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Febbuaby 20, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 3 



ILLINOIS STATE 

 FLORISTS' ASSOCIATION 



9Ki 



The Springfield Meeting. 



The biggest blizzard of the winter 

 swept over the Illinois prairies February 

 18 and 19, impeding the operation of the 

 steam railroads and effectually tying up 

 the electric lines of Springfield and the 

 network of trolleys which link to it the 

 surrounding cities. But old Boreas could 

 not affect the success of the third an- 

 nual convention of the Illinois State 

 Florists' Association further than to 

 keep from the meetings the florists of 

 the nearby towns, who would otherwise 

 have come in in large numbers by trolley. 

 The reduction in attendance was greatly 

 deplored, because the association has be- 

 fore it the opportunity to do more for 

 the good of floriculture than has been 

 accomplished by any other trade body in 

 recent years. The association has the 

 opportunity to cause to be established at 

 the State University the first practical 

 school in the United States for the train- 

 ing of florists; the assistance of every 

 member of the trade is not only wanted, 

 but warranted, and the sessions of the 

 society were therefore full of interest. 



Then, too, there was a trade exhibi- 

 tion which would have done full credit to 

 a much older and greatly larger society. 

 Arion hall was well filled with exhibits, 

 attractively staged, and some splendid 

 stock was shown. The facilities were ex- 

 cellent and the Springfield Florists' Club 

 is entitled to much praise for the manner 

 in which the arrangements were handled. 

 They had joined hands and worked 

 unitedly, with a most commendable re- 

 sult. The entertainment features were 

 lavish, especially considering the small 

 number of florists in Springfield to bear 

 the burden of work and finance. 



Tuesday's Business Session. 



Antrim C. Brown, president of the 

 Springfield* Florists' Club, opened the 

 convention with a brief welcome and in- 

 troduced Mr. Murray, spokesman for the 

 mayor, who was ill. He not only apolo- 

 gized for the blizzard in welcoming the 

 visitors, but quoted some of the facts as 

 to the extent of the florists' industry in 

 Illinois and congratulated the trade on 

 its progress, stating that the investment 

 and volume of business has doubled in 

 seven years. The response was by P. J. 

 Foley, of Chicago, who said that the 

 splendid opportunity to do great and 

 lasting work for floriculture which lies 

 before the Illinois Association demands 

 the cooperation of every florist in the 

 stato. 



President's Address. 



President Albert T. Hey, of Spring- 

 field, then read his address, an able doc- 

 ument, in which he gave a resume of 

 the work accomplished in the last year, 

 including the securing of the appropria- 

 tion of $15,000 of public funds for the 

 purposes of the trade studies at the State 

 Kxperiment Station. He recommended 

 that steps be taken to secure a complete 

 census of floriculture; that the State 

 Association offer medals or otherwise 

 participate in the national flower show; 



that those who participate in the trade 

 display be recognized by the award of 

 certificates, etc., under proper rules; and 

 that a committee on state fair be ap- 

 pointed to assist in securing for the trade 

 the great benefits which can be had from 

 the increased appropriation for floricul- 

 ture at this great annual event. He 

 called attention to the city beautiful 

 movement as worthy of whole-hearted 

 support and, referring to the experi- 

 mental work; said: 



* ' Our station is yet in its infancy and 

 the work is much impeded in not having 

 the houses built to carry on the work. 

 Plans and specifications have been made 

 and the plant will be in full operation 

 in a few months. Some little work in 

 the line of experiments has been made 

 — part of the greenhouses of Washburn 

 Bros., of Bloomington, have been rented 

 for this winter, and report of what has 

 been done will be given you by Prof. 

 A. C. Beal, who has charge of the work. 

 The time is not far distant when we will 

 see a practical course for florists estab- 

 lished at our university. The coming 

 florist should have a practical training, 

 combined with a knowledge of those sci- 

 ences relative to our business. The agri- 

 cultural department of the university is 

 doing a great work on these lines, espe- 

 cially in the study of soils and fertiliz- 

 ers, and the florist who wants to rank 

 high in his profession must attain a 

 knowledge of those sciences, and it is for 

 this association to see that a way is 

 made possible for him to do it. 



