MINUTES 



October 3, 1 99 1 



TTie meeting was held ai Deniers Ciarden 

 Center. Bob Demers (acting president). 

 Paul Godbout, Peter Corey, Jennifer, and 

 Chris were there. Previous minutes and 

 tinancial report were read and accepted. 

 Paul reported on the Granite State Flower 

 Show. 



It was decided lo hold the Winter Meeting 

 in Manchester this vear and several hotels 

 that offered meeting facilities were 

 discussed. Bob and Paul will look at what 

 each offered and make a linal decision. It 

 was decided not to otter pesticide credits 

 this year. Peter will contact a possible 

 main speaker; other speakers will be 

 needed. 



It was decided to man a booth at Farm iSl 

 Forest and maybe sponsor a speaker 

 Peter Cxirey (The Village Green, 

 Littleton), Henry Huntington (Pleasant 

 View Gardens, I'litsfu-ld), and Richard 

 Zoerb (Gloeckiur. N.isliu.i) have all 

 expressed interest in scrxuig on the board 

 next year. Although oihet candidates are 

 still needed, this was encouraging iiews. 

 The preparations for the twilight meenng 

 at Conlev Tree Fanii were done; the fivers 

 were out and on time. 

 Jolly Farmer Products (East l.empstcr) has 



expressed interest m hosting next year's 

 hummer Meenng. 



Peter asked^in behall oi his business 

 partner bveretl .Aldticl.— il the NHPCj.A 

 would be interesied in allowing a |omt NH/ 

 VT Telctlora meeting to l..ke pl-'-e at the 

 summer meeting alongside e\ervthing else, 

 ll was thought that thi-- speci.il meeting 

 might be bettet organi:ed il il were separate 

 and maybe in September. 

 The meeting adjourned at nine. 

 NovemfcerS, 199) 



The meeting was called to order at 7: 10 al 

 Demets Garden Center. Bob, Bnice, and 

 Chns were there. 



The minutes and financial rcporl were read 

 and accepted. 



Membership is curtentiv .it 24^. Planning 

 tor the next New hngland Cireenhouse 

 Conference is beginning; Richard F.merson 

 will be keeping us inlorined. The Plannvwn 

 will continue to be sent to members ever\ 

 other month; costs have been ml and ll 

 seems to be on a more solid financial base. 

 The idea of a simpler logo with greater 

 impact was brought up. The Board decided 

 to see how the membership felt about a 

 new l«3go at the Winter Meeting. 

 The program for the Winter Meeting was 



discussed. Ideas for speakers and topics 

 seemed to center around management in 

 various forms and it was decided that this 

 topic would be the theme of the meeting. 

 Speakers will be confirmed in a few days and 

 a tlver will be seni oul in early December. 

 There are several possible candidates for the 

 two vacancies on the Board, but thev haven't 

 firmly commuied themselves at this time. 

 Both twilight meetings — at Van Berkum 

 Nursery in September and Conlev Tree Farm 

 in October — were seen as successful. Atten- 

 dance at both was somewhat higher than ex- 

 pected and the information given was worth- 

 while. The Board hopes to plan a series of 

 twilight meetings fot I'^'^l, choosing a variety 

 of operations in different pans of the state. 

 Next veat's Summer Meeting will be at the 

 jollv Farmer in Fasi l.empMer, probably in the 

 ihird week .>f .Augu-I l>.b Pemers recently 

 visited the openuion and reported that thete 

 IS delinitelv plentv lo see. There's plenty o\ 

 r<H-ini tor vendor, and thete will probably be a 

 chance to earn one or two recertification 

 credits. A representative from Jolly Farmer 

 will be invited to attend the Febmarv board 

 meeting. 



The Board also decided lo plan an all-day 

 recertificaton meeting in the fall of IW2 

 The meeting adjourned at 9:30. 



WORTH REPEATING 



Could Taxus Help Treat Cancer? 



Bruce Vanicek 

 The Rhode hkmd Nurseries 



Reprinted from New England 

 Newsline, a publication of the New 

 England Nuserymcns .\ssocuition , 

 Fall 1991 



There is a compound in the genus 

 Taxus that may help save the lives 

 of cancer patients. Taxol, an 

 experimental drug found in Taxus 

 plants in very small quantities, has 

 shown some promising results in 

 the treatment of ovarian cancer. It 

 is also being clinically tested 

 against other cancers including 

 breast, lung and colon tumors. 

 The drug is currently extracted 

 from the bark of the Pacific Yew 

 (Taxus brevifoliii) which is native to 

 the old growth forests in the Pacific 

 Northwest. The drug is present in 

 such small quantities that it takes 

 six, lOO-year-old trees to treat one 



28 THE Plaktsman 



patient. Because these trees are a 

 finite resource, as well as growing 

 in the same forests where environ- 

 mentalists are trying to save the 

 spotted owl from logging opera- 

 tions, the drug is extremely scarce. 

 Currently, the supply of drug is not 

 enough to complete research 

 necessary for approval . 

 Researchers are also trying to 

 synthesize Taxol. Their attempts 

 have been frustrated because the 

 molecule is extremely complex. 

 Also, the cost of synthesis may be 

 so expensive, the drug may not be 

 economically viable. Others are 

 trying to culture the Taxol 

 producing cells to regenerate as a 

 means of producing the drug. This 

 too has been unsuccessful. 

 You may be asking yourself "What 



about all the Taxus grown and sold 

 in the nursery industry?" Well, a 

 researcher familiar with the 

 promising results of Taxol as well as 

 the supply problem, called me with 

 the same question about three years 

 ago. Since then, people from inside 

 and outside the nursery industry 

 have spent many hours researching 

 arid evaluating ornamental 

 cultivars for their potential use as a 

 source for Taxol. Growers that 

 have been involved with the 

 research and two Universities have 

 formed an alliance to facilitate the 

 extraction of Taxol from 

 ornamental cultivars. The effort is 

 ongoing and membership in the 

 Alliance is not restricted. It you 

 would like more information about 

 the Alliance or Taxol, please call 

 me at (401) 846-0721. 



