408 



HORTICULTURE 



September 25, 1915 



NEW YORK STATE FEDERATION 

 OF HORTICULTURAL SOCIE- 

 TIES AND FLORAL 

 CLUBS. 



The annual meeting of this organi- 

 zation was held at the office o£ Commis- 

 sioner Wilson at the State Fair 

 Grounds. Syracuse, on Thursday, Sep- 

 tember 16th. There were present 

 President W. F. Kasting, Vice-Presi- 

 dent Erl A. Bates, Secretary John 

 Young, Treasurer W. A. Adams, and 

 Messrs. F. R. Pierson. Tarrytown; C. 

 H. Vick, Rochester; Prof. Lumsden, 

 Ithaca, N. Y.; Messrs. Youell, Thorp, 

 Bultman. Sheeran, Baker, Workman 

 and Bard, all of Syracuse; Dr. Mills, 

 president of the Syracuse Rose So- 

 ciety; Messrs. Moeller and Fail of 

 Eastwood, and Maguire of Auburn; 

 Prof. E. A. White. Ithaca. President 

 W. F. Kasting occupied the chair. 



The report of the committee ap- 

 pointed to consider the question of 

 whether a State society would be 

 more Ijeneficial than the federation 

 was received and discussed. The com- 

 mittee was of the opinion that a State 

 federation of organized interests 

 would accomplish more than a society 

 made up of Individual interests. The 

 delegates present sharing the same 

 opinion, the suggestion was adopted, 

 and the committee discharged with 

 thanks. 



Some discussion ensued as to the 

 advisability of changing the name of 

 organization, so that it included "Hor- 

 ticultural Societies," and thus become 

 better descriptive of the federation, 

 and on motion of Mr. Pierson seconded 

 by Dr. Bates, it was resolved that the 

 name be changed to read "New York 

 Federation of Horticultural Societies 

 and Floral Clubs." 



The subject of the movement to ob- 

 tain an appropriation of $60,000 from 

 the State for the erection of green- 

 houses for the purpose of carrying on 

 experimental work with flowers and 

 vegetables came up for discussion. 

 President Kasting reported the vetoing 

 of the bill passed by both houses, and 

 expressed his opinion that the only 

 course was to have the bill introduced 

 again. After discussion it was re- 

 solved that a committee of three be 

 appointed to meet with the trustees of 

 Cornell University, and determine If 

 liossible upon the most adequate fram- 

 ing of a new bill. It was the concen- 

 sus of opinion that the trustees of the 

 university should add to their regular 

 budget for State appropriations an 

 amount sufficient to cover the cost of 

 the proposed buildings. If this were 

 not feasible, it was understood that a 

 bill should be introduced as before. 

 The president appointed Messrs. Pier- 

 son and Vick. with himself, as such 

 committee. 



The next subject for discussion was 

 the necessity of a building at the State 

 Fair embodying means for taking 

 proper care of exhibits of plants, flow- 

 ers, fruits and vegetables, the quarters 

 now in use not being suitable for the 

 necessary preservation of exhibits dur- 

 ing the fair period. Many suggestions 

 as to the best way to secure the re- 

 quired facilities were offered. It was 

 very generally agreed ui)on that if a 



suitable horticultural building were 

 erected at the head of Empire Court 

 the florists would see that a very cred- 

 itable planting of flower beds around 

 it was carried out, stock to be donated, 

 and the only cost to be defrayed being 

 the labor of planting and taking care 

 of the beds. Such a planting would 

 give this section of the grounds a park- 

 like appearance, and render them 

 pleasing to visitors, in striking con- 

 trast to their present appearance 

 which was practically offensive. It 

 was resolved that a committee of two 

 be appointed to confer with the West- 

 ern New York State Horticultural So- 

 ciety, the New York State Fruit Grow- 

 ers' Association, and the New York 

 State Vegetable Growers' Association, 

 and solicit their co-operation in an 



Wm. F. Kasting 



Ui'i'lri'tccl rresiilcnt of N'ew York State 



I'rdiTMtiim of Horticuinirnl Societies 



.Tnd Floral Chilis. 



effort to evolve ways and means for 

 getting an appropriation for the erec- 

 tion of a suitable building. Dr. Bates 

 and Mr. Kasting were chosen as such 

 committee. The discussion lasted 

 some time, and much enthusiasm was 

 evident. 



