The American Carnation Society 



in some manner with the future of The Society of American Florists. How- 

 ever, the futiHty of this criticism was soon seen, and active opposition to 

 the plan ceased. 



This call brought together an assemblage comprised of fifty enthusi- 

 asts, and The American Carnation Society was duly organized. The initial 

 meeting was adjourned to November 4, 1891, when the promoters reas- 

 sembled at the St. James Hotel, in New York City, and the Society was 

 launched upon a very substantial basis, and its real work begun. Papers 

 were there read covering the subjects of Carnation Soils, The Production 

 of Seedlings, Greenhouse Construction for Carnation Culture, Cost of Pro- 

 ducing Carnation Cuttings, and Business Methods. Since that date eleven 

 annual meetings have been held, the first taking place at Buffalo, on Febru- 

 ary 16, 1892; the second at Pittsburg, February 21-22, 1893; third at Indi- 

 anapolis, February 20-21, 1894; fourth at Boston, February 18-19, 1895; 

 fifth at New York, February 20-21, 1896; sixth at Cincinnati, February 

 18-19, 1897; seventh at Chicago, February 17-18, 1898; eighth at Phila- 

 delphia, February 16-17, 1899; ninth at Buffalo, February 15-16, 1900; 

 tenth at Baltimore, February 21-22, 1901 ; and the eleventh at Indianapolis, 

 February 19-20, 1902. The twelfth annual meeting was held in the city 

 of Brooklyn, N. Y., February 19-20, 1903. 



Starting with fifty members, the Society now has a membership of 

 approximately four hundred. It has accomplished a vast amount of good 

 work, and to its efforts may be attributed a large measure of the popular 

 favor with which the carnation is to-day regarded by the American people. 



Beginning with the first exhibition of flowers given in connection with 

 the second annual meeting at Buffalo, N. Y., in February, 1892, where 

 perhaps two or three thousand blooms were displayed, the importance of 

 the annual exhibitions held by the Society has steadily increased each year, 

 until these magnificent yearly displays of carnations comprise thousands of 

 blooms, the staging of the show at Indianapolis demanding the largest exhi- 

 bition hall afforded by that progressive city ; while in the city of Brooklyn 

 the annual display for 1903 required its tvv^o largest exhibition halls. 



The American Carnation Society has devoted itself strictly to the exploit- 

 ation of the carnation, and its work has been carried on with an enthusi- 

 asm on the part of its members born of the knowledge that the efforts put 

 forth were along the right lines, and, therefore, bound to succeed. Thus 

 far the Society has formed no entangling alliances, nor has it sought to 

 impede the growth, or cripple the usefulness, of any other florists' organiza- 

 tion. Its membership acknowledged at the beginning the natural tendency 



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