428 



HORTICULTURE 



September 23, 1911 



VEGETABLE GROWERS' ASSOCIATION OF 



AMERICA 



Fourth Annual Convention, Boston, Mass, Sept* 19, 20, 2 J, 22, \9\\ 



OFFICERS 1911. 



President. R. L. Watts. State Col- 

 lege, Pa. 



Junior Ex-President, C. W. Waid, 

 New Carlisle, O. 



Vice-President, H. F. Hall. Brighton. 

 Mass. 



Secretary, S. W. Severance. Louis- 

 ville, Ky. 



Treasurer. M. L. Reutenik. Cleve- 

 land. O 



Directors: T. C. Johnson, Norfolk, 

 Va.; Eugene Davis, Grand Rapids, 

 Mich.; W. J. Ritterskamp, Princeton, 

 Ind.; W. H. Weinschenk. New Castle, 

 Pa.; Richard Hittinger, Belmont. 

 Mass.; E. A. Dunbar, Ashtabula, O. 



The fourth annual convention of 

 this young and prosperous organiza- 

 tion opened in Boston on Tuesday af- 

 ternoon, September 19, at Horticul- 

 tural Hall Several hundred were in 

 attendance and the hall was well 



"This body of gardeners," he said, 

 "represents the backbone of vegetable 

 growers of America on whom 9,000,000 

 American people depend for their 

 fresh vegetables, and we should feel 

 keenly our responsibility in growing 

 and supplying only the best that we 

 can. 



"The past season has been, on the 

 whole, very unfavorable to market 

 gardeners, and gardeners, like the rest 

 of mankind, have their ups and downs 

 in full-season or partial crops even 

 here in Masachusetts. In the long run, 

 however, we should consider this for- 

 tunate, for everyone who goes through 

 such a season of depression and dis- 

 appointment learns to maintain a 

 stonter heart and will emerge from 

 the condition with a firmer grip, a 

 clearer vision and a stouter courage to 

 meet all future contingencies which 

 we may be called upon to face in our 

 business." 



dresses on "The French and English 

 Systems of Vegetable Forcing," il- 

 lustrated, by David Lumsden of the 

 New Hampshire College of Agriculture 

 at Durham, N. H., and "Marketing," 

 by Paul Work of the Cornell College 

 of Agriculture at Ithaca, N. Y. 



On Wednesday forenoon the session 

 was devoted to the following pro- 

 gram. 



Question Box. 



Address. — "The Horticultural Or- 

 ganizations of Ontario." — J. Lockle 

 Wilson, Secretary Ontario Vegetable 

 Growers' Association, Toronto, Can. 



Address. — "Pre-cooling and Cold 

 Storage of Vegetables." — Representa- 

 tive of U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



Topic for Discussion. — "Irrigation." 



The afternoon was spent in visiting 

 some of the market gardens and 

 greenhouses in the suburbs, by auto 

 and trolley under the guidance of the 



III 



filled when President R. L. Watts of 

 State College, Pa., called the meeting 

 to order and after a few preliminary 

 remarks introduced Acting Mayor 

 Walter Collins. 



Mr. Collins in extending the wel- 

 come of the city said that though it. 

 was the fourth convention and the 

 first time that the members had met 

 here, he hoped that it would not be 

 long before they returned for another 

 convention. For New England, at 

 least. Boston is a city around which 

 cluster many large tracts devoted to 

 market gardening, and he mentioned 

 especially such places as Arlington, 

 Belmont and Lexington. He referred 

 to the value of co-operation, through 

 which the interests of communities 

 can best be conserved. Conventions 

 such as these, he said, serve a useful 

 purpose in disseminating knowledge 

 of the business, the advantage of 

 which many persons receive. 



President H. F. Hall, of the Boston 

 Market Gardeners' Association, wel- 

 comed the visitors in the name of the 

 local gardeners. He said that the 

 Boston organization felt honored in 

 having the members of the national 

 body with them. 



Horticultural Hall 



The response to Mr. Hall's address 

 was made by E. A. Dunbar of Ash- 

 tabula. O., and then President Watts 

 of the national organization read his 

 annual address. He dwelt upon some 

 of the achievements of the past year, 

 referring, as did Mr. Hall, to the un- 

 favorable conditions of the summer. 



Sec. S. W. Severance of Louisville, 

 Ky., reported 24 states and provinces 

 represented in the association, the 

 membership being 214. He urged 

 that more members be secured, es- 

 pecially in New England. 



The report of the state vice-presi- 

 dents was given by President Hall of 

 the local body. Reports were also 

 submitted by several standing com- 

 mittees; transportation rates by 

 J. H. Rice of Ashtabula, O.; member- 

 ship by H. F. Tompson of Attleboro, 

 and legislation by T. C. Johnson of 

 Norfolk, Va. 



During the forenoon the executive 

 committee held a session at the Copley 

 Square Hotel, which is the convention 

 headquarters. » 



In the evening another session was 

 held at which many members of the 

 Gardeners' and Florists' Club of Bos- 

 ton were present. There were ad- 



local reception committee consisting 

 of J. P. Esty, H. F. Thompson, F. 

 Wheeler, R. Hittinger, A. Wilson, W. 

 L. Hooper and Dana Hyde. The 

 women's committee was made up of 

 Mrs. J. B. Shurtleff. Jr., Mrs. H. L. 

 Cox and Mrs. E. F. Skahan. 



On Wednesday evening the program 

 included addresses on "Greenhouse 

 Construction and Heating," illustrated, 

 by W. R. Cobb. Irvington-on-Hudson, 

 N. Y., an abstract of which appears 

 in this issue, and "Open Air Opportu- 

 nities," illustrated, H. B. Fullerton, 

 Medford, L. L, N. Y. 



Thursday's program, which is being 

 carried out as we go to press, is as 

 follows: 



9.00 a. m. 



Question Box. 



Address. — "Truck Crop Rotations 

 as Practiced by Hotbed Growers of 

 Norfolk, Va."— Mr. Burte C. Haines. 

 Norfolk, Va. 



Topic for Discussion. — "Good Seed 

 for Market Gardeners." 



Address. — "What Experiment Sta- 

 tions are Doing for Vegetable Grow- 



