THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



117 



AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PARK SUPERINTENDENTS 



OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS. 

 G. X. AMRHYN, Pres., New Haven, Conn. R. W. COTTERILL, Sec.-Treas., Seattle, Washington. 



ASSOCIATION NOTES. 



Tile ( iitn riititin ( iniiiiiitti'c iiirt in S;iii l'"i:nu-isco uii .Iniiu 14 

 and ).j. with .'^l•c•l■«taly K. W. Cotterill. Jdhii .\kl.;iii'n and Daniil 

 JlacKiirie ])i'i»sent. every detail of ananirements and proarani 

 being taken oai'e of in aeeordanee with snnnnarv as outlined else- 

 where in tliis de|iartment. The Board (jf I'arlv Uireetors of Uak- 

 hiiid will c o-o])i'ratc' with S;ui 1- riuicism in making the conven- 

 tion a ^iirros and those who attrnil will have no regrets, as it 

 will niicUiulitedly be a banner convention anil the Kxposition, San 

 Francisco and the entire Pacific Coast will be a revelation to 

 those who are fortiiate enough to see them. 



The sessions of the convention will be held in the new muni- 

 cipal Civic Auditorium, a magnificent struc'tnre, which is a part 

 of San Francisco's civic center, and is directly across from the 

 new city hall, the finest in America. Our convention hall will 

 be im the same floor as the hall ami i-\liiliil of the S. .\. F.. so 

 that members can conveniently go from one to the other, as both 

 will be in session at the same time. 



In the matter of selecting a hotel, the committee had in mind 

 that the convention tri]) is going to be a long and expensive one 

 f<n- many of oiu- members. Too often the mistake has been 

 made of having as head(]uarters the fanciest hotel in the city, 

 with prices which were a burden, and the secretary has heard 

 many complaints on this score, hence deciiled to select a modest 

 hotid whicli would meet cnir requirements. 



San Francisco is a tourist city, this is Exposition year and tlie 

 big hotels have a scale of prices which will put a crini]) in the 

 purses of tourists who go to the best known hostelries. Tln^ 

 committee decided upon the Stewart Hotel as lieadcjuarters and 

 reservations have been made for one hundred persons for our 

 dates. The Stewart is a modern hotel of 3'00 rooms, very con- 

 veniently located just oft' Union S(|uare and across the street 

 from the St. Francis Hotel, which will be the head(juarters of 

 the S. A. F. The rates at the Stewart for our i):irty will be on 

 the European plan, as follows: .Single room (detached Ijath). 

 one person, .$2: two persons, .$3 per day. Kooni witli private 

 bath, one person, .$2.50; two persons, .$4 per day. Doulile room, 

 tiwn beds, with private bath, .$4.50 per day. The hotel has an 

 excellent cafe with modest jn'ices and there are numerous cafes 

 within a few doors. Tlie hotel is in the heart of the theatre 

 and hotel district. Write yoiu" reservation direct to the Stewart 

 Hotel Co.. stating just what you want, when you will arrive, and 

 be sure you state that you are with the Park Superintendents' 

 I)arty. as tlie Stewart is a wry pii|iiilar hotel and is usually 

 crowded. 



Xew' Orleans is going to make a strong bid for the IDKl con- 

 vention and will have representatives on the ground to work 

 for it. The secretary has on hand invitations from tlie mayor, 

 governor and various coniniercinl organizations, so St. Louis had 

 better look to its laurels. 



Secretary Cotterill has secured two pro^jrain features whiili 

 will be a great card for'our convention. Samuel Hill, millionaire 

 good roads advocate, president of the Pacific Highway .Associa- 

 tion and past jiresident of the American Good Hoads Congress, 

 will present liis famous lecture on "flood Roads," illustrated 

 with magnificent colored slides of roads and drives all over the 

 world. Mr. Hill has made twelve trips to E>u-ope and has a won- 

 derful collection of views of road construction. Hood roads are 

 his hobby and he has spent several hundred thousand dollars of 

 his own money in putting in experimental sections of different 

 types of roadways. 



F. 1?. DeCroot. formerly of Chicago, now of San l-'rancisco. 

 probably the mo>t eminent jdayground man in this country, will 

 also be present at our convention and deliver an address. Quite 

 a luunber of (mr members will have |)a]iers and addresses, so that 

 at this session we will )u-obably have more real in-tructive feat- 

 ures than at several previous sessions. 



