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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GARDENERS 



W. H. WAITE, President, 

 Yonkers, N. Y. 



OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS 



M. C. EBEL, Secretary, 

 Madison, N. J. 



The annual convention of the National Association 

 of Gardeners was held at Horticultural Hall, Phila- 

 delphia, on Wednesday, December 9, 1914. There was 

 a good attendance of the membership, including gar- 

 deners and superintendents of large estates from dif- 

 ferent sections of the country. 



The session opened with a business meeting at 2 :40 

 o'clock p.m., when, following the reading of reports 

 and the election of officers for the new year, an ad- 

 dress was delivered and a paper read upon interesting 

 topics, and an entertaining and instructive illustrated 

 lecture given on roses. 



President W. H. Waite, of Yonkers, N. Y., presided. 



J. Otto Thilow, of Philailelphia, in welcoming the 

 visitors said : 



I am very miic?h pleased to be delegated to welcome, on this 

 occasion, a body not of tradesmen or meclianics. bnt of artists, 

 of men who are the heads of the profession. Gentlemen, you 

 represent a, business Avhich is one of tlie most l}eautiful, one 

 which beautiries our homes, our cities and our laud. rhilad(d|iliia 

 has a natural right to receive you cordially because it is the lead- 

 ing horticultural city of this country. The first Botanic Garden 

 is situated here, and the first essay on botan.y was written by 

 John Bartram, of Philadelphia. We may not have the largest 

 public park in the world, but we have 3.920 acres of parks in 

 Philadelphia. In gardens we have some of the best private show 

 places in the country. We are glad to have witliin our circle 

 this afternoon men who are the leaders in horticulture and the 

 managers of gardens which have always been known as ex- 

 emplars among private places in this country. 



I take special pleasure in welcoming the memliers of the 

 National Gardeners' Association to Philadelphia bccavise tlierc is 

 always so much here to be seen and appreciated by men directly 

 interested in horticulture. It is my privilege, on behalf of those 

 of your members who reside here and on behalf of the City of 

 Brotherly Love, to bid you a hearty welcome and to assure you 

 of the utmost freedom so tliat you may go about witliout re- 

 straint in acquiring information and go home refreslieil in that 

 vocation in which you take such great interest. 



I delight always in mingling with my brother florists, having 

 been one of them all my life, because they are men of brawn 

 and brain, men who take delight in their business. We have 

 been told that if a man has no enthusiasm or love for his voca- 

 tion his life will be a failure, and so will be his business. But 

 we are glad to realize that that does not apply to us. The 

 men who are employed directly in this vocation, even those who 

 are in it indirectly, arc men who have taken great enjoyment in 

 it and wlio have been a blessing to ns. 



I will not burden you with any more words, but will place 

 you at once in the hands of your President, who is hei'e. The 

 emblem of his authority is the gavel, and you have always re- 

 spected it as such. I take pleasure in [jrescnting to the society 

 today, tlirougii its President, a gavel which lias a history. 



(The speaker here presented the gift.) 



The stem of this Ravel is from the cedars of Lebanon that 

 were brought to this country from Mt. Lebanon by a U. S. naval 

 officer, K. B. !Moody. in 1877. Tlie piece of bronze in the end of 

 the gavel (and which very often perhaps will be used to command 

 yoiu- attention later) is a relic of ti.e steamship Maine, wliich 

 was destroyed in Havana Harbor, prior to the Spanish-American 

 w-ar. Now, as the material of this gavel was taken from those 

 cedars of Lebanon, those trees which were felled by King Hiram 

 for that wonderful temple and were transported overland from 

 Joppa and became the support of that temple, so may the mem- 

 bers of this association be the steady supporters of their Presi- 

 dent and of those who shall lead them hereafter in the mainte- 

 nance of an organization which, in years to come, will be such that 

 our laml will be made beautiful by it. And when tlie sound of 

 this navel is heard, remember that the loyal men who went down 

 in the Maine, from a cause we know not of, were faithful to 

 their business; and so may you continue to be devoted to your 

 profession, one which you appreciate and love and one which we 

 all honor. 



!Mr. President, I place this gavel in your hands and leave it in 

 charge of the association. (Applause.) 



1'1;KS11)1-,XJ waite expressed liis appreciation of the gift 

 and the thanks of the association to the donor. 



