240 



HOKTICULTUEE 



August 21, 1915 



TREASURER'S SEMI-ANNUAL 

 REPORT. 



January 1st, to July 30th, 1915. 

 Jan. 1, '15 — Balance in Permanent 



Fund $17,815.19 



Eeoeipts to July 30 1,192.31 



Balance in Permanent Fund $19,007.50 



Jan, 1, '15 — Balance in General 



Fund $14,376.48 



Receipts to July 30 2,732.00 



$17,108.48 

 Di8bur.sements to July 29th 5,.347.28 



Balanco in General Fund $11,761.20 



Jan. 1, '15 — Balance in Special 



Fund $1,589.82 



Interest 31.94 



Balance in Special Fund $1,621.76 



Total Balance $32,390.46 



Invested as follows: 



Permanent Fund. 



Dunkelberg Bond & Mortgage, 



Fort Wayne, Ind $5,000.00 



City & Suburban Realty Co., 



Fort Wayne. Ind 1,500.00 



(Jermania Savings Bank, Pitts- 

 burg, I'a 740.52 



American Savings Bank, Buffalo. 



N. Y 4,250.52 



Peoples' Bank, Buffalo, N. Y 6,496.46 



Bankers' Trust Co., Buffalo, N. Y. 1,020.00 



$19,007.50 

 General Fund. 



American Savings Bank, Buffalo 



N. Y $4,843.56 



German -American Bank, Buffalo, 



N. Y 3,505.54 



Peoples' Bank (Savings account), 



Buffalo, N. Y 3,270.08 



Peoples' Bank (Checking account), 



Buffalo, N. Y H2 02 



.$11,761.20 

 Special Fund. 



Manufacturers' and Traders' 



Bank, Buffalo, N. Y $1,621.76 



$.^2,390.46 

 Bond and Mortgage at 5% interest. 

 Pittsburg & Buffalo Savings Banks at 

 4% interest. 



Peoples' Bank on Savings account, 4% 

 interest. 



Peoples' Bank on Cbei'king account, 3% 

 interest on quartei'ly Italancos. 



Respectfully submitted, 



W. F. HASTING, Treasurer. 



The report of the Legislative Com- 

 mittee given by W. F. Gude created 

 much Interest. The committee was 

 continued with power to combat the 

 harmful legislation complained of, 

 especially that requiring inspection of 

 low pressure small capacity green- 

 house boilers and requiring licensed 

 engineers to operate them. President 

 Welch recounted the success achieved 

 by the Massachusetts florists in liilling 

 proposed legislation of this character 

 in that state as applied to horticul- 

 turists. The report of the committee 

 follows. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON LAW 

 AND LEGISLATION. 

 Your committee had but two propo- 

 sitions referred to it during the past 

 year. One of these propositions was 

 brought up by J. A. Petersen of Cin- 

 cinnati, Ohio, who complained of the 

 classifications of express rates in ref- 

 erence to plants shipped in pots and 

 plants shipped out of pots, insisting 

 that there sliould be a lower rating on 

 plants shipped in pots or tubs. The 

 matter was promptly takeu up with 

 the Interstate Commerce Commission, 

 and the Commission, in turn, corres- 

 ponded with the several transporta- 

 tion companies, requesting an expres- 

 sion of their views. After receiving 

 all the data that could be reasonably 

 obtained, including copies of the cor- 



respondence between the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission and the ex- 

 press companies, your committee 

 reached the conclusion that, as the ex- 

 press companies seemed to be losing 

 money on the present rates, it was an 

 inopportune time to attempt to bring 

 about a reduction of our rates. In 

 other words, your committee felt that 

 it would be the part of wisdom to "let 

 well enough alone," and that an agita- 

 tion of this matter at that time might 

 result in our rates being raised, rather 

 than lowered, under the authority giv- 

 en the Interstate Commerce Commis- 

 sion by Congress, in March last, to re- 

 vise or change the express rates. 



Subsequently, your committee re- 

 ceived notice from the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission that a hearing 

 would be given on the question of ex- 

 press rates. May 26, 1915. Feeling that 

 the florists should be represented, your 

 committee had A. Leftwich Sinclair, 

 an attorney, appear at this hearing, as 

 counsel for our Society. In his re- 

 ports, attached hereto, Mr. Sinclair ex- 

 plains the purpose and scope of the 

 hearings attended by him and points 

 out the procedure which will have to 

 be followed, if our Society wishes to 

 obtain a formal hearing on the ques- 

 tion of the rating of plants. Mr. Sin- 

 clair also suggests that, before filing 

 the necessary petition with the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission, our Soci- 

 ety should arrange for a conference 

 with the representatives of the various 

 express companies with a view to an 

 amicable adjustment of this matter. 



