JONH 1, 1922 



The Florists^ Review 



21 



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IRIS SOCIETY MEETS 



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AMERICAN IRIS SOCIETY. 



Holds Meeting and Exhibition. 



The third annual meeting of the 

 American Iris Society, in connection 

 with an interesting exhibition, was 

 held at the New York Botanical Gar- 

 den, Bronx park, New York, Saturday, 

 May 27. 



A luncheon, at which were forty or 

 more members, was served in the Man- 

 sion, and, at the conclusion of the re- 

 past, the business session commenced. 



Message from President Wister. 



Secretary E. S. Sturtevant, of Welles- 

 ley Farms, Mass., read a message from 

 President John C. Wister, who is in 

 France, in which Mr. Wister said that 

 he hoped the work of the past year 

 would be thoroughly discussed, and that 

 members would make suggestions as to 

 the work of the coming year. There 

 had been considerable satisfaction ex- 

 pressed at the work of the society, he 

 wrote, as he had noted when visiting 

 recently various sections of the coun- 

 try as far west as Colorado, which gave 

 much pleasure, as there could be no 

 feeling that the society was run by a 

 small group. He felt that the mem- 

 bers should be proud of the society's 

 publication, and expressed the hope 

 that in time more and larger bulletins 

 could be published. It was merely a 

 matter of finances, he stated. With the 

 growth of the organization the clerical 

 work increased, and it became impera- 

 tive that the secretary be paid a proper 

 salary for his work. An appeal for 

 contributions sent out last winter had 

 resulted in a fund amounting to $358, 

 from about fifty persons, from which a 

 new bulletin would be published, to 

 consist largely of official descriptions 

 of varieties. He referred to the sym- 

 posium recently published, which dealt 

 with varieties, and gave it as his belief 

 that another and more general sym- 

 posium should be produced five or ten 

 years hence. He believed the test gar- 

 den established at the New York Bo- 

 tanical Garden would prove of great 

 value during this and succeeding years. 

 He hoped that discussion would be had 

 looking to the best means for discour- 

 aging iris breeders from naming and in- 

 troducing varieties which have not been 

 passed upon by the society and pro- 

 nounced worthy. He said an endeavor 

 would be made at the international con- 

 ference on irises, to be held in Paris 

 early in the month, to secure interna- 

 tional artion in regard to nomenclature, 

 registration, classification and descrip- 

 tion. 



Secretary's Report. 



The report presented by Secretary 

 R. S. Sturtevant was as follows: 



"With the opportunities offered by 

 our monthly page in the Flower Grower, 

 a detailed report of work for the year 

 seems unnecessary and I have occasion 

 elsewhere to report on special subjects. 

 _ The international conference on 

 irises, at Paris, has largely influenced 

 our work for the year, and today, as we 

 meet here, our president, John C. Wis- 

 ter, is in discussion with other iris 



authorities in Paris at the opening of 

 the conference. We have been accom- 

 plishing a pioneer work in standardiz- 

 ing and distributing information con- 

 cerning irises; we have established no- 

 menclature and methods of registration, 

 judging and description; it remains to 

 be seen to what extent our work will 

 gain international acceptance. With 

 Mr. Wister and Lee E. Bonnewitz to 

 represent our interests, we can hope for 

 success, and already from Mr. Wister 's 

 letters I can promise you notes of in- 

 terest for our next bulletin. He has 

 found the pumila hybrids and inter- 

 mediates in fine condition, but far, far 

 too many in number and not sufficiently 

 distinct one from another. I am look- 

 ing forward to his later reports, as I 

 understand that Lent A. Williamson's 

 and some of Miss Sturtevant 's seed- 

 lings, as well as B. F. Farr's, are to be 

 exhibited at London in competition 



EVERY now and then a 

 well pleased reader speaks 

 the word which is the means 

 of bringing a new advertiser to 



P 





Such friendly assistance is thoroughly 

 appreciated. 



Give us the name of anyone from 

 whom you are buying, not an adver- 

 tiser. We especially wish to interest 

 those selling articles of florists' use 

 not at present advertised. 



