May 30, 1914 



HORTICULTUEB 



799 



WOMAN'S AGRICULTURAL CON- 

 FERENCE AT AMBLER, PA. 



A very remarkable gathering of men 

 and women took place at the School of 

 Horticulture for Women on May 16. 

 when the Woman's National Agricul- 

 tural and Horticultural Association 

 held its first conference. Over 400 en- 

 thusiasts flocked to the spot to listen 

 to the speakers of national note and 

 see the workings of this school, the 

 first of its kind in the country. The 

 meeting was held In the large stone 

 barn and the quaint hay-filled mows 

 decked with dogwood, wild honey- 

 suckle and lilacs made a fitting back- 

 ground for the earnest, practical speak- 

 ers, while the barn swallows and pig- 

 eons added their low accompaniment. 



The meeting was opened by Mrs. H. 

 B. Fullerton, a vice-president of the 

 Association and Chairman of the Con- 

 ference Committee. She said; 



"There is but one cloud on our l)eautl- 

 ful day, and that Is the Illness of our 

 President, Mrs. Francis King, of Alma. 

 Michigan. She sends greetings to you all 

 and trusts the day will prove to you all 

 she and her co-workers have striven so 

 hard to make it. There are many socie- 

 ties and clubs in this country devoted to 

 the interest and betterment of gardens, 

 both flower and vegetable, but this asso- 

 ciation of ours has a larger and wider 

 scope. It is formed with the sole pur- 

 pose of helping women help themselves 

 earn their living in God's sweet, beautiful. 

 e^'e^-changing out-of-doors. 



"This somewhat new profession holds 

 (tut many advantages over so-called cler- 

 ical and oUice work, for it combines home 

 and possessions with remunerative labor, 

 calls forth the mother instjnct and de- 

 mands common sense: incidentally it will 

 give to our nation a race of hardier, truer, 

 better men and women. 



"The Association is national and al- 

 though it is but a few months old, it 

 counts its members in twenty states. Any- 

 thing that will further agricultural educa- 

 tion for women, that will help to bring 

 land owner and land worker in touch, 

 that may bring producer and consumer 

 into closer relation, that will spread 

 abroad the knowledge of the vast army 

 of women already intrenched in the agri- 

 cultural profession, the Association in- 

 tends to do." 



Miss Hilda Loines then read Mrs. 

 King's paper on the true role of the 

 horticultural society, which was a 

 translation from the French of Jacques 

 Delafon. This author's idea of making 

 the societies truly practical and 

 spreading good reading matter among 

 the people appealed very strongly to 

 the audience. The next speaker was 

 Walter P. Stokes of Philadelphia, 

 whose topic "Seed Growing for Wom- 

 en" was one looked forward to with 

 the keenest of interest; he said that 

 seed growing offers a fine field of work 

 for women and in Europe nearly all 

 the work on the vast seed farms is 

 done by women, though they do not 

 own them. Women being more careful 

 about details than men stand a greater 

 show of success. 



Mrs. J. Willis Martin. President of 

 the Garden Club of America, in speak- 

 ing of the co-operation of her club and 

 the National Association, said that we 

 can both do much to help beautify our 

 country by working together for civic 

 betterment, and we can help raise the 

 standards of American gardens by hav- 

 ing color charts as a guide to planting. 

 A huge sigh of disappointment escaped 

 from the audience when the chairman 

 announced that Mr. David Fairchild of 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture 

 could not be present. Mr. Fairchlld's 

 letter, however, left a feeling of his 

 eprnest desire to co-operate with the 

 Association and his personal regret 



Some m tiik Si'k.\kebs .\nd Officers Woman's Natiokal Agkki i.tirai. a.nd 



HoRTICrLTlRAL ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE 



Standing, Left to Right: Miss Martha Van Rensselaer, Mr. Walter P. Stokes, Miss 

 Tane B. Haines, Mrs. B. Hammond Tracy, Mr. Geo. T. Powell. 



Seated, Left to Right : Miss Hilda Ix)ines. Mrs. S. H. Vollmer, Miss Jessie S. Morgan, 

 Mrs. H. B. Fullerton, Miss Louisa G. Davis. 



that he could not attend. He sent 100 

 udo plants to each one of which was 

 attached a very attractive department 

 bulletin fully illustrated with halt 

 tones. These were distributed among 

 the audience as far as they would go 

 and Mr. Fairchild further assured us 

 "if anyone wants more plants they can 

 obtain them by writing to me." 



The meeting adjourned for an hour 

 and a half recess. Luncheon was 

 served in the farm home of the school, 

 and the visitors had an opportunity 

 to inspect the greenhouses, seed beds, 

 nursery rows, berry fields, orchards, 

 \ineyards, carpenter shop, poultry 

 houses and apiaries, where the twenty- 

 six women students are doipg such fine 

 practical work. At 2 o'clock the meet- 

 ing was resumed, a pleasant inter- 

 change of telegrams between the pres- 

 ident and the Conference being read, 

 when Geo. T. Powell. President of the 

 Agricultural Experts Association of 

 New York City, spoke on "Small Fruit 



Mrs. H. B. Fullerton at the Speakers' 

 Stand in the Barn in Front of the H:ly 

 Mow. " 



Miss Morgan, Director of the School, and 

 One of the Students, Seated. 



Culture for Women." He emphasized 

 the fact that women have always been 

 and always will be successful farmers, 

 and fruit growing is especially adapted 

 to them because so much can be done 

 on a small acreage. In speaking of 

 strawberries he said there were three 

 essentials— growing a variety adapted 

 to your soil, a variety of high quality, 

 and the command of suflicient labor to 

 harvest the crop. 



In introducing Miss Martha Van 

 Rensselaer, of Cornell University, the 

 cliairman said; "Too many times 

 women become so enthused with the 

 idea of the out-door work, they forgfet 

 we have to eat three times a day. Miss 

 Van Rensselaer is here to keep our 

 feet on the earth, and point the way to 

 better farm housework and its needs." 



Miss Van Rensselaer said that many 

 letters come to her office asking 

 for a home-making woman to join 

 in partnership with a farming woman, 

 but she cannot find them. This 

 association should be able to do 

 much to help find these women and 

 the colleges stand ready to give 

 them the instruction they need in the 

 .short courses. Housework must be 

 brought up to the recognized standard 

 of economic efficiency that stenogra- 

 phy and bookkeeping have attained, 

 and this must be done through women 

 themselves making house work an art 

 and not a menial, enslaving position. 



W. P. Hartman. Chief of the Bureau 

 of Markets and Information of Pomona 

 Grange of Suffolk County. New York, 

 spoke next on the object of this bureau 

 and the work it had already accom- 

 plished. Prof. David E. Warner of 

 State College, Pa., spoke on "Broilers 

 for Profit." In introducing Mr. Ber- 

 trand H. Farr. of '.'-•vcinlssin". Pp.. the 

 iiis expert, the cllai:;-.^^n said s' " fcit 

 like a child in saving liio best for the 

 last, for Mr. Farr's topic, "Raising 

 Rainbows" held a great charm and al- 

 lurement. 



Mr. Farr's address was a beautiful 

 word picture which we wish we could 

 reproduce here. The whole day was 

 worth a very long trip, and is a har- 

 binger of conferences to follow. 



