584 



The Weekly Florists^ RevieW* 



AnausT 18, 1904. 



The records of the secretary's office show 

 that this has been the society's experi- 

 ence also. 



The annual printed volume of the so- 

 ciety 's proceedings for the year 1903, a 

 publication of 228 pages, was issued to 

 members in due time and will suffice as 

 a report of our last meeting and its re- 

 sults, and of the enjoyable hours we spent 

 as guests of our indulgent and generous 

 friends of Milwaukee and Chicago, who 

 proved themselves to be masters of the 

 science of hospitality applied with me- 

 thodical lavishness unequaled in our ex- 

 perience. The records show that twenty- 

 four "certificates of merit," twenty- 

 eight "honorable mentions" and nine 

 * * highly commended ' ' diplomas were 

 issued by the judges in the Milwaukee 

 exhibition; and that the gross receipts for 

 space rented to exhibitors were $2,248.62. 

 It is also recorded that one hundred and 

 fifty-nine plant introductions had been 

 reported to the secretary's- office during 

 the year. This.number included twenty- 

 two carnations, four roses, eighty-two 

 chrysanthemums, six zonal geraniums, 

 three dahlias and forty-two miscellaneous 

 plants. 



The total number of members as shown 

 in the printed list for 1903 was nine 

 hundred and three, a net gain of twenty- 

 five over the previous year. Of this num- 

 ber seventy-five were life members. In 

 the interim since the issuance of that re- 

 port the number of life members has in- 

 creased about fifty per cent, and our per- 

 manent fund has thus received a gratify- 

 ing accretion. The number of new and 

 reinstated members for 1903 was two 

 hundred and eleven. They are creditea 

 to their states as follows: California, 

 Florida, New Hampshire, Ehode Island, 

 Canada, Oklahoma and Delaware, one 

 each; District of Columbia and Kansas, 

 two each; Connecticut, Kentucky and 

 Louisiana, three each; Colorado, four; 

 New Jersey, five; Minnesota, seven; In- 

 diana, eight; Missouri, nine; Ohio, ten; 

 Iowa, eleven; Pennsylvania, sixteen; 

 Michigan, eighteen; New York, twenty- 



two; Wisconsin, twenty-seven; Illinois, 

 fifty-four. 



The number of members of 1902 who 

 have failed thus far to respond to due 

 bills for 1903 and the present year is one 

 hundred and fifty-eight, but this number 

 will be reduced somewhat, as usual, by 

 settlements at this meeting. 



Deaths have been recorded since our 

 meeting in Milwaukee as follows: 



Mary S. Mann, January 11, 1904. 



Josiah Hoopes, January 16, 1904. 



Philip Gauges, February 1, 1904. 



Walter Kreitling, February 29, 1904. 



John Young, April 29, 1904. 



L. H. Foster, May 31, 1904. 



A. Schmitt, June 1, 1904. 



Mr. Foster was state vice-president for 

 eastern Massachusetts at the time of his 

 death. 



From the foregoing it will appear that, 

 although our organization is numerically 

 and financially strong, we have no in- 

 crease in membership such as we have a 

 right to expect. A little missionary spirit 

 exercised by our members individually 

 would accomplish more in this direction 

 than all the circulars and press appeals 

 we can make. If all the state vice-presi- 

 dents should make the same determined 

 effort which has been made by one or two 

 whom I can name, we should have no diffi- 

 culty in passing the one thousand mark 

 and holding the lead. 



The spring meeting of the executive 

 board was held in this city on March 5, 6 

 and 7, 1904. Our present meeting place, 

 program and other arrangements for the 

 conduct of the business and pleasure of 

 this convention are the result of their de- 

 liberations. A number of communications 

 were received and acted upon. Among 

 them was one from the secretary of the 

 Postal Progress League, and a special 

 committee with the secretary as a mem- 

 ber was appointed, with instructions to 

 co-operate with the legislative committee 

 in the effort to secure the reforms in post- 

 al matters advocated by the League. It 

 was voted to continue the issuing of silver 

 and bronze medals through various horti- 



cultural societies as in other years. The 

 subject of the methods of judging and 

 making awards in the trade exhibitions 

 was given long and careful consideration, 

 and in view of the inconvenience and un- 

 satisfactory results generally of the sys- 

 tem hitherto prevailing, it was decided to 

 make the change which goes into effect at 

 this meeting, whereby the work of the 

 judges is limited to regularly-entered nov- 

 elties, and the duty of preparing a de- 

 tailed list of the exhibits devolves on 

 the superintendent. The secretary was 

 instructed to have all existing records of 

 past meetings of the board copied and 

 bound in such manner as to preserve 

 them in good condition. The subject that 

 occupied the greatest share of the time 

 of the executive board was that of the 

 proposed amendment to the constitution, 

 providing for the enrollment of sections, 

 which had been referred to the board by 

 the last convention. The draft of the 

 proposed amendment as finally adopted by 

 a \inanimous vote of the board has been 

 placed before the members or the so- 

 ciety in accordance with the constitu- 

 tional requirement, and awaits the action 

 of this convention. Your secretary ven- 

 tures to express the hope that this plan, 

 the outcome of many years' study of con- 

 ditions on the part of those whose duty or 

 privilege it has been to think and to 

 labor for the society 's welfare and the ad- 

 vancement of horticulture in this country, 

 will be adopted by the vote of the so- 

 ciety when presented on Thursday, thus 

 settling finally, and wisely, I believe, this 

 annually recurring problem. 



New plants registered since last report 

 were as follows: 



October 17, 1903— Eose Sir Thomas 

 Lipton. This rose had previously been 

 submitted for registration under the name 

 of Leo XIII., which title was withdrawn 

 when it was learned that a rose of that 

 name was already in existence. 



November 10, 1903 — Chrysanthemums 

 Miss Birnie-Philip, Cziffer, Mrs. Swope 

 and Peter Stuyvesant, by C. D. Beadle. 



December 8, 1903 — Cannas St. Loui!» 



Display of H, A. Dreer, Philadelphia^ Pa, 