Election of officers for the ensuing 

 year resulted as follows: President. 

 Wm. F. Kasting, Buffalo; first vice- 

 president. Dr. Erl A. Bates, Syracuse: 

 second vice-president, Chas. H. Vick, 

 Rochester; third vice-president. F. R. 

 Pierson. Tarrytown; secretary. John 

 Young. New York; treasurer. W. A. 

 Adams. Buffalo. The chair appointed 

 F. R. Pierson, chairman of the legisla- 

 tive committee, and George Thorp 

 chairman of the State Fair committee, 

 and they were given power to select 

 their ow'n committees. 



The report of the treasurer showed 

 a substantial balance in the treasury. 

 The meeting adjourned until next Feb- 

 ruary, when there will be a meeting 

 ill Ithaca, during Farmers' Week. It 

 was the most interesting meeting held 

 since the organization of the Federa- 

 tion John Young, Sec'y. 



LANCASTER COUNTY FLORISTS' 

 CLUB. 



Sept. 16th, about 5 P. M., a telephone 

 message notified the writer that Rich- 

 ard Vincent, Jr., and son Robert and 

 two of their foremen were at the 

 Brunswick, in response to a request 

 from the writer also that they give us 

 a talk on dahlias for this meeting of 

 the club. It is characteristic of this 

 firm that they never do anything by 

 halves and we not only had a paper 

 that was a gem from every point of 

 view but we also had some 125 varie- 

 ties of uahlias from White Marsh, Md., 

 on exhibition, all correctly labeled and 

 a revelation to some of our local peo- 

 ple. Robert Vincent read the paper 

 and told us the history of the dahlia 

 from its earliest record down to the 

 present day, with cultural notes and 

 suggestions. Richard Vincent, Jr., told 

 some of his experiences at the conven- 

 tion and invited us all to join the 

 National Dahlia Society and come to 

 the show in New York and also to their 

 own show at White Marsh, Md., which 

 unfortunately comes In the same week 

 as our own show. 



In addition to the flowers exhibited 

 by our visitors we had a fine vase of 

 dahlia blooms by David Rose, an ama- 

 teur, who does not hesitate to pay the 

 price for new varieties. Rudolph Na- 

 gle exhibited a very fine vase of chrys- 

 anthemums, Smith's Advance and a 

 yellow sport from the same. 



The Dahlia Show committee re- 

 ported progress in all lines and asking 

 for volunteers received the offer of 

 the services of at least a dozen of the 

 club members. Wild smilax was or- 

 dered for the decoration of the tables, 

 vases contributed by several of the 

 members and offers received from 

 members having machines to collect 

 these vases and help us in any other 

 way, so that with such a unanimity of 

 helpfulness it will not be our fault If 

 the show is not a success. 



The programme committee reported 

 having a promise from Robert Pyle, of 

 West Grove, Pa., for a talk for the Oc- 

 tober meeting and this report met with 

 the enthusiasm that it deserved. The 

 visiting committee reported as having 

 nothing arranged but would probably 

 make the first visiting trip of the sea- 

 son one to Reading during the week 

 of their show. 



The Vincents were given an unani- 

 mous vote of thanks for their gener- 

 osity in coming all the way to Lancas- 

 ter by automobile with such a fine ex- 

 hibit of flowers and such a valuable 

 paper, and we trust they recognized 

 the fact that It was a real vote and 

 not merely a perfunctory one. 



Ai.RERT M. Herr. 



GARDENERS' AND FLORISTS' CLUB 

 OF BOSTON. 



The Gardeners' and Florists' Club 

 had its initial meeting for the season 

 at Horticultural Hall, on Tuesday 

 evening, September 21. The attend- 

 ance was moderate, but as large as 

 could reasonably be expected for the 



