84 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



terview the Council regarding this matter. The 

 matter will be dealt with by the new board. 



Secretary J. S. Scarflf gave the members some 

 of his observations at the recent meeting of the 

 Ontario Fruit Growers' Association at Walkerton. 

 The meeting had teen one of the most important 

 ever held and Mr. Scarflf was again appointed a 

 member of the board. 



Tne following was the President's annual ad- 

 dress : 



At the close of another year in the history of 

 our Society it is satisfactory to report that some 

 progress has been made. The work of this and 

 kindred societies is usually done by comparatively 

 few of the members who have a special love for it. 

 Under these circumstances progress is generally 

 slow, but in our own Society in recent years there 

 is apparent an increasing and more general in- 

 terest. 



The Annual Flower Show of the year was on a 

 larger scale, the exhibits were more numerous, the 

 market sheds were better suited therefore and they 

 lent themselves more easily to tasteful decoration 

 with arrangement of the several exhibits. These 

 features, together with excellent music provided, 

 made the Flower Show the most successful, both 

 in point of merit and attendance, and also to the 

 aflforded pleasure to visitors, that the Society has 

 yet held. 



The plan of holding cottage or garden meetings, 

 begun the previous year, was continued during the 

 summer. Two very pleasant, interesting and 

 helpful meetings of the Society were thus held at 

 the homes of T. H. Parker and William Grey, 

 Esquires, two of the earliest and most prominent 

 of Woodstock's horticulturists. At the latter, Mr. 

 Grey contributed some interesting reminiscences 

 of pioneer horticulture and horticulturists here. 

 The Society are also indebted for a very pleasant 

 afternoon spent at the greenhouses and surround- 

 ings of Doyle & Son's, where they saw a large, 

 varied and fine bloom of chrysanthemums, gerani- 

 um's and other annuals. 



BEAUTIFYING OF SCHOOL GEOUNDS. 



ADDRESS, BEFORE THE WOODSTOCK HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY BY MR. G. R. PATTULLO, PRESIDENT, 



The Society has enjoyed the privilege also of 

 healing several valuable papers contributed by 

 members during the year, notably those of our 

 lady friends, Mrs. Finkle, Mrs. Hoare and Mrs. 

 Davidson. The Secretary as District Representa- 

 tive in the Provincial Society is still a useful link 

 between the latter and the local Society, and our 

 influence was further extended by a paper recently 

 read by the president before the County Teacher's 

 Convention upon the subject of Beautifying School 

 Grounds : 



"But perhaps the most important work done by 

 the Society during the year was the plant and 

 flower distribution among the children of the pub- 

 lic schools — from seventy-five to a hundred child- 

 ren of ail ages received free from the Society some 

 common varieties, such as asters, zinnias, phlox, 

 petunias and geraniums, to be planted and cared 

 for by themselves. The result was most satisfac- 



tory. The children interested themselves in the 

 care of the plants, and there was thereby an in- 

 crease of about a hundred well kept and tastefully 

 arranged little flower pots in the city during the 

 summer. Quite a numter of bouquets therefrom, 

 neatly arranged, were presented at the Autumn 

 Flower Show, and in the reports made thereon by 

 the children, clamor vigorously for more plants 

 next year. 



"It will be seen from the above that the Society 

 have some reason for congratulation upon the work 

 being done by and through its instrumentality. It 

 has done something, but much more remains to be 

 done. The awarding of prizes for cottage and 

 flower gardens and well-kept grounds, and of 

 prizes to the school children for flower and vege- 

 table plots, the plant and flower distribution among 

 the children of the public schools, the promotion 

 of tree, shrub and flower planting upon our school 

 and other public grounds, the holding of cottage 

 and garden meetings of the Society, which are 

 pleasant and practical object lessons to those 

 who attend, the reading of timely and useful pa- 

 pers upon subjects of practical interest, the hear- 

 ing of lectures by experts from the Provincial So- 

 ciety — all of these things, which the Society has 

 done during the past two years, are useful and 

 educative; they have awakened a wilder interest 

 in the subject of fruit g^rowing, floriculture and 

 kindred topics in our community, but a large field 

 still remains for our attention, occupation and ac- 

 tive operation. 



" The citizens of Woodstock frequently boast — 

 and not without cause— that they have a beautiful 

 city. Nature has done much for if, and the hand 

 of man something. But, though a beautiful little 

 city, it is not yet the city beautiful. To make it 

 so should be the aim of our Society and all its 

 members. Much remains to be done. The streets 

 are not yet all tree lined, nor have they all well- 

 kept boulevards. There are not yet enough parks 

 for the convenience and pleasure of our people and 

 their children, and those that we have are inade- 

 quately, indeed badly cared for. Our church and 

 hospital grounds are not yet fully equipped with 

 trees, shrubs, climbers and flowers. Only two of 

 our school grounds have teen improved in the same 

 direction, and our cemeteries are still capable of 

 improvement and beautfying. Then I should like 

 to see a suburban avenue, which when graded, 

 drained and tree-lined would afford a delightful 

 drive or wheel all about our beautifully and pic- 

 turesquely located little city. This should be be- 

 gun at once. It need not necessarily be an expen- 

 sive undertaking. Existing streets could be util- 

 ized, and I am satisfied that the active interests of 

 citizens who reside in the outlying districts of the 

 city, could be enlisted in a project, the completion 

 of which would improve their properties and pro- 

 vide for them and for their children much pleasure. 

 I venture to commend these matters to the favor- 

 able attention of my successor and his colleagues 

 in office, and for whom I solicit an even more 

 kindly and general support than has been extended 

 to me as president. 



"It is gratifying to learn from tte Treasurer's 

 report that although our expenditures have been 

 rather more generous than usual, the balance on 

 hand is still the sam? as last year," 



