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SWEET PEA SOCIETY 



MEETS AT BOSTON 



The ninth annual convention oj the American Sweet Pea Society, held in 

 Boston July 7 and 8, brought forth an excellent exhibition from the commercial 

 growers and amateurs of New England. The society at its business meeting 

 also discussed some subjects important to the growers of sweet peas for the 

 market. 





T^=^^^^|HE ninth annual exhibition 

 and convention of the 

 American Sweet Pea So- 

 ciety was held at Horticul- 

 K j^ tural hall, Boston, July 7 

 1^*-*^ and 8 and, although the 

 ^jN^ season was late in Massa- 

 W9 ff^ chusetts as elsewhere, the 

 ^^^==ii quality of the flowers ex- 

 hibited was high. The 

 meeting was favored by perfect weaker 

 conditions. For the first time in ^he 

 liistory of the society W. Atlee Burpee 

 & Co. had no exhibit, but local sweet 

 pea growers had more than 100 varieties, 

 occupying more than 2,000 feet of space. 

 Few flowers were in July 7 and those 

 were not of exhibition quality, but 

 nearly all classes drew competition 

 July 8. 



George W. Kerr, president of the so- 

 ciety, did not have 

 his usual display 

 and the flowers 

 were much missed. 

 There were no dis- 

 plays by seedsmen. 

 Retailers who at 

 previous Boston 

 shows made nice 

 exhibits were con- 

 spicuous by their 

 absence and while 

 there were several 

 classes allotted to 

 them, none of the 

 splendid tubs o f 

 sweet peas, such as 

 were seen at New- 

 port and Bar Har- 

 bor, wore shown. 



A Fine Display. 



Many local grow- 

 ers who had planned 

 to have exhibits 

 did not show at all. 

 Increased food pro- 

 'luction, decre.aeed 

 flower production 

 and shortage of la- 

 bor wore mainly re- 

 f^ponsible. Further- 

 niore, the sweet pea 

 shows come at the 

 busiest season of 

 the year for the pro- 

 fessional producers, 

 but, after making 

 allowances for all 

 these shortcomings, 

 it was a magnificent 

 display of flowers. 



The loading prize- 

 winners came from 



OFFICERS ELECTED. 



President. 



George W. Kerr, Doylestown, Pa. 



Vice-President. 



Edwin Jenkins, Lenox, Mass. 



- ., Secretary. 



"William Gray, Newport, R. I. 



Treasurer. 



William Sim, Cliftondale, Mass. 



Lenox and Pittsfield, high in the Berk- 

 shire hills, and from Newport, R. I. 

 These were private gardener exhibits. 

 Amateur exhibits were numerous and 



George W. Kerr, Re-elected President of the American Sweet Pea Society. 



the quality of the flowers splendid and 

 only a little inferior to those seen in 

 the open classes. 



The judges of the exhibition were 

 George W. Kerr, William Nicholson, 

 S. J. Goddard, James Methven, W. N. 

 Craig, Donald McKenzie, J. Harrison 

 Dick, Victor May, D. F. Roy, W. C. 

 Rust and John L. Smith. 



At the business session, held in the 

 lecture room at Horticultural hall, Presi- 

 dent Kerr presided. There was a good 

 attendance of sweet pea enthusiasts. In 

 the absence of R. M. Saltonstall, presi- 

 dent of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, William P. Rich, secretary of 

 that society, cordially welcomed the 

 Sweet Pea Society to Boston. 



President Kerr made his annual ad- 

 dress and William Gray, the secretary, 

 made his annual report of the activities 



of the society. Wil- 

 liam Sim, the treas- 

 urer, reported that 

 the financial condi- 

 tion of the society 

 had improved during 

 the year, there now 

 being a balance of 

 $296 in the treas- 

 ury. On motion of 

 W. A. Sperling, the 

 reports were ap- 

 proved and accept- 

 ed. The report of 

 the executive com- 

 mittee recommend- 

 ing that the fiscal 

 year of the society 

 begin January 1 in- 

 stead of July 1 was 

 ■ adopted. 



The Test Garden. 

 Prof. A. C. Beal, 

 of Cornell Univer- 

 sity, in charge of 

 the sweet pea trial 

 grounds there, said 

 that the finances 

 liad been cut to one- 

 fourth tlie annual 

 amount for the lior- 

 ticultural d e p a r t- 

 ment and tost work 

 for 1916, and as a 

 result all work on 

 annuals had to be 

 dropped. Some sev- 

 enty winter-bloom- 

 ing varieties, in- 

 cluding a number of 

 Australian sorts, 

 were planted last 

 fall. Just about the 



