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The Florists' Review 



AcocST 21, 1918. 



Patrick Welch. 



( Vice-prc-sldeot-elect of thu Society of American Florists.) 



Before he closed he took occasion to at- 

 test to the worth of Mr. Wirth in a way 

 that brought hearty applause. 



W. P. Gude, of Washington, D. C, was 

 introduced to reply to the Mayor. He 

 told several stories to illustrate the civic 

 pride of the Minneapolis people and said 

 that when he first heard them he con- 

 sidered them jokes but that now he 

 thought they rather understated the at- 

 tractive features of the city. He closed 

 with an appreciation of the garden ex- 

 hibit. 



The Routine Business. 



The president, * when the felicitous 

 preliminaries were concluded, set a 

 precedent that is to be commended to 

 all future incumbents of the office. He 

 read the annual message slowly and dis- 

 tinctly, and it took him just six minutes ! 

 Some of his predecessors have talked 

 three-quarters of an hour when they 

 had the similar opportunity, but no 

 more to say. The document was referred 

 to a committee consisting of C. H. Tot- 

 ty, S. D. Dysinger, A. T. De La Mare, 

 George Asmus and Philip Breitmeyer to 

 report on the recommendations. 



The routine work then was quickly 

 disposed of. Secretary Young and 

 Treasurer Kasting read their annual re- 

 ports, which showed the society to be in 

 flourishing condition. The vice-presi- 

 dents' reports were presented and or- 

 dered printed. Mr. Qude said he had 

 several matters he would like to get 

 cleared up and presented reports as 

 Washington representative, as chairman 

 of the committee on a memorial to W. 



B. Smith, as chairman of the committee 

 on a national rose garden and as chair- 

 man of the committee on tariff. He was 

 given a rising vote of thanks for his 

 work. The Smith memorial and rose 

 garden committees were continued. 



Supplementing his report on the tariff, 

 Mr. Gude said that in the senate Au- 

 gust 16 Senator Poindexter, of Wash- 

 ington, had held up the paragraph of 

 the tariff bill that covers bulbs, his ob- 

 jection being to the clause regarding 

 hyacinth bulbs. Quite an animated dis- 

 cussion ensued. The president spoke 

 of the keen interest of Winf ried Eolker, 

 one of the members of the tariff com- 

 mittee, who was in Europe at the time 

 the bill was being written. W. F. Kast- 

 ing said the reason the trade has so 

 much difficulty in getting things put 

 through the way we want them is that 

 florists take so little interest in politics. 

 He recommended electing a member of 

 the trade to congress, an Illinois man, 

 perhaps, and suggested helping along 

 the secretary of the Illinois State Flo- 

 rists ' Association, J. F. Ammann, of Ed- 

 wardsville. He also commended Mr. 

 Gude for his ability to get to the right 

 people. E. G. Hill spoke on the excel- 

 lent financial condition of the society 

 and it was on his suggestion that every- 

 body stood up to thank Mr. Gude, the 

 motion having been made by Mr. Ebel, 

 seconded by Mr. Munson. 



Boston Next Year. 

 The nomination of next meeting place 

 being in order, the Boston delegation 

 marshaled their forces. They evidently 



expected a sharp fight and had prepared 

 their case to win over any possible op- 

 position. To begin with, the chair read 

 an invitation from the governor of 

 Massachusetts. Then the secretary was 

 handed one from the mayor of Boston, 

 which he read. This wxis followed by 

 a letter from the Chamber of Commerce. 

 Then Eber Holmes read a letter from 

 the Boston Gardeners' and Florists' 

 Club. Then James B. Shea, superin- 

 tendent of parks, spoke as the mayor's 

 personal representative. W. P. Kich, 

 secretary of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society, spoke for that organi- 

 zation. P. Welch followed with a plea 

 as representing the commercial inter- 

 ests. Naturally by that time half a 

 dozen men were trying to wedge in a 

 motion to make it unanimous. Finally, 

 between Messrs. Ebel, Kasting, Hill and 

 Bunyard the motion got to the house 

 and it was carried enthusiastically. The 

 battle was won, Boston next. 



Report on President's Address. 



The committee to which the presi- 

 dent's address had been referred made 

 the following report: 



The suggestions regarding using the 

 energies of the state vice-presidents to 

 better advantage being good, the com- 

 mittee thought this could best be done 

 through the organization of state flo- 

 rists' societies, or state federations 

 where a number of florists' clubs al- 

 ready exist or are formed within a 

 state. The committee recommended 

 that $25 be placed at the disposal of 

 each state vice-president to be used for 

 exploitation and organization work, the 

 secretary to keep an accurate record of 

 the results secured, to be available to 

 the president from year to year. 



It was recommended, inasmuch as the 

 conservative element always has pre- 

 dominated in the board of directors and 

 its acts are only as the result of careful 

 thought and for the general good, that 

 the members should give full considera- 

 tion to the recoannendations of the di- 

 rectors. 



The committee found that the out- 

 door exhibition was one of the most at- 

 tractive features that ever had been 

 seen at an S, A. F. convention and rec- 

 ommended that it be continued when- 

 ever possible. 



Inasmuch as so large a proportion of 

 the society's work relates in some man- 

 ner to affairs at the national capital, 

 the committee recommended that the 

 Washington representative of the so- 

 ciety be invited to participate in the 

 meetings of the board of directors and 

 that he be made the same mileage allow- 

 ance as is made to directors. 



The recommendations were concurred 

 in by unanimous vote. 



Nomination of Officers. 



The by-laws of the society require 

 that the place of meeting be determined 

 on the first day, the officers nominated 

 on the second day and the election by 

 ballot to occur on the third day. The 

 second stage of the proceedings devel- 

 oped into a veritable love feast and ob- 

 viated the long and arduous task of 

 polling the membership, for everything 

 was unanimous. The slate nominated 

 was as follows: 



For president — Theodore Wirth, of 

 Minneapolis, nominated by W. F. Kast- 

 ing, seconded by Harry A. Bunyard and 

 M. C. Ebel. 



For vice-president — Patrick Welch, 

 of Boston, nominated by George Asmus, 



