20 



The Florists^ Review 



August 23, 1917. 



Bronx park is itself an attraction to 

 trade visitors, and plantings there must 

 be splendid advertising to reach the pub- 

 lic, but for an impression on those who 

 attend the convention it has not since 

 been possible to duplicate the location 

 and success which attended Theodore 

 Wirth's work at Minneapolis, Next 

 year, at St. Louis, with the convention 

 in April, there can be no garden, except 

 the indoor ones at the National Flower 

 Show, so two years will be given for the 

 development of the next outdoor garden, 

 which probably will determine the 

 future of that undertaking. 



The Talk of the Trade. 



The talk in the Palace and wher- 

 ever florists gather is, first of all, of the 

 success of the convention — it seems to 

 have exceeded expectations. It has be- 

 come common knowledge that there was 

 discussion as to the advisability of 

 canceling the convention itself for this 

 year, as well as cutting out the enter- 

 tainment program, and that the deciding 

 factor probably was the lease of the 

 Palace. With this fact in mind, the 

 consensus is that the convention is bet- 

 ter than was hoped, in attendance, in 

 trades' display and in every other fea- 

 ture, for certainly no one who foresaw 

 this week's accomplishments would 

 have suggested abandoning the meet- 

 ing. It might have been considerably 

 larger had the United St|k|je^ stayed out 

 of the war, but the cbnventiQO. im- 

 presses everyone as bcitter than some 

 others that have been called thoroughly 

 successful. 



It seems to be taken for granted that 

 business since Easter has not been up to 

 previous expectations; there are excep- 

 tions, of course, but in most cases the 

 edge has been off. Apparently this 

 country's entering the war has dis- 

 turbed the florists' business in the east 

 much more than in the west; in the 

 cities much more than in the towns and 

 country; in the stores patronized by 

 those who spend incomes much more 

 than in tliose that cater to the people 

 who spend wages. The country florist 

 already has the benefit of high prices 

 for produce, but the city florist has not 

 yet felt the stimulus of the govern- 

 ment 's expenditure of fabulous sums. 



The attitude indicated by the major- 

 ity is one of waiting, waiting for some- 

 thing to start the business ball rolling 

 for the trade. There is no doubt that 

 retail business will be good, perhaps ex- 

 cellent. The growers, selling at whole- 

 sale, are less sanguine; they fear the 

 shortage of labor and the rising cost of 

 conducting the business. Nearly all 

 now arc convinced that it is necessary 

 to buy coal when and wlure it can be 

 had, witliout waiting longer in the hope 

 of lower ])rifcs. 



The Convention Program. 



Tiie set })r()gram for the convention 

 is much shorter than usual. That of 

 the S. A. V. itself covers only three 

 days instead of four, but the American 

 Gladiolus Society has claimed the 

 fourtli liay, usually given to the outing. 

 There arc no evening sessions, only the 

 president's reception, so that plenty of 

 time is given for the trades' display, 

 for the points of trade interest and for 

 absorbing enthusiasm from rubbing el- 

 bows with the people of the most won- 

 derful city in America. 



The program by days shapes up in 

 this way: 



MONDAY, AUGUST 20. 



10:00 a. m. Annual meeting Florists' Hail As- 

 sociation, at Newarl£, N. J. 

 SfOft p. m. Public meeting of committee ou 

 Credits and Collections Bureau. 



TUESDAY, AUGUST 21. 



9:30 a. m. Meeting V. T. D. 



2:00 p. m. S. A. F. opening session. 



8:00 p. m. President's reception. 



WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22. 



9:00 a. m. Meeting directors American Carna- 

 tion Society. 

 10:00 a. m. Annual meeting Ladles' S. A. F. 

 10:30 a. m. Session S. A. F. 

 2:00 p. m. Session S. A. F. 

 4:30 p. m. Meeting American Carnation So- 

 cietj. 

 THURSDAY, AUGUST 23. 



10:00 a. m. Session S. A. F. and election of of- 

 ficers. 

 11:00 a. m. Meeting American Rose Society. 

 2:00 p. m. Final session S. A. F. 



FRIDAY, AUGUST 24. 



2:00 p. m. Annual meeting American Gladio- 

 lui Society, Museum building, 

 ^ bIIIdx parl£. 



The program was barren of essays, 

 set speeches and the things that fail 

 to hold the crowd; it was planned with 

 the idea of getting full, free and un- 

 hurried discussion of the problems 

 which confront the society and the 

 trade. In that it succeeded. 



Business Is Begun. 



It was a hot day when the convention 

 assembled, and a pneumatic riveting 

 machine on a new building adjoining 

 the Grand Central Palace was indefat- 

 igable, so that the 150 to 200 members 

 and ladies who were present when the 

 meeting was called to order by Presi- 

 dent Stumpp of the New York Florists' 

 Club found the routine proceedings s(|s- 

 sion less attractive than otherwise 

 would have been the case. It is a pity 

 that so much dry routine must be dis- 

 patched at the opening session, for the 

 attendance then always is larger than 

 at any subsequent time. 