The social features at this session will also be all that anvone 

 could ask for. but will not lie indulged in until the bnsines-; is 

 over. The exposition is a marvel, and San Francisco, (laklaml 

 and the other bay cities will ..tier sight-seeing trips that will 

 never be forgotten. 



PRELIMINARY PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT. 



Seventeenth Annual Convention, American Association of Park 

 Superintendents, San Francisco, Cal., August 18-20, 19 15. 



Ileaili|uarteis, Stewart Hotel. Ciiioii Square. 



( onvention sessions will be held at the Civic .Auditorium. 



Sjiecial train party will arrive at San Franci.sco, Monday eve- 

 ning. August 1(). 



TUESDAY, AUGUST 17. 

 Opening of convention of Society of American Florists and 

 meeting of National Association of Gardeners. Executive Com- 

 mittee meeting of A. A. of P. S. Evening: Informal reception :inil 

 dance at St. Francis Hotel. 



WEDNESDAY, AUGUST IS. 



Cimvention Sessions: ilorning, afternoon ;ind evening, at 

 Civic Auditorium. 



.Morning: ()pening ceremonies; address of welcome by .Mayor 

 • lames Rolph; response by President G. X. Amryhn; admission 

 of new members; report of officers: appointment of committees; 

 introduction of resolutions, amendments to by-laws. etc. 



.Vfternoon: Reports of committees; election of olliccrs: new 

 anil unfinished Imsiness; question box. 



Evening: .Addresses, papers, stereoptieon lectures, closing 

 ceremonies. 



Ladies of the party will be given an automobile tour in after- 

 noon. 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 19. 



Steamer trip around San Francisco Bay in forei ; luiiiheon 



at Oaklaml, followed by auto tour of 'Oakland. .Ahuneda and 

 Berkley, as guests of the Board of Park Directors of Oakland; 

 return by steamer to San Francisco, at tj p. m. 



Evening: Stag smoker for gentlemen of ]iarly at Elk< ( Iiib; 

 tlie:itre party for the ladies. 



FRID-VY, AUGUST 20. 



.\ll-ilay avito tour of San Francisco parks, boulevards and play- 

 grounds, Panama-Pacific Exposition grounds and the pictures([iie 

 rural districts of the San Francisco Peninsula; evening at ex- 

 position grounds amusement features on "The Zone." 



SATURDAY TILL TUESDAY, AUGUST 21 -2.'}. 



Free for inspection of exposition, general sight-seeing and side 

 tiijis. Party leaves for Los Angeles and San Diego at 8 p. m. 

 Tuesdav, August 24. 



DAMAGE DUE TO WEEDS. 



\'\"liile tliere are various definitions, a weed may lie said to be 

 :i wild plant that has a habit of intruding where it is not 

 wanted. Some weeds produce immense quantities of seeds. 

 Some mature seeds in a very short time. Some have seed^ dilli- 

 cult to separate from crop seeds. Some have roots or rootstalks 

 that live for a number of years. They persist because well 

 equipiied by nature to hold their own. Weeds, however, are not 

 always useless. Sometimes they are the [irincipal means by 

 which oi'ganic matter is restored to the soil, and, generally 

 sjieaking. a soil is productive in pro|)ortion to the quantity lif 

 organic matter it contains. Turning fiirm land out to rest merely 

 means that weeds are permitted to grow on it tor several years. 

 Weeds are also useful at tinu's in jireventing soil erosion, es])e- 

 cially during the winter months, and serve a useful purpose in 

 collecting and holding the nitrates and other soluble salts dur- 

 ing periods when crops are not being grown, thus preventing 

 these valuable nutrients from being washed out of the soil. Ordi- 

 narih', howevei-. all these benefits may be re;ilized through proper 

 rotations, in which case it is a mistake to allow weeds to grow. 



The full reason why weeds reduce yields is not definitely 

 known. It is well recognized that weeds deprive cro]is of moist- 

 ure. ])lant food, and sunlight, and by these means cause decreased 

 yields. Kxperiments lunc shown, however, that even where there 

 is a supjdy of moisture and plant food sutlicient for the needs 

 of both weeds and the crop, weeds still exert a detrimental effect. 

 This may be due in Jiart to the weed roots giving off substances 

 which are ]ioisonous to crops. The fact that weeds do harm 

 in more w:\ys than has been su|iposed is all the more reason why 

 the farmer should make strenuous efforts to subdue these in- 

 vaders. Land that should produce 60 bushels of corn may yield 

 no more than 20 bushels if weeds are not kept down by adequate 

 cultivation. 



