AuoudT 20, 1914. 



The Horists* Review 



u 



Strong Display and Enthusiastic Attendance mark Thirtieth 

 Annual Convention of National Organization, at Boston this week 



I HE Society of Amorican 

 Florists was 30 years 

 old this week, and it re- 

 turned to Boston to cele- 

 brate the anniversary, after 

 an absence of a quarter of 

 a century. Under the cir- 

 cumstances it was natural that some- 

 thing out of the ordinary should be 

 expected and up to a couple of weeks 

 ago it was confidently predicted that 

 the Boston convention of 1914 not only 

 would set a new record for all phases 

 of the society's activity, but would 

 carry the banner so high that it would 

 take years to equal the showing made 

 here. The members of the Boston Gar- 

 deners' and Florists' Club and the lo- 

 cal trade committees, under the leader- 

 ship of Vice-president Patrick Welch, 

 set out with this idea in view and it 

 is not due to any neglect of opportunity 

 or sparing of effort 

 that the result has 

 fallen in some 

 measure short of 

 the high ideals 

 they had before 

 them. Unforeseen 

 obstacles arose and 

 the convention has 

 been held at a dif- 

 ficult time. The 

 conditions were un- 

 favorable, but such 

 as no one could in- 

 fluence. 



The Attendance. . 



The war in Eu- 

 rope no doubt cut 

 down the attend- 

 ance just as it did 

 the trades' display. 

 Boston is the busi- 

 ness center of one 

 of the richest and 

 most populous sec- 

 tions of the coun- 

 try. Practically all 

 the New England 

 trade attended, and 

 there were splendid 

 delegations from 

 N ew York, Phila- 

 •lelphia, Baltimore 

 and Washington, 

 while Pittsburgh 

 ;ind vicinity sent a 

 1 ^presentation o f 

 about thirty, count- 

 V'J,' the Wfies^'^but's 

 'rom farther West 

 the attendance was 

 I'mited. It has 

 '•(?en many years 

 ^'iice the territory 



OFHCERS ELECTED 



President 

 Patrick Welch, Boeton 



Vice-president 

 Daniel MacRoriet - San Francisco 



Secretary 

 John Yoong, - New York 



Treasurer 

 Wm. F. Kasting, - Buffalo 



}915 Meeting Place 

 San Francisco 



west of Buffalo and Pittsburgh has 

 been so slimly represented at an cast- 

 er convention. Beeton has many 



* ■ rf • Patrick Welch. 



(President-elect of the Soeiety of American Florists.) 



trade establishments wonderfully well 

 worth a visit and the city is full of 

 points of historical interest, a combi- 

 nation usually effective in bringing out 

 a large attendance of both men and 

 women from the corn belt and the grain 

 States. That they did not respond in 

 the usual number this year can be due 

 only to the widespread general unrest 

 resulting from too much poster type 

 on the front pages of the daily news- 

 papers; the invitation to Boston cer- 

 tainly lacked nothing in whole-souled 

 heartiness and never has a more attrac- 

 tive program of entertainment features 

 been provided. That this was appre- 

 ciated through New England was shown 

 by the large attendance from that sec- 

 tion, to which is due the really great 

 success of ' i^e convention. 



Jfbe Qarden. 



'V ' , ' Instead of being 

 daunted by the 

 splendid success of 

 the outdoor display 

 at Minneapolis last 

 year, the Boston 

 gentlemen were en- 

 couraged by it — 

 they thought they 

 could go it one bet- 

 ter. The conditions 

 proved not so good 

 at Boston. At Min- 

 neapolis the garden 

 was right next door 

 to the hall; at Bos- 

 ton it could be lo- 

 cated n o nearer 

 than several blocks 

 away. It was to 

 have been expected 

 that after the splen- 

 did advertising ob- 

 tained at Minneap- 

 olis the trade exhib- 

 itors would respond 

 much more readily 

 at Boston, where 

 the possibilities of 

 reaching the public 

 are greater in pro- 

 portion as the pop- 

 ulation is greater; 

 this proved not to 

 be the case, for the 

 exhibitors at a dis- 

 tance did not seem 

 to appreciate the 

 opportunity; they 

 did not come in so 

 strongly or so nu- 

 merously as was ex- 

 pected. Then, too^ 

 the task was a big 



