146 



HOETICULTUEE 



January 31, 1914 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY 



Annual Meeting and Exhibition Held in Cleveland, Ohio, January 



28th and 29th, 



Buffalo, N, Y,, Was Selected as Next Meeting Place — Officers 



Elected Unanimously. 



The annual meeting and exhibition 

 of the American Carnation Society, 

 was held at the Hotel Staettler Cleve- 

 land, Ohio, Jan. 28 and 29. President 

 R. T. Brown presided over the open- 

 ing session, Wednesday evening, and 

 presented the following address: 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



For the twenty-third time we have 

 met as a Society to do honor to our 

 divine flower, the American Carnation. 

 Our meeting this year must be con- 

 sidered a memorable one in the his- 

 tory of the Society, inasmuch as it 

 will see the award of the first Dorner 

 medal to the originator of the best un- 

 disseminated seedling carnation, en- 

 tered and scored for this award at a 

 previous annual meeting. The condi- 

 tions under which this award is made 

 are somewhat stringent, and I believe 

 that this medal should be considered 

 as the very highest award in the 

 power of the Society. I would point 

 out to raisers of seedlings the great 

 advantage to be gained by entering the 

 preliminary class for this award, all 

 seedlings of promise. It seems likely 

 that this class will become one of the 

 most prominent at our exhibitions. A 

 new and interesting feature of our ex- 

 hibition this year is the table decora- 

 tions, the staging of which shows the 

 possibilities of the different varieties 

 now under dissemination. It is to be 

 hoped that this innovation will be ex- 

 tended along decorative lines in the 

 future. 



Representation at New York and San 

 Francisco. 



At the summer meeting of the di- 

 rectors and officers of our Society, it 

 was voted to give our hearty support 

 to the approaching Spring Flower 

 Show to be held in New York, to the 

 extent of taking charge of the staging 

 and judging of the carnation section. 

 The prize schedule is an attractive 

 one and should appeal to every mem- 

 ber, and I hope to see our Society 

 strongly represented in the exhibits. 

 We have not obligated ourselves in 

 any way financially and I would sug- 

 gest that this Society offer a special 

 medal, or a cup, for award in a class 

 to be decided upon at this meeting. 

 An undertaking of this kind, in the 

 greatest consuming city on the Amer- 

 ican continent, should certainly re- 



ceive our very strongest support. 

 Some sort of a representation in the 

 way of an exhibit at the Panama- 

 Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco 

 next year might be deemed advisable, 

 and the subject is one well worthy of 

 discussion. 1 would recommend that 

 the Society give serious consideration 

 to the matter, and believe that our 

 friends on the Pacific Coast will be 



R. T. Bbown. 

 President. American Carnation Society. 



willing to aid us to the utmost of 

 their power. 



Color Classification. 

 There still seems to be some differ- 

 ence of opinion in regard to the color 

 line as applied to flowers on exhibi- 

 tion. Many of us tbink that the line 

 as now drawn is satisfactory for our 

 purpose. Notwithstanding, there may 

 be some belter plan than the one 

 adopted of using a standard dissemi- 

 nated variety of carnation as repre- 

 senting the limit of a range of color. 

 If anyone has a suggestion to make, 

 I think it should be well received by 

 this Society. It could be discussed at 

 the present meeting and, if found 

 worthy o£ adoption, put into effect. 

 It is certainly very desirable that our 

 standards in this respect should be 

 beyond question. 



"Gluts." 

 Carnation growers have, in the last 



year or two, suffered much loss 

 through "slumps" or "gluts" In the 

 market, carnations being the first sub- 

 jects to feel the influence of a short 

 demand. Is this because our markets 

 are too greatly centralized? Would it 

 not be well to encourage a local ship- 

 ping trade in our growing centers, 

 and thus remove some of the conges- 

 tion? These "slumps" seem to occur 

 more frequently, and when the market 

 is low it seems to me that carnations 

 are the first to feel the depression. 



Proper Packing. 



A general improvement in the meth- 

 od of packing carnations for the mar- 

 ket might result in increased value of 

 the product. The present practice of 

 bunching has a tendency to cheapen 

 the appearance of the flowers, and 

 they certainly do not have the same 

 splendid attractiveness that roses have 

 when opened, or any other flowers 

 shipped into market carefully packed 

 in layers with protection between. 

 When opened, a box of flowers, packed 

 in this manner, presents a pleasing 

 appearance to prospective buyers. It 

 has always seemed to me that the 

 bunching system is wrong. When in 

 bunches carnations are presented to 

 view in much the same way as out- 

 door flowers grown at practically lit- 

 tle cost, and most of which, in times 

 of large supply, pass in quantities to 

 the refuse dump. 



Elements of Popularity. 



I have noticed, in trips made 

 through retail sections in New York 

 recently, that none of the leading 

 stores display carnations. Roses, or- 

 chids, lily of the valley, and other 

 choice flowers are prominent, but car- 

 nations are conspicuous by their ab- 

 sence. If there is a decrease in the 

 popularity of carnations, is it because 

 our retailers are not giving these 

 flowers the prominence they should 

 have? Is, as some claim, the carna- 

 nation losing popularity because of 

 lack of fragrance or keeping qualities? 

 It may be that our esteemed past 

 president, Fred Burki, was prompted 

 by an observance of the latter charac- 

 teristic, to offer his prize for the vase 

 of carnations presenting the best ap- 

 pearance at the close of our exhibition. 

 Whether it is so or not, the fact re- 

 mains that appearances would war- 

 rant our thinking so. 



Plant Deterioration. 



We have heard a great deal of late 