Ml!. TUILOW here added that he had forgotten to mention the 

 iniportant fact tliat the gavel was a present from (Jeo. W. Hess, 

 superintendent of the Botanical Gardens at Washington, D. C. 

 He thought it was entitled to additional respect as coming from 

 the head of the chief institution in this country of the profes- 

 sion wliich the gardeners foUciwed. (Applause.) 



Subseipiently the tlianks of the association were voted to Mr. 

 Hess for his beautiful gift; whereupon that gentleman came for- 

 ward and flowed his acknowledgments. 



Koutinc liusiness was then proceeded with. 



Tlie rriiiiutes of the last preceding annual meeting were read by 

 Secrctaiy M. C. Kliel, of Madison, N. .J., and, on motion, duly 

 seconded, were apjiroved as read. 



The minutes of the Executive Board meeting, in Boston, on 

 August 14, 1914, were read and, on motion, duly seconded, ap- 

 proved. 



SECRETARY EBEL then rea.l the annual report and financial 

 statement of tlie Secretary, wliiili fnUows. 



SECRETAltY'S HEPORT. 



The pi-ist !/fiir lut.s hccii an a-fiif-e our irithin the Xaiional Asso- 

 ciation of (iarilcncrs. 



In pursuance icilh the By-Laws tlie folloirs directors tcere ap- 

 pointed by President M'aite on January 1, WIJ/. to serve for- three 

 years: A. J. Smith, Lake Geneva. Wis.; Theodore Wirtli, Minne- 

 api'oiis, Minn.; WiUiani Hertriek, Han Gahriel. ('ah; Robert 

 liottomley, ,Yc»- Canaan. Conn.; Robert Angus, Tarrytown, N. Y. ; 

 Alexander Fraser, Newport, R. /.; .Arthur Smith, Rcadiny, Pa. 

 To serve for two years to fill the uncj-pind term of John W. 

 Everett, elected vice-president, James Maciluehan, Tuexdo Park 

 N. Y. 



The first mectin;; of the Executive Board for the year was held 

 on Thursday, January .\ lOI'i, in tlie .Murray Hill Hotel, N0w 

 York City. 



The subject of a closer co-operation between the National Asso- 

 ciation of Gardeners and the various local horticultural and garden 

 societies was brought before this meeting, and your secretary mas 

 in.^truetcd to write to the different horticultural societies suggest- 

 ing co-operation between the national association and the local 

 societies in the interest of developing horticulture and advancing 

 the profession of gardening in this country. 



It was decided at this meeting to strictly enforce the clause of 

 the By-Laws calling for the suspension of members in arrears of 

 dues for more than tivo years. 



The spring meeting of the Executive Board was held in Horti- 

 cultural Hall. Philadelphia. Pa., on Tuesday, April 7, 191'i. 



'J'he revised By-Lavs of the .Association submitted by the By- 

 Laws Committee, composed of John IT'. Evcritt. M. C. Ebel and 

 Joint F. Johnston, appointed at the 1913 convention, were approved 

 by the Erceulive Board, and ordered printed in book form to be 

 distributed among the members. 



At this meeting the following resolution was adopted: 



"The response to the commumeation on co-operation recently 

 addressed to the local horticultural societies by the National Asso- 

 ciation of Gardeners has been so favorable it is the sense of the 

 members of the Executive Board present that definite action should 

 be taken to inaugurate the co-operative movement between the 

 national association and the various local horticultural societies 

 irho may desire to unite with it to advance the interest of horti- 

 culture and the profession of gardening. 



"Therefore, be it resolved. That the secretary be instructed to 

 address the various local societies, inviting those interested in our 

 endeavor to appoint committees of three to be known as the Co- 

 operatire Committee of the local society of which they are ap- 

 pointed. TheJic committees will act with the Co-operative Com- 

 mittee of the National Association of Gardeners, to be composed 

 of the president, vice-president, treasurer and scr-rctary of the 

 National .•{.ssociation. and to be known as the National Co-oper- 

 ative Committee. 



"The National Committee shall inform itself, through the local 

 eo-operatire committee, of the workings and doings of the different 

 local organi-zations, and gather such information as may be of 

 interest and value to local horticultural bodies in their operations, 

 and shall disseminate such infeyrmation as it may acf/uire among 

 the societies co-ope^rating with it. Through such an interchange 

 of views and experiences the successful efforts of local soccities, in 

 their various undertakings, will be imparted to sister societies, by 



