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AUGUST 17, 1905, 



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ThcWeckly Florists' Review. 



679 



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The Washington Convention. 



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THE SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS CELEBRATES 

 ITS TWENTY-FIRST ANNIVERSARY. 



The Next Meeting to be Held at Dayton, Ohio. 



OFFICERS FOR 1906 : 



President. WM. F. KASTING. Buffalo. N. Y. 



Vice-President. H. M. ALTICK, Dayton. Ohio. 



Secretary, W. J. STEWART, Boston, Mass. 



Treasurer. H. B. BEATTY. Oil City. Pa 



Year by year the cities which have 

 been visited by the Society of American 

 Florists have established the custom of 

 setting a new high water mark for the 

 open-handed hospitality with which they 

 have welcomed their guests and the elab- 

 orateness of the provision made for their 

 entertainment; year by year the trade 

 has shown an awakening and growing 

 appreciation of the whole-souled gener- 

 osity of their fellow craftsmen in their 

 endeavors to improve the social features 

 of our annual reunions, and year by year 

 an even greater proportion of the soci- 

 ety's membership has responded by at- 

 tendance, to the end that the society's 

 usefulness to the trade, its importance 

 in a business sense and the interest in 

 its work have ever increased. In none 

 of these things did the "Washington con- 

 vention of 1905 fall short- of what was 

 expected by the most enthusiastic. 



The city of "Washington possesses 

 points of interest, aside from trade in- 

 stitutions, in greater number than any 

 other eity in the land; the memory of 

 the efficiency of the "Washington Flo- 

 rists' Club as a body of entertainers, as 

 demonstrated at a previous convention, 

 had not yet faded; the close of a season 

 of unexampled development in our in- 

 dustry; the near approach of another 

 season with promise of even greater 

 things; our preparedness for it; the 

 realization that the time is ripe for the 

 propulsion of our society to a position 

 in keeping with the advanced public in- 

 terest in our work; all these helped to 

 bring to "Washington a gathering such 

 as had not been seen in the whole twenty- 

 one years of the society 's life, and splen- 

 didly did "Washington arise to the occa- 

 sion. 



Not least notable of the advances was 

 tliat in the matter of the trade display, 

 and here, unfortunately, was the one point 

 in which Washington was weak — she had 

 no hall adequate. The best that could 

 be done was to use the National Rifles 

 Armory, where two floors were available, 

 each capable of carrying a good-size 

 display, but these were soon full to 

 overflowing and recourse was had to a 

 fine hall in the Masonic Temple in the 



next street. But even with this the ac- 

 commodations were not sufficient. George 

 H. Cooke, the superintendent, is to be 

 congratulated on the way he handled an 

 arduous task made much more than usu- 

 ally difficult by the necessity of divid- 

 ing the exhibition into practically three 

 equal parts. 



Every class of the exhibit showed the 

 progress the trade is making. The 

 plantsmen were more largely represented 

 than usual; the bulb men used more 

 space than ever for the display of their 

 wares; the paper box makers showed 

 stronger than before; the greenhouse 

 builders and boiler men were there in 

 force; showing of cut gladioli was a 

 revelation; but in no branch of the trade 

 was there a stronger showing than that 

 made by the dealers in supplies and rib- 

 bons. The samples brought by these 

 progressive gentlemen would alone have 

 made a first-class exhibition. Their 

 showing served to demonstrate anew the 

 importance of requisites to every retail 

 florist, to show what infinite variety of 

 forms these helps take and what inge- 

 nuity and art is employed in their pro- 

 duction and constant improvement. 



That our government at "Washington 

 is taking an increasing interest in our 

 trade has long been apparent, and to 

 the courtesies of the Department of Ag- 

 riculture not a few of the pleasures of 

 convention week were due. Not the least 

 of the services was the intercession with 

 the Weather Bureau which brought fine 

 summer weather. Washington called it 

 cool, but there were many who dissented. 

 However the heat was no worse than the 

 society has encountered in more northern 

 cities and the days, and especially the 

 evenings, were far more enjoyable than 

 most of the visitors had at home in the 

 preceding week. 



The business sessions were held in 

 Carroll Hall, adjoining the main exhi- 

 bition building, and there was a splen- 

 did gathering present on Tuesday 

 afternoon at 3:15 when President Wm. 

 F. Gude, of the Washington Florists' 

 Club, called the society to order for the 

 formal opening of the convention. The 

 opening ceremonies were delayed by 



the non-arrival of President Vaughan, 

 and the Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit 

 contingents, who were several hours 

 behind schedule time because of a 

 wreck ahead of their special train, but 

 the postponement did not detract in 

 the least from the enthusiasm. 



Mr. Gude spoke briefly in his usual 

 fine voice and introduced J. A. Free- 

 man, vice-president of the S. A. F., 

 who thanked the society for the honor 

 done him in his absence at St. Louis 

 and introduced H. B. F. McFarland, 

 president of the Board of Commission- 

 ers of the District of Columbia, to de- 

 liver the address of welcome. He said 

 that the florists are the ministers of 

 beauty and it was a pleasure to all to 

 welcome them to the nation's city of 

 beauty. To the product of the growers' 

 skill he paid a tribute, saying that 

 flowers are the language of our people 

 when, words will not do. He said he 

 and all Washington hoped the stay 

 would be so pleasant that the society 

 would come every year to this, its legal 

 home, in the month of August, and 

 help to spread the city's fame as a 

 summer resort. (Laughter; it was only 

 98 degrees in the hall and not a breath 

 of air stirring.) He spoke of the in- 

 terest the trade has in the present 

 plans for the beautifying of the city 

 named for and planned by George 

 Washington and closed by presenting 

 to the society a gavel made from wood 

 of a laurel planted at Mt. Vernon by 

 Washington and LaFayette. 



Mr. Freeman then introduced Assis- 

 tant Secretary of Agriculture Hayes, 

 to speak in the unavoidable absence of 

 Secretary Wilson who was at Chicago. 

 Mr. Hayes spoke of the strong fellow 

 feeling between the Department and 

 the florists, expressed Mr. Wilson's in- 

 terest and asked all to visit the De- 

 partment and see what is being done. 

 He spoke of the pioneer work the flo- 

 rists have done in intensive growing 

 and told of the great wealth created 

 by the application of the florists' exact 

 and scientific methods to the larger 

 field of agriculture. He predicted for 

 the florists' business a great rise in im- 

 portance to all the people of our coun- 

 try. 



Mr. Freeman then introduced J. A. 

 Valentine, of Denver, who spoke briefly 

 but very appreciatively of the wel- 

 come extended the society. He spoke of 

 the high appreciation in which the 

 trade holds the Department of Agricul- 

 ture and assured the assistant secretary 

 that the craft judged lightly certain 

 recently published stories for which 

 the official had asked that no more be 

 thought of it than if the shortcomings 

 related to an equally complex private 

 industry. Of the Commissioner he asked 

 equally light judgment in case any of 

 the members became intoxicated with 

 the warmth of the welcome given us. 



President J. C. Vaughan was then in- 

 troduced and received a splendid greet- 

 ing at the hands of the members. After 

 a few words of thanks for the recep- 

 tion given him he read his annual ad- 

 dress, which was as follows: 



President's Address. 



At this twenty-first convention and 

 in the presence of many who were with 

 us in 1885 a story well worth hearing 

 could be told of what we have accom- 

 plished. This story of earnest work by 

 many, on many lines which made our 

 society a remarkable one in the first 



