and use- 

 fulness from a large 

 membership, and while 

 the Society of American 

 Florists and Ornament- 

 al Horticulturists has 

 been adding strength to 

 its membership, 1 feel 

 we can do much more 

 in that direction. What 

 work can be more pleas- 

 ant than the gathering 

 together in one great 

 organization of all our 

 business association in 

 this' country? 



Experience has showa 

 us that what is every- 

 body's business is not 

 attended to by anyone, 

 and so I say, let the increasing of the 

 nuinbershlp be an individual matter of 

 pride to us all. We all have a high 

 estimate of the benefits derived from 

 mi iiibership In our society; let us 

 lueniorialize it during the comine 

 year by doubling our membership 

 list. 



This is an age of co-operation and 

 alTillatlon and what was formerly ad- 

 vanced Individually is now accom- 

 plished only by thorough organization. 

 If we arc to perforin the mission of 

 this society we can only he satisfled 

 » hen we have joined to its ranks every 

 r.'iiii engaged in floriculture and liortl- 

 culiure, whether he is doing business 



