WHA T THE FLORISTS DID. 



39' 



skilled help from boys. This policy should 

 be adopted by the florists. Boys or quite 

 young men when taken into a business can, 

 by sensible and tactful supervision and 

 teaching by the florist or foreman, soon be- 

 come as useful in many ways as men, and 

 in a few years will develop into very capa- 

 ble florists. I do not know of any business 

 to-day that furnishes as good a field for em- 

 ployment for good all round men." Presi- 

 dent Mepsted closed by urging those present 

 to take an active part in the discussions. 



the; SECRETARy'S REPORT. 



The report of the secretary, Mr. A. H. 

 Ewing, of Woodstock, drew attention to tHe 

 fact that when the association met in Otta- 

 wa in 1899 it only had 2,2 members, while 

 last year 69 attended the annual meeting. 



That the association is in a good financial 

 condition was shown by the report of the 

 treasurer, Mr. H. Simmers, of Toronto. 

 The receipts of the association last year 

 amounted to $248.30, including $138 for 

 membership fees. The previous balance on 

 hand was $90.70, and as the expenses 

 through the year were only $63.50, the asso- 

 ciation has a balaruce on hand of $184.80. 



SOME SPLENDID EXHIBITS. 



One of the best features of the conven- 

 tion was the excellent display of floral ex- 

 hibits and florists' supplies. These included 

 a great display of hardy perennials made by 

 Mr. W. T. Macoun, of the Experimental 

 Farm at Ottawa, and of Groff's seedling 

 gladiolus by Campbell Brothers, of Simcoe. 

 The Experimental Farm exhibit included 1 50 

 distinct varieties of perennials, of which there 

 were 55 varieties of perennial phlox, show- 

 ing the great improvement that has been 

 made in this flower in recent years. The 

 object of the collection was to show as 

 many as possible of the best perennials 

 which bloom in late summer. 



One large table was taken up with the ex- 

 cellent exhibit of J. Gammage & Sons, of 

 London, showing palms, araucarias, rub- 



bers, asparagus plumosus, begonia D'Lor- 

 raine, and a number of small plants used in 

 the trade. The palms and asparagus were 

 particularly fine. This firm grows 20,000 

 palms and 40,000 asparagus plants, and the 

 exhibit showed these plants in all sizes from 

 I ^ -inch to 6-inch pots. 



Other exhibits included a large display of 

 floral supplies by D. J. Sinclair, of Toronto ; 

 flower pots, jars, etc., by the Foster Pottery 

 Co., of Hamilton, "Ont. ; wire designs by 

 George J. Fisher, of Ottawa, Ont. ; florists' 

 holiday boxes by- J. C. Wilson & Co., of 

 Montreal ; saleable sized palms, assorted 

 ferns, small cyclamen, etc., by Messrs. 

 Grobba and Wandry, of Mimico, Ont. ; an 

 excellent assortment of palms, ferns, as- 

 paragus plumosus, etc., by J. Gammage & 

 Son, London, Ont. ; an especially well grown 

 lot of ferns, from seedlings to plants in six 

 inch pots, by C. Scrim, of Ottawa ; small 

 saleable ferns, seedling palms, etc., by 

 Messrs. Hall & Robinson, of Montreal ; 

 commercial ferns by Joseph Benouth, of 

 Montreal ; ferns in two to ten inch pots, by 

 Graham Brothers, of Ottawa, Ont. ; nephi- 

 slipis Scottic, by John Scott, of Brooklyn, 

 N. Y. ; sweet peas, by Frank Brown, of Bar- 

 rie, Ont., and musk melons by L J. Gorman, 

 of Montreal. 



On Wednesday afternoon the members 

 drove to the Experimental Farm, where a 

 most pleasant afternoon was spent. On 

 Thursday the members devoted the day to 

 visiting the sights and places of interest in. 

 and around the city and were entertained at 

 dinner by Mr. C. Scrim, the well known 

 florist 01 Ottawa. The greenhouses of 

 Messrs. Graham Brothers, Wright and 

 Scrim were among those visited. The 

 three days' convention had a most pleasant 

 closing on Thursday evening, when a ban- 

 quet was held at the Windsor hotel. When 

 the Toronto contingent was boarding the 

 train for home their Montreal and Ottawa 

 brethren, who were- at the station to see 



