S82 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



ArorsT 18, iy04. 



observed the almost entire absence of 

 beds of flowering plants. This I much 

 deplore and fear that the extreme has 

 been reached in following the ideas of 

 the late Mr. MkcMillan, of Buffalo, who 

 some time ago advocated a less profuse 

 display of this form of embellishment 

 of public grounds and a more general 

 use of herbaceous and other ornamental 

 stock. I hope that flowering plants, al- 

 though annually replanted, will find 

 favor with park commissioners every- 

 where. 



Bureau of Statistical Information. 



I would suggest that this meeting take 

 decided action toward the establish- 

 ment and maintenance of a complete sys- 

 tem of collecting reliable data of all 

 kinds relating to our business and its 

 several branches. I believe this work 

 should be thoroughly and reliably done 

 by permanent committees appointed for 

 the purpose and that a compilation of 

 such information should be effectetl and 

 preserved through the office of the sec- 

 retary of this society. Some attempts 

 have been made in the past to gather 

 statistics of glass areas, etc., through- 

 out the country, but they even have met 

 with indifferent and uncertain results. 

 It certainly would be of great benefit 

 to all interested in the growth and gen- 

 eral advancement of our industry to be 

 able to reach, without difficulty, infor- 

 mation properly tabulated covering the 

 many phases of its development, espe- 

 cially so when such information is ab- 

 solutely authentic, as it necessarily 

 would be when coming through the relia- 

 ble channels of the membership of this 

 society. Eleven years ago this matter 

 was referred to by ex-President Wm. R. 

 Smith, and I hope this year will see the 

 realization of this feature of the soci- 

 ety's development. 



Closer Relations. 



Three years ago it was thought desir- 

 able by many of our members to bring 

 about closer relations of certain other 

 societies with this, the parent society, 

 so that the co-operations of all may be 

 effected to the mutual benefit of all the 

 organizations referred to. You are all 

 ^ware of the failure of our two at- 

 tempts to adopt an amendment calcu- 

 lated to bring about the desired result. 

 Your executive committee again con- 

 sidered the matter at its meeting in St. 

 Louis last spring, according to the in- 

 structions of the IVTilwaukee convention, 

 and decided to again, bring the matter 

 up at this meeting for final disposition. 

 I hope that the amendment will be 

 adopted as it reads, and if the organ- 

 ization whose co-operation is solicited 

 by it fails to accept the same it will be 

 no fault of the Society of American 

 Florists and Ornamental Horticulturists. 

 I believe it would be far better for the 

 society to go upon record as having of- 

 fered this inducement to the kindred so- 

 cieties, as in a large measure carrying 

 out* the good purposes of the develop- 

 ment of our industry as contemplated by 

 the society at its original inception. 



Arbitration G>mmittee. 



There seems to be a general desire 

 for the restoration of the arbitration 

 committee. From many parts of the 

 country we hear of grievances affecting 

 our members and a manifestation of 

 willingness to allow the adjustment of 

 these real or fancied wrongs to be af- 

 fected through a committee. Thus it 



J. R. Freenun, Vice-President-Elect Society of American Florists. 



will be possible to maintain the pacific 

 relations between buyer and seller that 

 are so much desired and actually needed 

 for the commercial interests of our mem- 

 bers. If the committee appointed a 

 year ago for the purpose of establishing 

 standard sizes of plants and bulbs brings 

 in a report at this meeting indicating 

 the practical feasibility of the plan, 

 and if such standards are adopted and 

 put into operation as generally and com- 

 pletely as were the standard pots, then 

 the work of the arbitration committee 

 could be more clearly defined, and its 

 usefulness far greater than under the 

 present circumstances, where no definite 

 established standard exists. After hear- 

 ing a report of that committee, of which 

 Mr. Bichholz is chairman, we can at this 

 meeting, if having the approval of the 

 convention, establish at once the arbi- 

 tration committee, as I can see no good 

 reason for deferring it for another year. 



Proposed Permanent Home. 



I have given much thought to this im- 

 portant matter and must say that as 

 much a's I would welcome the realization 

 of this idea, T do not feel very sanguine 

 of the success of the project in the near 

 future. When it is considered that to- 

 day, after the society 's Existence of 

 twenty years, our treasury has only 

 about $5,000 on hand, it is difficult for 

 the most enthusiastic to see in the near 

 future the feasibility of a scheme in- 

 volving such a monetary outlay as wo\dd 

 Ik? necessarily required for the purpose. 



Even the maintenance of such an insti- 

 tution, should it come into our posses- 

 sion free of debt, would give much anx- 

 iety to the oflScers of the society. How- 

 ever, the idea is a magnificent one and 

 I do not wish to in any way discourage 

 it, but on the contrary recommend keep- 

 ing it alive and frequently dwelled upon 

 so that the importance and desirability 

 of it will grow in our hearts at present 

 and in the future, so that the fond 

 hopes of many of us may yet be realized, 

 even if its accomplishment must be 

 postponed to a time far distant from 

 the present. 



The consideration of a permanent 

 home for the society leads me to the 

 thought that much of what we would 

 naturally expect of a beneficial charac- 

 ter from such an institution, if it were 

 an accomplished fact, is really easily ob- 

 tainable through the existing experimen- 

 tal stations already established in many 

 of our states. I find that these institu- 

 tions, which are a result of a part of 

 our taxation, are admirably and com- 

 pletely equipped with both the knowl- 

 edge and practical facilities for eflfi- 

 ciently testing seeds, plants and cul- 

 tural methods, the results of which can 

 be easily obtained by the mere request 

 of those interested. Furthermore, those 

 persons having such institutions in 

 charge seem even eager to give out, for 

 the benefit of all, the results of their 

 experiments and practices. T therefore 

 urge Our members to appreciate the value 



