THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



413 



NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GARDENERS 



JOHN W. EVERITT, President, 

 Glen Cove, N. Y. 



OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS 



M. C. EBEL, Secretary, 

 Madison, N. J. 



SUMMER MEETING AT SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 



Tlie Siunmcr Meeting of the \aliim:il Assoeiatioii of Garrleuers 

 was held in tlie Civic Center Anilitoiinm, 8iin Fniueisco. Cal.. 

 Wednesdny. Anjtust IS. 191."). In tlie alisenee of I'resideut .lolin \V, 

 Everitt, of New York. Viee-I'resident William S. Rennie. of Cali- 

 fornia, presided. Mr. Keiinie welcomed the visiting memhers lo 

 California and expressi'd his resrels al the inability of the other 

 otiicers. mIio had planneil to attend the meetiuj;, to he on hand. He 

 presented the following message from I'resident Everitt : 

 "To the Members of the National Association of Gardeners. 



"I cannot think of a greater privilege that could come to me than 

 that of presiding at the first meeting of our national as.sociation 

 on the Pacific coast, but, though some of us who pursue the calling 

 of gardening are more our own masters than many of those 

 who have left our vocation to engage in commercial fields, we have 

 responsibilities which must receive first consideration if we are 

 faithful to our employers who place their trust in us. So. while 

 1 have been looking forward to the ojiportunily of clasping hands 

 with my brother gardeners on the western shore of our country. 

 the Cnited States of America, circumstances beyond control, that 

 have arLsen at the last moment, have made it impossible for me to 

 make the trip. I regretted this the more when I learned that our 

 secretary, who has been faithfully working for nearly a .\ear for 

 a successful summer meeting at San Francisco, was suddenly 

 forced through ill-health to give up his trip. 



"Whether we come from the east, the west, the north or the 

 south, as professional gardeners our aim shonki be to produce 

 a broader development for ornamental horticulture which cannot 

 fail to bring greater recognition to our profession, and which will 

 ultimately result in increasing benefits to those in it. 



"Our national organization, the National Association of Gar- 

 deners, should be our nucleus for the expansion of our energies 

 and it should have the earnest support of every gardener loyal 

 to his profession. Its scope is national, and through the co-opera- 

 tion of the many local horticultural or gardeners' societies scat- 

 tered throughout the country, combined with the individual efforts 

 of its members, it should grow and accomplish much in the interest 

 of thai for which it is striving: but this can only be accoiuplished 

 through united co-operation and individual effort. 



"We are fortunate in having in California our able Vice-Presi- 

 dent. William S. Rennie, to orticiate. and I have every ccmfidence 

 thai the fraternal ties of our profession between the east and the 

 west will become more united as a result of this gathering. 



"A strong national association of the gardeners, heartily sup- 

 ported by those who follow the profession, 1 believe could be made 

 most powerful and infiuential in its work for the good of Ihe pro- 

 fession, although it may at times prove disappointing to individuals 

 seeking direct benefits from it. It is. as you are aware, the iioliiy 

 of our association to develop along lines where it will serve its 

 members and aid those striving to advance and better themselves 

 in their calling. We have conniiittees at work endeavoring to 

 thrash out the problems with which an organization like ours is 

 confronted in its development stage, and these committees, and also 

 your officers, at all times court and welcome suggestions from mem- 

 bers which may be valuable in aiding the progress of the organi- 

 zation. 



"In the east and middle west (he National Association of (iar- 

 deners is already truly representative of the best element of I hose 

 engaged in professional gardening, and it nuiubers in its roll of mem- 

 bership, practically all who rank foremost in tlie profession. Within 

 the past year it has made rapid sirides in the far west in enlarging 

 its membership, and I appeal to my brother gardeners of the 

 Pa<'ific coast to continue this good work by enrolling in our asso- 

 ciation all those properly entitled to the calling of gardener and lei 

 us all co-operate to place our association in the front r.iiik "f 

 horticultural organizations. 



"J. W. EVEIUTT. President." 



.Vs the meeting was an informal one. there being no regular 

 busine.ss to come before it. a general discussion regarding the gar- 

 dening profession and the relations of the National Association of 

 Gardeners towards it was entered into, in which many of those 

 present took part. While the meeting was not a largely attended 

 one what there was lackiirg in numbers, however, w'as balanced by 

 the general interest and enthusiasm shown by those present. 



Robert Williamson, of (ireenwich. Conn., being called on to say 

 a few words, during the course of his remarks said. "I am indeed 

 glad to be here to meet with the gardeners of the west. I am 

 somewhat disappointed that there are not more of our eastern mem- 

 bers present, as we expected to have a larger body with us. but. 



of course, we are rather young as an organization and on account 

 of the distance l)eing so great we must nntke allowance for so few 

 of us here from a distance, but per.scmally I am glad to have taken 

 llie trip to lueet with the other gardeners here." 