"As in all other trades and profes- 

 sions, we are today flooded by a great va- 

 riety of chemical fertilizers, insecticides, 

 etc., that are thrown on the market with 

 all their excellent recommendations for 

 the innocent, good-natured florist to ex- 

 periment with. Many of our trade know 

 little of their adaptability to different 

 soils, etc., until they have found out, by 

 sometimes costly experience. I want to 

 see this put on the same basis as our 

 pure food law and think that any ferti- 

 lizer and insecticide sold to the trade in 

 Illinois should have the stamp of our ex- 

 periment station analysis upon it. ' ' 



Secretary A. C. Beal, of Champaign, 

 and Treasurer Geo. A. Kuhl, of Pekin, 

 presented reports which showed 110 mem- 

 bers January 1, 1908; receipts for the 

 year $166.81, disbursements $133.57, bal- 

 ance January 1, 1908, $33.24. 



E. G. Hill, of Richmond, Ind., was in- 

 troduced to talk on any topic he chose 

 and after saying a word in favor of the 

 state fairs as a means for reaching a 

 class of people we are not touching at 

 present, he discoursed most entertain- 

 ingly on the trade as it is conducted in 

 France, of course treating specially on 

 rose breeding and flower shows. 



The committee on president's address 

 reported favorably on a number of his 

 recommendations, including: That the 

 president and secretary be authorized to 

 arrange for certificates and rules to gov- 

 ern their award to exhibitors in next 

 year's trade display. That the establish- 

 ing at the State University of a prac- 



tical course of instruction for florists 

 be urged. That resolutions be transmit- 

 ted to the Society of American Florists 

 requesting that body to memorialize the 

 census bureau in favor of a thorough 

 census of floriculture. The report was 

 adopted. 



The president appointed the following 

 committees: Judges, A. F. Friedley, F. 

 H. Rowe, A. F. Longren; national flower 

 show, F. L. Washburn, W. N. Rudd, 

 W. L. Kroeschell; state fair, J. F. Am- 

 mann, Geo. Asmus, A. T. Pyfer. 



Floriculture at University. 



A letter from E. Davenport, dean of 

 the State University, whom illness pte- 

 vented from being present, was read. It 

 was in part as follows: 



" If I do not greatly mistake the ideas 

 of the florists, we are not to stop at the 

 present stage of things. I believe that 

 your action and your achievements up to 

 date are but a part of a larger; thing 

 that was born when you were successful 

 in landing the present appropriation. 



* ' Your action in behalf of floriculture 

 was the first of its kind, and your uni- 

 versity is the first to assume an obliga- 

 tion to do what it can for an interest 

 that is not only commercial but is also 

 eminently artistic, and in my way of 

 thinking great things will come of it. 



"Floriculture is a new subject from 

 the university standpoint, and as a con- 

 sequence few men are trained to do the 

 work that needs to be done at this time. 

 There are many successful growers of 

 flowers, only a few who have attempted 

 to teach the subject even in an element- 

 ary way, and almost nobody who has dis- 

 tinguished himself as a competent in- 

 vestigator in the broader field of flori- 

 culture. 



"So we are placed in the position of 

 together working out a plan not only to 

 achieve a definite purpose but to make 

 the organization and the machine to 

 produce it, but with the money which 

 I feel certain the state will provide, we 

 shall accomplish things worth while. ' ' 



Report of Advisory G>mnuttee. 



For the committee charged with ad- 

 vising as to the work of the experiment 

 station, with the recent appropriation 

 for floriculture, W. N. Rudd presented a 

 full report. It was stated that of the 

 appropriation of $15,000, one-half is 

 available each year for two years and 

 that for this year the general funds of 

 the State Experiment Station, $5,000, 

 have been added to this year's appro- 

 priation, to go towards buildings. Plans 

 for a range of up-to-date commercial 

 houses have been prepared (and were 

 shown) and erection will proceed in the 

 spring. At one of the early meetings of 

 the advisory committee it was decided 

 that * ' a sum not exceeding $2,500 of the 

 appropriation for the current year 

 should be expended to cover expense of 

 a field inspector and for an investigation 

 into the damages and ravages caused by 

 thrips especially, and other insects and 

 diseases infesting plants and vegetables 

 grown under glass in Illinois, and for 

 conducting experiments in controlling 

 and preventing destruction and damages 

 by such insects and diseases. At the 

 last meeting it was decided to go on 

 with the investigation of the life his- 

 tory of thrips with the hope that new 

 facts might be brought out which would 

 indicate the vulnerable point on which 

 to attack these insects, which in the 

 opinion of the committee are causing 

 more financial loss to the growers of veg- 



