AuGusr 25, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review 



651 



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CONVENTION IMPRESSIONS. 



The Review has already j^ivon so coin- 

 l^lete an account of the St. Lnnis conven- 

 tion tliat little can be achied. Yet a 

 few impressions, 1 trust, will not be un- 

 welcome. Wliat little we have to say 

 about it will be suit't^^^ by sincerity and 

 no bouquet throwing or "taffy" will be 

 indulged in. Compliments and pleasant 

 words are easy to express, and a mninal 

 ])leasure to all, but misleading to the ab- 

 sent ones. 



The hall where the ceremonies took 

 place was one of the best the society has 

 ever met in; a spacious stage, linely (h'C- 

 orated and a seating capacity for an 

 audience that would have held four 

 times the number of florists that entered 

 its doors. We did not admire that prim- 

 itive j)ul|nt-like erection that allowed 

 only a view of I'resident Breitim'vcr 's 

 head and neck and obscured his portly 

 figure. 



The short address of welcome from 

 Mr. Walbridge was elo(iuent. The faet 

 that ^Ir. Walbridge is president of tiie 

 Business Men's Ijeaguo of 8t. L(niis, and 

 likely some day to be Missouri's gov- 

 ernor, has tauglit him the value of time 

 and that " lirevity is the soul of wit." 

 The rejily by the society's orator, h'ob- 

 ert Craig, was eloquent in voice, sentiment 

 .and facts, and all honor to l\oliert for 

 coming out flat footed in his regiet iliat 

 nrn.ami'ntal horticulture was so mcagi riy 

 represented at the World's fair. And 

 \\hile on that subject, could not one mil- 

 lion of the nn)ney spent have been taken 

 frnm those stupendous buildings and <U'- 

 \iited to trees and shrubs tn relieve tlif 

 monotonv of those many miles of pl.-ister 

 walls? 



The president's address was, we think, 

 the imist complete and piactical of any 

 in the histoi'y of (nir society, and it is 

 evident that no jtresident has ever taken 

 a greater interest or held a tmoe earnist 

 desire to see the society ad\ance in tlie 



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right direction than Philip Brcitmeyer. 

 i'iiil, who is not a noisy man. made ;i 

 streiuious effort to raise his voice s(j that 

 all coidd hear him, and succeeded, whicii 

 is more than can be said of seseral ex- 

 pr»'sidents. 



We think, on the wliole, the essays, 

 discussions ami debates on se\eral ques- 

 tions were above the average of the past. 

 How dilHcult it is now to rake up a 

 sul)ject that is strictly floriculture, ^\■hen 

 the society was young, there was an 

 abuudam-e of practical subjects which 

 we were all glad to hear discoursed upon. 

 They have been about all viMitiiated an<l 

 thrasiied out, yet that paper by Mr. Peter- 

 son will be found most \aluable ;ind a 

 guide to many. 



Nothing was finer than Mr. Petti- 

 gi'ew 's essay on the influence .Mnd ben- 

 efits of our ))ublic parks. The cheapi'st. 

 yet best anci most glnrjnus iii\estinent 

 foi'ji city of any size, is its pidilic 

 parks. They lia\e a greater inliuerice 

 for good than a church nf any denomi- 

 nation. Pet us have more p.-irks and wt! 

 shall need less police. 



1']. (!. Hill's i^aper on "An American 

 Type of Poses" was worthy of tlie 

 man. and that's saying enough. And 

 the questimis fired :it him showed an in- 

 terest in this great subject. Mr. Hill is 

 an explorer in American hoiticulture. an 

 American Vilmorin, and that grey head 

 of his does a lot of thinking. 



We gieatly enjoyed .Mr. Vaughan 's 

 idea of the ** Ideal Ktuploye. '' It was 

 li\(ly .-ind nnist attractively deliveri'd and 

 his \eision of an ideal em|doye is gicitly 

 to be desired, for he certainly would lie 

 ide.al. Such an entertaining debnte I'ol- 

 lowecl th.-it we ]-et'rained from laising 

 our W(>ak Miice. 



There is a large ine.-i-uie of troth in 

 the opinion of many tli.-it the coniluct 

 of an eir.plove is monhled sonn-wliat by 

 the character and treatment of the em- 



"The Ideal Kmployer 

 long joui'tiey to hear, 



plover. Put that only goes so far. If 

 all employes were turned out of cue 

 nninld it woidd be easy to control, cle- 

 \ale nml bring them to the ideal, as you 

 can a steam pump or gas engim>. ilow 

 different is the human ainmal! Chai- 

 acters differ as witlely as the ))oles. If 

 \v(.' were all saints wlnit a humdrum worhl 

 this would be. Jf there was no room 

 on top for the bright, industrious man 

 of integrity, there would Ix? no amintion. 

 \\'e must have the sloven as well as the 

 woi'ker, sin as well as \irtue, sorrow as 

 well as joy, pain as well as pleasure, 

 an(l if we were all iileal, the world of 

 men and women would vanish. Next 

 year 's essay on 

 \\ill he worth a 



especially if assigned to tlie PeveriMid 

 I'r. Carmody. The em])loyer is in a 

 higher ]iosition than the eniploye and 

 his responsil)ilities ;ire I'ar greater and 

 his intliience toward a good understand- 

 ing lietween himself ami employe rests 

 mostly on employer. 



That story of Mr. O'Mara's illiisfraf- 

 iiig tin.' speed of the ('hicago business 

 man must li(> heard to be I'elished. "Go 

 slowly," s.aiil the slowly swinging pen- 

 ilidum of the south. ■"I'lenty of time," 

 spoke the shorter ]ieriduluni fuither 

 north. l)ut the liv(dy timepiece of Chi- 

 cago said, "(let there, get there, get 

 Ihere. get there," ;it ;!'li) beats to the 

 minute. 



I''riday morning exercises were very 

 ide.isant and the talks by so-called for- 

 eigners were highly interesting. .Mr. 

 I'rowii, of Poinlon, over (m the banks of 

 the Clyde, was inspiring and his style of 

 in.an is raising o\ir profession to a higher 

 |)lane. The gentleman from Winnipeg 

 Io|(| us how in ;i tew years a ll.it. tree- 

 less jirairie with less than three feet eh-- 

 vatiim in fiv(> miles has imw picturesque 

 parks, shaded streets and ;ill that makes 

 our older cities -uch pleasant places in 

 whirl! lo dwell. 1 don't like to hear men 

 who held their knife and tone as we do, 

 :ind -p<ak the >ann' language, 1k> called 

 toniunei^. I wciuld like to say, as did 

 the immortal Tom I'aine. '•'{'he world in 

 my cdunlry and liumanily my rtdii/ion." 



Mr. •'.irmody presenteil the remem- 

 biance of the society to the president 

 in his m;it(ddess method. .\o one can 



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The St. Louis Convention in Session. 