The other question referred to your 

 committee relates to legislation con- 

 cerning boiler inspection. It appears 

 that, from time to time, numerous bills 

 are introduced in the state legislatures 

 to require the inspection and regula- 

 tion of boilers. It has been suggested 

 that, within the next year or so, there 

 will probably be a large number of 

 bills of this character introduced in 

 the state legislatures, and that our So- 

 ciety should provide machinery by 

 which we can resist the passage of 

 legislation which would work a hard- 

 ship on our industry. As illustrating 

 the vicious character of some of these 

 bills, your committee is informed that. 

 only a short time ago. there was in- 

 troduced in the legislature of the State 

 of Pennsylvania a bill requiring every 

 owner of a low pressure heating boiler 

 to pay $5.00 a year for the inspection 

 of that boiler, if his boiler should be 

 over four feet of grate area and carry 

 over ten pounds of pressure. Had that 

 bill passed, every florist In the State 

 of Pennsylvania would have been 

 obliged to pay to that state the sum of 

 $5.00 a year, or more, depending on 

 the number of boilers in use. 



Your committee is also informed 

 tliat there are statutes in force in 

 several of the states which provide 

 that every steam boiler carrying over 

 ten pounds of steam pressure must be 

 in charge of a licensed engineer, and 

 that a movement is on foot looking 

 to the enactment of similar laws 

 throughout the country. 



All such propositions, in the opinion 

 of your committee, should be fought 

 by our society with all the force at 

 its command. It is, therefore, recom- 

 mended that the scope of your com- 

 mittee be enlarged, without delay, so 

 that tne committee can keep in touch 

 with proceeding of the State Legis- 



lature, as well as those of Congress, 

 and be prepared to resist the passage 

 of all bills found to be detrimental to 

 the members of our society. 



If the foregoing recommendation of 

 your committee is adopted, your com- 

 mittee should be authorized to arrange 

 for a reporting service of some kind, 

 and to employ counsel to represent 

 the society, whenever, in the judgment 

 of your committee the services of coun- 

 sel are required. 



Mr. Gude presented an addenda to the 

 foregoing report stating that most im- 

 portant action the committee had been 

 called on to take referred to fall ship- 

 ments of azaleas and other Belgian 

 plants at present under embargo by 

 British authority, which, being exclu- 

 sively of Belgian origin and produc- 

 tion and the enemies of Great Britain 

 getting no revenue or benefit from 

 their sale, the embargo while not help- 

 ing British would work considerable 

 harm both to Belgian shippers and 

 American importing florists. The U. 

 S. trade advisors had informed com- 

 mittee how to proceed in the matter of 

 securing permits for the importation 

 of azaleas, etc., from British authori- 

 ties and the committee has good reason 

 for believing that these shipments will 

 arrive this fall on schedule time. 

 Definite information will he given in 

 the trade papers as soon as an official 

 decision is rendered by the British 

 authorities. 



(A favorable decision on this mat- 

 ter was published in Hobticdwube for 

 August 14 — Ed.) 



The report of Mr. Gude as Washing- 

 ton representative of the S. A. F. fol- 

 lows in full. 



REPORT OF WASHINGTON REPRE- 

 SENTATIVE, WM. F. GUDE. 



The past year has been one of 

 watchful waiting rather than strenu- 

 ous action in the National Capital, so 

 far as the interests of our Society are 

 concerned. The demands on your rep- 

 resentative there have not been exces- 

 sive, from which I assume that the 

 florists of our country have no fault to 

 find with the laws enacted by Congress 

 during the year. 



In the early part of the winter a 

 communication was received by your 

 representative in which objection was 

 raised to the classification of express 

 rates on potted plants and plants not 

 in pots. Another communication was 

 received, in relation to bills introduced 

 in the State Legislatures, providing for 

 the Inspection and regulation of steam 

 boilers. Both of these communications 

 were referred to the Committee on 

 Legislation and will, doubtless, be 

 dealt with by that committee in its 

 annual report. 



The most important event of the 

 year, both locally and nationally, was 

 the formal dedication of the Rose Gar- 

 dens, at Arlington Farms, on June 2nd, 

 1915. Some fifty odd florists came 

 from different cities, as far away as 

 Boston, to be present at the ceremo- 

 nies. A meeting of the American Rose 

 Society was called in the rooms of the 

 American Institute of Banking, where 

 the party met on the date mentioned. 

 After this meeting, they went In auto- 

 mobiles to the Arlington Farms, three 

 miles away, in a downpour of rain. 

 While the Gardens were in full bloom 

 and showed up well, the drenching 

 rain storm, which had lasted three 



