5^0 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



••7.?)»- ^:r"-r''}i!P;{V^!'y 



August 18, 1904. 



9 



branch and phase of the business, from 

 the planting of the seed and rooting of 

 the cutting to the final disposition of the 

 product, has been, by the existence of 

 this society and prompted by it, actu- 

 ally scattered broadcast to all who would 

 but seek it. 



We have inaugurated trade exhibitions 

 annually and caused the same to be open 

 free to the admiring public; we have 

 stimulated a spirit of emulation between 

 growers, which has resulted in bringing 

 out a merit and general excellence of 

 their product that was previously con- 

 sidered impossible; we have brought to- 

 gether and prompted the friendship of 

 the grower and buyer of the east and the 

 west, the north and the south; we have, 

 by our annual meetings, brought to- 

 gether the employer and the employe and 

 their free exchange of views unimpeded 

 by fear or by jealousy; we have re- 

 moved the barriers so that the young 

 can learn from the old and the old can 

 learn from the young; we have elevated 

 the general aspect of the florists' oc- 

 cupation from former drudgery to that 

 of a profession in which all may be 

 proud to engage; we have neglected 

 nothing that would aid the employer 

 and the employe and advance their ma- 

 terial interests; we have been a shining 

 example of the great possibilities of a 

 working organization, which has resulted 

 in the multiplicity of similar societies 

 working upon lines which are daily im- 

 proving our general condition and in- 

 creasing our prosperity. 



These great advantages have been 

 shared in by the employe as well as by 

 the tradesman, and will continue to im- 

 prove the former to the end that in this 

 great country, where genius, enterprise 

 and industry make it possible and quite 

 probable for the servant of yesterday to 

 be the employer of today. 



Following out this line of thought, I 

 would say that if this society should 

 disband tomorrow, it has accomplished 

 sufficient already to justify its existence 

 and would deserve the everlasting praise 

 of succeeding generations of florists. 



Being still more specific, I am speak- 

 ing within the strict confines of truth 

 when I say that there is not a florist in 

 the land today, whether he is or not a 

 member of this organization, who has 

 not already been benefited from the lat- 

 est triumph of the society's efforts in 

 causing a reduction of express rates on 

 flowers, after the individual efforts of 

 the largest shippers failed to accomplish 

 it; the beneficiaries of the hail insur- 

 ance adjustment of losses of thousands 

 of feet of glass have good reasons to 

 join the great chorus of satisfied mem- 

 bers. 



To further enumerate the many ac- 

 knowledged achievements of the society 

 would lengthen this address and delay 

 the proceedings too long, and I will con- 

 clude this part of my address by saying 

 that the society will continue its life of 

 usefulness and will always be prepared 

 to meet and remove from its path any 

 obstruction calculated to impede its prog- 

 ress and beneficial influences. 



The Future, 



I certainly would like to see much 

 more activity of our present members 

 toward obtaining new recruits. I am 

 sure that even a little effort by each 

 one would result in materially increas- 

 ing our membership. The life member- 

 ship has been particularly slow in 



J. C. Vaughan, President-Elect Society of American Florists. 



growth, and I earnestly commend this 

 manner of support to all who are at all 

 able. This year I have myself made 

 considerable effort to enlist many into 

 life membership and I am pleased to 

 say that the cheerful responses have 

 been considerable, which leads me to be- 

 lieve that much can be accomplished for 

 the benefit of the society in this way, if 

 the efforts are made. 



An examination of the official reports 

 of our convention proceedings will dis- 

 close the deplorable fact that the pa- 

 pers read at our meetinj^s of recent years 

 are being less and less discussed by the 

 members present. The close observer will 

 notice that this is not because of the 

 lack of the intrinsic merit of the pa- 

 pers themselves, or the timely importance 

 of the subjects treated by them, and we 

 are therefore unwillingly forced to the 

 natural conclusion that the cause lies 

 in the evident apathy and apparent in- 

 difference of the members, for whose 

 benefit all the work of the society is di- 

 rected. I therefore ask your earnest 

 consideration of this matter and most 

 fervently hope for a revival of that 

 spirited interest in our meetings which 

 characterized the proceedings of the first 

 ten years of the society 's existence. 



The Trade Papers. 



The trade papers have rendered us 

 much valuable assistance and we .should 

 feel grateful to them. They give wide 

 publicity to our proceedings and acquaint 

 the trade with the value of our work, 

 but I sometimes question the propriety 



of allowing free publication of society 

 matters, which belong properly to mem- 

 bers only. It is sometimes claimed, and 

 I believe truly so, that because of such 

 publications in the trade papers, it ap- 

 pears to many that there is no neces- 

 sity for belonging to the society in order 

 to obtain copies of the proceedings in 

 detail. It may be weU for the society 

 to give due consideration to this matter 

 at this meeting and take whatever action 

 on it may be found necessary, after a 

 free discussion of it. 



Trade G>nditions. 



From what information I have gath- 

 ered, I am satisfied that the past sea- 

 .son has not compared favorably with 

 the former in as far as profits are con- 

 cerned. The growers can partly account 

 for this condition. The extra cost of 

 fuel, with additional consumption, ex- 

 plains much of the situation. To make 

 matters worse, the receipts both in 

 money and productiveness fell behind 

 the greater part of the season. Let us 

 admit that this was the growers' ex- 

 perience. 



The retailer who is not dependent on 

 the same conditions as the grower, and 

 who is by no means at the mercies of the 

 weather or results of a coal strike, ad- 

 mits that his business was up to all 

 expectations — in some cases exceeded 

 that of former years. Taking it for 

 granted that this is true, it is chiefly 

 the growers who need the comfort of 

 advice. 



As your president, I take the liberty 



