

36 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



▲U0U8X 19, 1909. 



Charles E. Critchell. 



(Chairman of the CincinDati Olub's Oommittee od BowUdk at the Convention.) 



that their names be carried in the annual 

 report during their lives under the head- 

 ing of "Pioneers," and that no fur- 

 ther annual dues shall be collected from 

 them. 



To Increase the Membership. 



The present membership of our society 

 does not include more than ten per cent 

 of the commercial men who are owners 

 and operators of some kind of a floral 

 establishment, and this indicates that 

 something has been wrong somewhere. 

 We have either not followed the right 

 method in canvassing for new members, 

 or the conduct of the society has not 

 been such as to interest outsiders and 

 bring them into the fold. 



Our membership is especially weak 

 among the retail florists and we have 

 few members in the south or on the Pa- 

 cific coast. It is well worth while to 

 consider whether there is iiot some more 

 effectual way of canvassing for new 

 members in those states, and we should 

 try to devise some means of interest- 

 ing the owners of retail flower stores so 

 that they will find something in our so- 

 ciety and at our conventions of especial 

 interest and benefit to them. 



There are thousands of these retailers 

 in the country and their most crying 

 need at present is some form of organi- 

 zation whereby they can, with confi- 

 dence, exchange orders by mail or tele- 

 graph. If some such organization could 

 be effected, confining its membership to 

 the members of this society, I believe the 

 retailers would flock to our standard in 

 large numbers. 



The members of this society are en- 

 gaged in so many different Unes of work 

 that it is hard to arrange a program 



which will hold the interest of a large 

 proportion of its members. We claim to 

 hold the door open for the admission of 

 all persons interested in horticulture and 

 to manufacturers of and dealers in hor- 

 ticultural supplies, but, having come in 

 through our open door, many fail to find 

 anything of personal interest within our 

 home and so allow their membership to 

 lapse. The manufacturer or the dealer 

 may join and attend as a matter of pol- 

 icy, but he cannot be expected to take 

 any great personal interest in the life 

 history of the aphis or in the Mendelian 

 theory; nor can the man who devotes 

 his whole place to growing cut flowers 

 be presumed to take a keen interest in 

 landscape gardening. 



Convening in Sections. 



While our membership is much smaller 

 than it ought to be and than we hope 

 it will be, it is now large enough so 

 that the work of the convention could 

 be successfully divided into sections, as is 

 done in many societies. One section 

 might take up matters of interest to all 

 importers of bulbs and plants; another 

 section, as I have already indicated, 

 might profitably be devoted to the in- 

 terests of the retailers. 



We might have a section devoted to the 

 interests of the private gardeners and 

 ornamental horticulturists, and so jus- 

 tify that portion of our name. If the 

 organizing and conducting of such a 

 section should prove to be of interest to 

 any considerable number of private gar- 

 deners and park men, we would get an 

 accession of valuable members from a 

 direction where we have heretofore awak- 

 ened but little interest. 



In pursuance of such a policy, section 



programs would be prepared of special 

 interest to those engaged in some par- 

 ticular branch of work. These different 

 sections would hold their meetings in dif- 

 ferent rooms and no one would be obliged 

 to listen to a class of papers that did no; 

 interest him; neither would an interest 

 ing discussion have to be abridged to 

 prevent its taking the time set down oi. 

 the program for a topic of a different 

 nature. 



A number of the members of this soci 

 ety have been interested in cross-fertiliz 

 ing. Ten or a dozen men devoted to 

 that class of work could get into a small 

 room and hold a very interesting session. 

 Perhaps ' a half dozen similar meetings 

 might be in session at one time in dif 

 ferent rooms and it would be necessary 

 to devote to them at least one day of 

 the convention, so that on that day no 

 general business session would be held. 

 These sessions, being composed of a much 

 smaller number of men than the large 

 convention, would be much more frank 

 and men too diffident to speak in a large 

 convention would gladly take ])art in the 

 proceedings. The most valuable points 

 we get at these ((Piuentions are often 

 obtained in the iiit'oiiual talks in hotel 

 lobbies or in private rooms, and there 

 are few who fail to pick up something 

 of interest and value on such occasions. 



A Retailers' Section. 



The retailers' section would receive 

 the reports of the officers of the delivery 

 association and its arbitration commit- 

 tee would adjust controversies. They 

 would discuss the best methods of draw- 

 ing and holding trade; the best methods 

 of bookkeeping and of collecting ac- 

 counts; protection against dead beats; 

 claims for commission put forward by 

 mercenary servants; the adoption of uni- 

 form charges for the rental of decora- 

 tive plants; the proper policy to pursue 

 toward churches and societies asking for 

 donations. All these and many other 

 subjects would furnish fruitful topics for 

 discussion. So many and such substan- 

 tial benefits would be offered that the 

 retailers simply could not afford to stay 

 out. The resultant gathering together 

 of retailers would induce larger and more 

 profitable displays by those concerns who 

 cater to that trade. 



These are possible means for strength- 

 ening and upbuilding our society among 

 the classes at present included in our 

 membership, and I recommend them to 

 your careful consideration. It is my 

 firm conviction that if some such plan 

 as this had been followed, we would have 

 had a Eose Section, a Carnation Section 

 and a Chrysanthemum Section instead of 

 separate societies, which are doing com- 

 mendable work but are to some extent 

 depleting our ranks. 



We must admit that in the past this 

 society has been conducted as a trade or- 

 ganization, without any pretense of oc- 

 cupying that broader and larger field 

 which includes the flower-loving public. 

 It is not my intention to criticise that 

 attitude, for it may have been the only 

 one which would have carried the society 

 safely through the perils which beset it ; 

 but the time has surely come when we 

 should assume that high place in horti- 

 cultural councils to which our national 

 charter entitles us. 



Societies of Amateurs. 



The amateur will never find much of 

 interest in a convention of florists and I 

 do not assume that any merging of the 

 two elements into one convention would 

 be acceptable to either, bat our interests 