FLORISTS* PUBLISHING CO. 

 500-60 Caxton BIdg. Chicago 



with European introductions for the 

 first time. 



"The number of our members is 

 promising; fifty per cent had renewed 

 their subscriptions before January 15 

 and over eighty per cent are now with 

 us, together with at least 100 new 

 friends, and I expect that we shall 

 easily increase our membership beyond 

 our record of 650 for 1921. It is, how- 

 ever, the real interest of our members, 

 expressed by voluntary contributions of 

 close to $1,200 in the Inst twelve 

 months, that is most impressive. 

 Through this generosity we have pub- 

 lished the cheek list, have arranged to 

 add greatly to the number of varieties 

 represented in the test garden at Bronx 

 park, and can plan to publish a bulle- 

 tin this coming summer. 



Year's Work. 



"Since our meeting last year as 

 guests of the Columbus Iris Society, 

 we have published, in addition to the 

 monthly notes in the Flower Grower, 

 a bulletin on Sir Michael Foster and 

 his work, a check list of varieties, a 



1921 membership list, and, lastly, the 

 symposium, probably our most valuable 

 contribution to the literature of the 

 iris. I cannot too greatly emphasize 

 the splendid work of Mr. Connell in 

 compiling the votes of the symposium 

 jury; I wish that he were with us to 

 receive personal thanks from each of 

 you. Of minor importance as publica- 

 tions are the new edition of the data 

 cards for descriptions and a pamphlet 

 on exhibition policy and management, 

 accompanied by a full outfit of exhibi- 

 tion supplies that are obtainable at a 

 nominal cost. 



' ' Last year we assisted in some seven 

 or eight exhibitions. This year I have 

 already had reports of success in Nash- 

 ville, Louisville, Kansas City, Eich- 

 mond and Cincinnati, and await word 

 from Canada and the northern states. 

 Our policy has proved successful and 

 I should not be surprised to find that we 

 were cooperating in twenty-five exhibits 

 in a not far distant year. These form 

 our chief means of publicity and de- 

 velop great enthusiasm. At the last 

 meeting Chicago bid for our 1923 an- 

 nual meeting, and just before I left 

 home I received the heartiest of invi- 

 tations for us to meet in Cincinnati, 

 with the added inducement of seeing a 

 batch of seedlings far finer than the 

 famed Dominion. Mrs. Samuel Taft is 

 an ardent iris lady and could give us a 

 royal welcome. Personally, I am glad 

 that I do not have to decide between 

 these rival claims. 



"In closing, I wish to urge everyone 

 of you to send me notes for publica- 

 tion. They have been few this last year 

 and I fear that I have been delinquent, 

 perhaps, in my acknowledgments of 

 your letters, but the pressure of the rou- 

 tine work has become heavy and your 

 letters are the only things that make 

 the job worth while." 



The fee for life membership was, 

 by vote, increased from $25 to $50. 



Proposals and Discussion. 



There was some discussion as to the 

 advisability of continuing the selection 

 of the Flower Grower, published at Cal- 

 cium, N. Y., as the official organ of the 

 society, on the present payment basis. 



Miss Grace Sturtevant made a plea 

 for the better establishment of iris 

 nomenclature. 



Resolutions of thanks were passed to 

 the Horticultural Society of New York, 

 to the New York Botanical Garden, to 

 Dr. N. L. Rritton and to Mrs. George F. 

 Nash for their hearty assistance in con- 

 nection with the meeting and exhibi- 

 tion. 



After adjournment all journeyed to 

 the test garden, which is located oppo- 

 site the Fordham hospital and near the 

 old 1917 convention garden of the S. A. 

 F. This garden was not established to 

 try out now varieties, as many suppose 

 but to gather together a collection ol 

 general varieties for nomenclature pur- 

 poses, and the result already is won- 

 derful. There are more than a thou- 

 sand varieties planted, covering mainly 

 the gormanica and pallida sections, with 

 a few of llio pumila and sibirica va- 

 rieties. Fully .100 varieties were in 