Havid F. Roy, of Marion, .Mass., referring to I'resident Kveritt's 

 message, stated. "I can quite understand why it is that he is not 

 here. Men in our |iosition, if they want to succeed, find that one 

 of the first recpiisites is that they must cater lo the wishes of tlu'ir 

 employers. I have been a gardener for a number of years and 

 have often heard it stated, -Well, you can only get so far and no 

 further,' but I must say that I cannot always agree with that. My 

 exiierience is that a man has a great deal to do with what he maki's 

 of himself; in other words, the lid.' will find its levid. If il is in 

 the man, he will get there." 



L. P. .Ien.sen. of St. Louis. Mo., in urging a campaign to increase 

 the meml)ership. remarked. "I am one of the newer members of 

 the organization. This is the first o|)|)ortunily I have had to I)e 

 with this body of gardeners. I hope in the future I will be with 

 you often. I <'arae in as a member early this year. Previous to 

 that time I had heard very little about our organization, and it 

 seems to me that the gardeners througlnmt the country do not know- 

 enough about it. I think we need publi<-ity. I think we ought to 

 make a strong effort to have our members throughout the country 

 get in new members. That is one thing that we should make a point 

 of. and in that way in a short time we would have a strong rejire- 

 sentative body of men throughout the United States." 



AV. T. I_/ee. of San Francisco. Cal.. speaking on increased mem- 

 bership remarked. "It seeius to me that as we develop and get more 

 nuMubers we should have local organizations if it can be done, to 

 artiliate with the central body in some way, so that we could meet 

 once in a while. Take this Coast, for instance, we could have a 

 meeting of our own once in a while to work in conjunction w^ith 

 the central body, but still at the same time, as .voii men coming 

 from the east will see, we are more or less isolated down here. It 

 is a long way from here to Ihe nearest large centers of population. 

 I believe in that way it would create more interest. 



"I understand that there are quile a niunber of membei's on the 

 Coast, so brother Rennie tells me. I dirl nut know that there were 

 so many as he says there are." 



A. Bischke. of Noroton. Conn., speaking on the pleasures of the 

 trip and the future of the association, said, "I do not know how 

 iMir other gardi'uers will feel when they find what we have seen and 

 heard lure. I know that they will greatly regret that they were not 

 able to join our party and come here to the west. I must say that 

 I am greatl.v surprised to see the strides that have been made by 

 these great western cities: for instances. Jlinueapolis and Seattle. 

 I thought that Seattle was a litth- hit of a town, perhaps like soiue 

 of Ihe suburbs of Chicago, but I found Seattle, although a very 

 young city, is not an insignificant town such as I had supposed it 

 was. but is a great big city, and w'e have nothing iu our part of 

 the country that will compare with the parks of Seattle. 



"Then take Tacoma, with its giant trees, we have to take our 

 hats off to those trees, lakes and boulevards. We have nothing 

 like them in the east. I know that Messrs. Everitt and Ebel would 

 ha\(' liked to have seen these tilings. There may never again be 

 an oppiiitunity in their lifetime to see what we have seen who are 

 here. Who would take the bother to show a single man the things 

 thai we have lieen shown on this trip? Every park superintend- 

 ent I'.-is been anxious to show us around and let us see the best 

 that they had. I lliiiik we should strive to start a propaganda in 

 eacli city and in each community to develop our association right 

 t\<:\\. Il slioiiid not be a local society. It should be a national 

 orgaiiiz.-itiou. Tlic more members we can get in. the better, and 

 scattered all over the I'nited States. If we could get a great vol- 

 ume of men to work hand in hand il would he well. Our profession 

 is a great one. What would a cily like >Iinneapolis or New York, 

 or any of the greater cities, be without their parks, or their gar- 

 dens and trees'/ They would he a liai-ren waste. So let every 

 luaii here work for the betterment of the gardening profession .niil 

 the development of our national association." 



Jlr. .lensen. resuming his remarks, referred to the situation as 

 he found it in the city of St. Ijouis wdiere. he stated, "the gardeners 

 do not seem to pull together." Continuing he said. "We have some 

 very etticieni men as gardeners in the jiarks. in Shaw's garden, and 

 connecled with ]irivate estates; but they do not seem to come into 

 relationship or contact with one another. It occurred to me a 

 few months ago that some method luiglit be devised to bring these 

 men closer together. Of course, in societies of various kinds it 

 generally falls to the lot of a few men to do really all the work. 



