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AuauBT 23, 1906L 



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The Weekly Florists' Review* 



839 



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THE DAYTON 



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CONVENTION 



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THE TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL MEETING OF 

 THE SOQETY OF AMERJCAN FLORISTS 



THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD AT PHILADELPmA 



OFFICEHS FOR 1907: 



President, ViVf. J. STEVART, Boston, Mass. 



Vice-President, JOHN VESTCOTT, of PhiUdelpI^a. 



Secretary, PHILIP J. HAUSWIETH, Chicago. 



Treasurer, H. R BEATTY, Oil Qty, Pa. 



Centrally located, as is Dayton, it has 

 proven a most excellent convention city, 

 the attendance at the twenty-second an- 

 nual meeting of the Society of American 

 Florists this week being as great as any 

 in its history. There not being the num- 

 ber of distractions characteristic of 

 larger places, and particularly of Wash- 

 ington, the visitors devoted most of their 

 time to the exhibition and the business 

 sessions. 



Dayton is known far and wide for its 

 beautiful streets, pleasant homes and 

 open-handed hospitality. All these things 

 the S. A. F. visitors appreciated at their 

 full value. They found the hotel ac- 

 commodations inadequate, but all not 

 provided for by the hotels were com- 

 fortably placed by the committee, which 

 had a large list of private residences at 

 its command. The convention was held 

 at the fair-grounds, something over half 

 a mile out from town, and the street- 

 car service, even though Dayton and 

 southern Ohio have been the scene of 

 the trolley's development, was lament- 

 ably poor. Once arrived at the grounds, 

 however, there was everything required 

 for the day, provided by the hard-work- 

 ing members of the Dayton Florists' 

 Club, to whom a large measure of credit 

 is due for the accomplishment of a great- 

 er task than ever before has fallen to 

 the craft in so small a city, for we don 't 

 count Asheville, where there was no such 

 elaborate preparation. Indeed, in Day- 

 ton the only provision not made by the 

 club, or the National Cash Begister Co., 

 from which a majority of Daytonian 

 blessings flow, was for good weather. It 

 was hot and the humidity was great. 

 Heavy showers were frequent and on 

 Tuesday the opening session was delayed 

 nearly two hours by a rainfall which at 

 first was a miniature cloudburst. , It 

 precluded the holding of the president's 

 reception on the Patterson grounds as 

 intended. 



• The trade exhibit was larger and bet- 

 ter than ever and all of the exhibitors 

 did a satisfactory business. The two 

 floors of the big, octagonal building 



were well filled, with a showing which 

 included about evfejrything a florist ever 

 needs, be he grower or retailer. As is 

 usually the case, Philadelphia occupied 

 a majority of the space: but there were 

 many new exhibitors. The shape of the 

 building and the use made^y^f the space 

 by Superintendent Frank wer'fe-naost sat-' 

 isfactory, for each exhibitor had as good! 

 a place as any other, which is no small 

 matter where the trade display is as im- 

 portant a feature as it now is at S. A. F. 

 conventions. 



The business sessions were held in a 

 carriage shed! But it had been trans- 

 formed into one of the finest of meet- 

 ing places (when it didn't rain) by 

 curtaining the walls and covering the 

 ceiling with cheese-cloth, over which wild 

 smilax and lyrata had been garlanded. 

 The floor was carpeted with sawdust and 

 chairs were provided in this breezy bower 

 for all who could be lured away from the 

 manifold attractions so handsomely dis- 

 played by the exhibitors in the big 

 hall. Adjoining the convention hall 

 similar arrangements had been made for 

 housing the restaurant and the popular 

 caU. 



The Opening Session. 



The call to order Tuesday, when the 

 deluge had passed, was with President 

 W. F. Kasting, Vice-President H. M. Al- 

 tick, Secretary W. J. Stewart, ex-Presi- 

 dents Lonsdale, Breitmeyer and Vaughan 

 and Executive Committeemen W. H. El- 

 liott, H. V. Hallock, H. H. Bitter, F. H. 

 Traendly and P. J. Hauswirth on the 

 platform. Several other ex-presidents 

 were present, but preferred seats on the 

 floor of the convention. 



Mr. Altick asked indulgence for any 

 shortcomings in the arrangements or fa- 

 cilities, although the only criticisms were 

 on the weather and things outside the 

 control of the Dayton Florists' Club. 

 But he knew everybody was pleased, and 

 this was mere form. He then intro- 

 duced Judge Charles W. Dale, who wel- 

 comed the society in place of the mayor, 

 who was out of the city, doubtless seek- 



ing a cooler or drier climate. The judge, 

 while the rain pattered on the roof, told 

 of the sunshine and happiness florists 

 bring to the whole people, for all love 

 flowers, and said it is with pleasure that 

 every Daytonian calls attention to the 

 large influence floriculture has on the 

 lives of the people of the Gem city, as 

 they like to hear it called. He paid a 

 tribute to the civic pride of John M. 

 Patterson and lauded the welfare work 

 of the city's pet industry, as do most 

 of the people, and closed by presenting 

 to the society its annual bunch of keys, 

 left in his keeping by the rusticating 

 mayor. 



Judge Dale was warmly applauded, 

 and when Prof. John F. Cowell, of Buf- 

 falo, ' was introduced to respond he told 

 the simple truth when he said the wel- 

 come was among the most cordial the 

 society ever has had. He said the trade 

 had heard much of Dayton and had come 

 to see and learn, to drink deeply at 

 the fountain of knowledge and go away 

 filled with new ideas as to how our mis- 

 sion to make the earth beautiful may 

 best be fulfilled. 



President Kasting, needing no intro- 

 duction, was presented with the gavel 

 and took the chair. After requesting 

 the free expression of ideas as to fur- 

 thering the work of the society, he read 

 his annual address, which was as fol- 

 lows: 



The President's Address. 



Twenty-two years ago, I am told, 

 while "this society, then new-born, was 

 hol(Mng its first meeting in the city of 

 Cincinnati, there came an invitation to 

 visit^-this city and view the horticultural 

 wctaderd as set forth at the Soldiers' 

 Hjonae' and other places. Today we 

 come again, increased an hundred fold, 

 to see not only the Soldiers' Home but 

 to see and admire the thousands of plan- 

 tations in the streets, squares and about 

 the homes of the people; plantations 

 that have made the name of Dayton 

 known the world over and have been an 

 incentive for other municipalities and 

 an object lesson in civic cleanliness and 

 good taste. 



Amid such surroundings I trust our 

 deliberations as a society may be im- 

 measurably pleasant and profitable, and 

 that as individuals we may carry away 

 impressions and ideas that will enable 

 us to improve our own environment and 

 add to the beauty and general attrac- 

 tiveness of the localities which we sev- 

 erally represent. 



Twenty-two years is not a long time 

 in the history of a nation or even of a 

 society, but it is time enough, I think, 

 to prove the solidity of our organization, 

 and time enough for us to have profited 

 by our experiences. If there was a need 

 for an organization of this character 

 twenty-two years ago, how much greater 

 is the need today, with the enormous ex- 

 pansion of our business that has come 

 in two decades? The wisdom of the 

 fathers has been amply demonstrated. 

 We cannot afford, however, to stand still 

 and rest upon the records of the past — 

 we must put forth new efforts and keep 

 pace with the gre&t procession. 



The question comes home to us: Are 

 we making the most of our opportunities 

 as a society with such broad aims and 

 splendid possibilities! Would it not be 

 well to pause in our congratulations and 

 our commendations and indulge in a sea- 

 son of introspection and see if we can- 

 not profit by example and still farther 



