August 23, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



167 



the Society. The publishing of our 

 monthly Journal; the work of the pro- 

 motion bureau; the handling of the 

 dealers' helps, in addition to the vast 

 amount of correspondence, involves 

 much time and hard work, and yet our 

 worthy secretary has found some time 

 in the last two years to devote to field 

 work, in the interest of the Society 

 and the publicity fund. 



We hope under a new plan the pub- 

 licity committee has now adopted and 

 of which you will hear in their re- 

 port; our secretary can devote his en- 

 tire time to office work. 



Our membership is now just about 

 three thousand, and at the rate we 

 have increase this year; which was 

 over four hundred annual and two 

 hundred life members; it does seem 

 we are now on the road of progress. 

 No doubt the trade at large is waking 

 up to the importance of the S. A. P. 

 and O. H., as an organization and are 

 beginning to realize what it really 

 means to be a member of this great 

 Society. This also proves that the 

 work of the various committees, such 

 as the legislative, publicity and others, 

 have not been in vain. 



This Society is not 0/ily growing in 

 membership; but also in ideals and 

 thought. We need the considerate ad- 

 vice of all the members present and 

 we want you to freely enter into all 

 discussions. Just and fair criticism 

 stands for progress, let us have it here 

 and now. Don't go away a knocker, 

 but be a booster. There is an old say- 

 ing, that a horse never pulls while he 

 is kicking; so don't be like a kicking 

 horse; get hitched up and pull. This 

 S. A. F. & O. H. wagon is loaded full 

 of good ideas and we have a bunch of 

 fine and willing workers to pull it 

 along the road of success and accom- 

 plishment. Lets keep it moving. 

 Bouquets for the Living. 



Since we are such great advocates 

 of bouquets for the living, and I sure 

 am one, for I predict the time will be 

 when "please omit flowers" will be 

 a sentence unheard of, because fewer 

 flowers will be sent to the dead and 

 more to the living. 



I want to express my sincere grati- 

 tude and I am sure I voice the kindest 

 appreciation of the other officers and 

 every layman of this Society by giving 

 our heartiest thanks to the men who 

 so faithfully and untiringly have 

 served on committees, under the lead- 

 ership of such Knights of Service as 

 W. F. Gude, Henry Penn, George As- 

 mus, Benjamin Hammond and a host 

 of others too numerous to mention. 

 Gentlemen, may your reward be such 

 as we this day feel has come to the 

 great pioneers who nursed this organi- 



zation from its infancy and trained it 

 to full grown childhood, from whence 

 it comes to us, with the admonition 

 for righteousness and fair dealing. 



We indeed owe a defbt of gratitude 

 to the trade press for the many kind 

 favors an dthe liberal amount of space 

 devoted to our cause, without any 

 compensation; so let us not forget 

 them with our paid advertisements 

 and our patronage in general. 



Treasurer J, J. Hess 



To the trade exhibitors at our an- 

 nual meetings, we are in a large meas- 

 ure indebted for the financial ex- 

 pense of the convention. Let us in 

 turn remember them with our liberal 

 patronage, when in need of anything 

 in their line, and with kindly con- 

 sideration receive their traveling rep- 

 resentatives when they call upon us 

 at our various establishments. 



TREASURER'S REPORT. 



The report of the treasurer, J. J. 



Hess, follows: 



Balance on hand Deo. 31, 1918 $7,696.08 



Receipts, General Fund 12.951.58 



Receipts, Interest 826.17 



Receipts, Nat'l. Publicity Camp... 37,369.12 



$58,842.95 

 Disbursements : 



Gl ral Fund $9,381.63 



Natl. Publicity Camp... 38,828.97 



$48,210.60 



Balance July 31, 1919.... $10,632.35 



Balance Permauent Fund Decem- 



ber 31, 1918 $28,612.22 



Balance as above, General Fund. 10,632.35 



Grand total balance on hand $39,244.57 



Omaha, Aug. 11, 1919. 



SECRETARY'S REPORT 

 Some of the important features in 

 Sec. Young's report follow: 



It was my pleasure, at the St. Louis 

 convention, to report that in spite of 

 adverse conditions existing for a year 

 or more, our society has made satis- 



factory progress. Since that time con- 

 ditions have, as we all know, changed 

 very materially, and effort to advance 

 our organization in the trade has, in 

 consequence, met with gratifying suc- 

 cess. 



As the strength of an organization 

 lies mainly in its membership the so- 

 ciety is to be congratulated upon an 

 influx of new members since our last 

 convention that might be surprising to 

 some. We have taken in altogether 

 659 annual members from August 10th 

 of last year to August 10th of this year 

 and our list of life members has been 

 increased by 209. The total member- 

 ship on August 1st, was 3,025, of which 

 710 are life members, and 24 pioneer. 

 It is a matter of regret that quite a 

 number of our members have not paid 

 their annual dues for 1919. Not only 

 does this neglect occasion anxiety, 

 but these members prejudice the sec- 

 ond class mailing privilege for our 

 "Journal," as we are not allowed to 

 avail ourselves of the low postage rate 

 except to members in good standing. 

 The society is fortunate in having so 

 large a list of life members, inasmuch 

 as the fees in this class are turned into 

 the permanent fund for investment, 

 and yield an annual income indefinite- 

 ly. The life memberships for the year 

 total an addition of $5,000 or more to 

 this fund. In addition, we have 24 

 pioneer members, whom the society 

 has exempted from the payment of 

 dues. 



The Journal. 



The Journal of the Society which 

 your secretary was, at the last con- 

 vention directed to publish, has now 

 run through six numbers, and has 

 proved to be of great service in the 

 society's work. Not only is it a me- 

 dium of communication between the 

 executive board and our members, but 

 much matter that would ordinarily en- 

 tail special printing and distribution 

 is published in its pages, and attracts 

 far greater attention in consequence. 

 It is also of great service in the mis- 

 sionary work necessary In the inter- 

 ests of the society, and serves to keep 

 members in touch with the various de- 

 tails of the society's work. It has been 

 a great aid to our publicity campaign. 



Our Administration Offices. 

 The wisdom of our executive board 

 in establishing office quarters in New 

 York was amply exemplified during 

 the year just closed. The growth of 

 the society has necessitated a great 

 deal of detail work requiring ample 

 room for its performance. Already, 

 the space available is taxed to the ut- 

 most. Very many of our members 

 have found their society's office very 



