192 



HORTICULTURE 



August 30, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



Established l>.v William J. Stewart In 1B04 



VOL. XXX 



AUGUST 30, 1919 



NO. 9 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 78 Devonshire Street, Boston, Mass. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 



Telephone Fort HiU 3694 



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Entered as second-class matter December 8, 1904, at the Post Of&ra 

 at Boston, Mass., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. 



The work of the Detroit Convention was well 

 We " done. The new officers are men of standing to 

 done the trade, of enterprise and activity in busi- 

 ness, of kindly and friendly habit in their in- 

 tercourse with their fellow men. They should carry the 

 society through another year of progress and increasing 

 prosperity. There were some sharp contests before the 

 new officers were elected, but the meetings were notable 

 for their freedom from hard feeling and the apparent 

 desire of everybody to work for the best good of the 

 organization. In fact, the whole atmosphere of the 

 convention was in itself an indication of the fact that a 

 new era and one of great promise is being entered upon. 

 As expected, all the amendments were adopted. They will 

 make for the society's good. It is true that some mem- 

 bers lament the passing of the convention gardens. 

 These gardens were excellent in theory, but failed to 

 work out well in practice, all things considered, although 

 several good gardens have been made. Altogether the 

 S. A. F. is to be congratulated on the success of the 

 convention, the Detroit florists are to be warmly thanked 

 for their countless courtesies and a vote of appreciation 

 is due the clerk of the weather. 



inasmuch as a number of articles have 



Protection for appeared in Horticulture relating 



. nurserymen (,, the protection of nurserymen who 



are propagating new varieties of 



plants, it is interesting to notice how the matter 



is being treated across the water. The subject is 



not nearly as new over there as it seems to be here. 



Indeed it lias come up for perennial discussion 



for many years. Now, however, the Council of the 



Chamber of Commerce in England has decided to 



appoint a representative committee consisting of two 



members from each section of the Chamber to deal with 



the question. This committee is to consider the whole 



situation with a view to arriving at some scheme for 

 securing to the raiser the remuneration to which his 

 toil and attention equitably entitle him. Evidently the 

 matter is © ed of special importance just now, and 



the Eorticultural 'trade Journal in which the report is 

 printed urges thai anything which can be set forth in 

 support of this movement should be sent in writing to 

 the secretary of the Chamber. Nurserymen and others 

 mi America will be greatly interested to see what the 

 results of the agitation prove to be. 



in bis report at the Detroit convention, 



New George Asmus, chairman of the Publicity 



publicity Finance Committee, said that a plan for 



P lan billboard advertising was well under way. 



Before the convention was over he was able 



to report in detail to his committee and to receive the 



endorsement of his plan. He said that he had made 



arrangements for the manufacture of sheet metal street 



signs, 7 x 20 feet, to be shipped in sections. These sign 



boards will contain simply the slogan : "Say It with 



Flowers." The signs will be in colors and visible for a 



long distance. The price will be $50.00, f. o. b., and 



the signs can be set up readily by any handy man. 



Before the convention had closed Mr. Asmus was able 

 to say that the florists of Cook county, Illinois, acting 

 as individuals and not as an organization, had already 

 placed orders for a hundred of these signs. It is be- 

 lieved that there will be a brisk sale all through the 

 country, and that the phrase which is now becoming a 

 household word the country over will be made even more 

 familiar in this way, for it will be photographed on the 

 minds of the motoring public wherever motors go. 



Commissions 



The question of secret commissions, re- 

 bates and the same things under other 

 names constitutes a somewhat delicate 

 subject in this country, as applied to gardeners, seed 

 houses and nurserymen. If we are not mistaken the 

 National Gardeners' Association and other organizations 

 have passed strong resolutions in regard to the matter, 

 but it is difficult to find any one who will say that the 

 practice does not still prevail. Nevertheless, there seems 

 to be a strong undercurrent of feeling, especially among 

 the dealers, and some sort of pronouncement is likely 

 to be heard one of these days. 



Across the water an organization known as the 

 Bribery and Secret Commissions Prevention League has 

 been formed. Indeed, it has been in existence for some 

 time, but has been largely quiescent during the war. 

 Lord Lambourn has just been made president to succeed 

 the late Sir Edward Frye, and in an open letter he says : 

 "I am convinced that the organization is a live one and 

 very much needed at the present time. That I am not 

 alone in this opinion is shown by the fact that nearly 

 350 new members have joined since the first of last year 

 — of late at the rate of almost one a day. But it must 

 be obvious that to exert a widespread influence in pre- 

 venting bribery which is so prevalent, the membership of 

 the league should be much larger than it is. On the 

 ground of quality there is nothing to complain of. For 

 in educating public opinion it is the big battalions that 

 count. I should like to appeal, therefore, with your 

 kind permission, to all who prize clean trading and are 

 jealous of our national reputation for honesty, never 

 more needed than now, to support the League." 