There were ten ex-presidents ou the 

 platform at the opening session. 



President Stumpp spoke a few words 

 of greeting and introduced A. L. Miller, 

 vice-president of the S. A. F., to present 

 the welcome of the local organization. 

 He was followed by a representative of 

 the municipal administration, who pre- 

 sented the keys to the city in time-hon- 

 ored style. But the speaker made a 

 place for himself in the regard of the 

 society when he declared that flowers 

 are not a luxury, but a necessity, meet- 

 ing a need of the people on the finer 

 side of life. He added that during the 

 last few years the city government has 

 spent a million dollars in fostering 

 among the masses an appreciation of 

 flowers. 



Robert Craig, of Philadelphia, re- 

 sponded, saying, among other things, 

 that the trade has been too modest and 

 lias not claimed its proper ])lace in the 

 business world; that we now are in a 

 ])osition to assert our standing as one 

 of the large and necessary interests of 

 the country. He predicted continued 

 jirogress. 



President Kerr, on taking the chair, 

 read his annual address, which appears 

 in full in this issue of The Review. It 

 was referred to the special committee. 



Because of the heat and noise, the 

 reading of the minutes of the directors' 

 March meeting, the reports of state 

 vice-presidents and the secretary's 

 financial statement were omitted, the 

 documents })eing ordered printed. The 

 secretary 's reporl and the treasurer's 

 report were read and accepte<l. 



W. V. Gudc, of Washington, pre- 

 sented the rej)orts of the Washington 



representative, the committee on tariff 

 and legislation and the committee on 

 the Smith memorial, which appear else- 

 where in this issue. 



Appropriation for Nomenclature. 



Prof. E. A. White, of Ithaca, pre- 

 sented the report of the committee on 

 nomenclature, telling of the work that 

 has been done to standardize plant 

 names by other horticultural bodies 

 working under the name of American 

 Joint Committee on Horticultural No- 

 menclature. He asked that an appro- 

 priation of $300 be made for the use 

 of this joint committee and that the 

 S. A, F. thus indorse its action. The 

 motion was carried without discussion. 



Benjamin Hammond presented the 

 report of the school garden committee. 



Charles W. Ward sent word from Cal- 

 ifornia that he would have a report for 

 the committee on the development of 

 American products and asked the privi- 

 lege of having it printed ^h the pro- 

 ceedings if not received in time to be 

 read at the convention. 



President's Appointments. 



President Kerr appointed the follow- 

 ing committees: 



FINAL RESOLUTIONS. 



Patrick Welch, Boston. 

 George Asmus, Chicago. 

 0. E. Critchell, Cincinnati. 

 H. P. Knoble, Cleveland. 

 Joseph Heacock, Wyncote, Pa. 



RESOLUTIONS OF RESPECT TO MEMBERS 

 WHO HAVE DIED SINCE LAST YEAR. 



J. G. Esler, Saddle River, N. .T. 



M. Barker, Chicago. 



J. A. Peterson, Cincinnati. 



Detroit in 1919. 



It was already determined that next 

 year's convention is to be held at St. 

 Louis, in April, during the National 

 Flower Show, but the 1919 meeting 

 place had to be selected, the by-laws 

 now requiring that the selection be 

 made two years in advance. As no 

 invitations were received, George As- 

 mus moved that the society invite itself 

 to Detroit two years hence and enter- 

 tain itself there. It was carried unani- 

 mously. 



As the meeting was about to adjourn, 

 .7. F. Ammann, of Edwardsville, 111., 

 pointed to the flags above the platform 

 and suggested that the .society sing 

 "America," after which W. F. Gude 

 moved that the organization go on rec- 

 ord in a telegram as follows: 



To His Excellency Woodrow Wilson, 



President of the United States, 

 Washington, D. C. : 



The Society of American Florists. In thirty- 

 third annual convention assembled at New York, 

 transmits to you Its resolution by unanimous 

 vote expressing its confidence in you as the na- 

 tion's head in tliis hour of deciding conflict for 

 freedom, democracy and rule of the people, by 

 tlie people, for the people, pledging you the loyal 

 support of its entire membership to this end. 



The telegram was signed for the so- 

 ciety by R. C. Kerr, president, and John 

 Young, secretary. 



Society Safe for Democracy. 



Once more the attempt ' ' to take the 

 secretary's oflice out of trade politics" 

 has failed. It no doubt is true that the 

 present form of society government, 

 with most of the responsibility put upon 

 the board of directors, in theory calls 

 for making the secretary an appointed 

 officer, named by and responsible to the 

 board, but the idea does not appeal to 

 a majority of the members. Several 

 times amendments to the constitution to 

 effect this change have been brought 



