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AoaD9T.20» 1914. 



The Horists' Review 



« 



THE PRESIDENT'S m 

 9K ANNUAL ADDRESS 



|VEE, since you paid me the 

 great honor of electing me 

 to the highest office within 

 your gift, I have antici- 

 pated this hour, not so 

 much to harvest the honors 

 and privileges extended to 

 your presiding officer as for the oppor- 

 tunity to express to you my deep-felt 

 gratitude and appreciation for your 

 kindness and good-will toward me. 



My home city, Minneapolis, also bids 

 me to extend to you again its thanks 

 for your last year's visit. The benefits 

 of your coming to. our city have been 

 manifold to our people, and the lessons 

 taught us through your convention gar- 

 den have taken root and will bear fruit 

 forever after. 



Our Conventions. 



I hope that your coming to the coun- 

 try west of the Mis- 

 sissippi river the sec- 

 ond time in the his- 

 tory of the society 

 has convinced those 

 who attended the last 

 convention that the 

 great western coun- 

 try is well worthy of 

 your coming again. I 

 also hope that the fa- 

 vorable reports about 

 last year's conven- 

 tion will convince 

 those who did not at- 

 tend that it was no 

 mistake to come so 

 far west — really, the 

 west only begins 

 where we met last 

 year — and if, as a 

 national association, 

 we want nation-wide 

 recognition and prog- 

 ress, we must come 

 west once in a while, 

 for a twofold pur- 

 pose; first, to help ad- 

 vance the possibili- 

 ties of horticultural 

 ile\ elopment, and, sec- 

 ond, to share in the 

 benefits of such de- 

 velopment. 



From the society's 

 fiiiancial point o f 

 View, last year's ven- 

 tiif-e can also be con- 

 s*"lered a success. The 

 tliree highest returns 

 to our treasury from 

 our conventions have 

 b'en from the con- 

 yf'ition of 1912, held 

 >" <'hicago, .$3,251.88; 

 t'orn the convention 

 Of 1913, held in Min- 

 n^f» polls, $2,522.40, 

 *•.' 'I from the conven- 

 j""" of 1911, held in 

 "j'ltimore, $2,258.19. 

 ^'"' highest gain, 

 •i" ever, that the so- 



The full text of the address of Theodore 

 Wlrth, President of the Society of American 

 Florists, delivered at the convention at Bos- 

 ton, August 18, 1914. 



ciety made in coming west was in the 

 interest it created among our craft 

 and the information about our western 

 country it gave to those who attended 

 from the east. 



Let us extend our pilgrimages to all 

 parts of the country and become a na- 

 tional society from a national as well 

 as a professional point of view. 



The Last Year. 



The twelve months passed since we 

 last met have been busy ones for those 

 entrusted with the affairs of our organ- 

 ization. At the board of directors' 

 meeting, held here last March, every 

 member was present, and the many 

 important questions pertaining^ to the 



Theodore Wirth. 



KPresldent of the Society of Aiterlcan Florlats.) 



welfare and healthful growth of the 

 society and the many interests which 

 it represents, were carefully considered 

 and conscientiously acted upon. Your 

 standing committees have also been 

 faithful to their trusts and duties, as 

 their reports will reveal to you. 



Our Flower Shows. 



I most earnestly believe that one of 

 the most helpful agents in the advance- 

 ment of our profession and the develop- 

 ment of our interests is our flower 

 shows. The great successful New York 

 show of last March, held by the horti- 

 cultural interests of that city, was 

 made possible through the national 

 flower shows held previously in Chi- 

 cago, Boston and New York. We have 

 no better means of getting next to and 

 educating the public, our customers, to 

 our aims, means and powers, than 

 through such demon- 

 strations of our skill 

 and achievements. 

 Those shows are the 

 best possible adver- 

 tisement of our busi- 

 ness, and the compe- 

 tition and rivalry of 

 professional skill 

 stimulated through 

 .them is our most effi- 

 cient educator and 

 teacher. Therefore I 

 say, let us all support 

 our flower shows of 

 national and local 

 character, to the best 

 of our ability. 



George Asmus, 

 chairman of the na- 

 tional flower show 

 committee, reports 

 quite promising pros- 

 pects for the next 

 national flower show, 

 to be held in Phila- 

 delphia in the spring 

 of 1916, and I wish 

 to extend to him and 

 his coworkers the so- 

 ciety's thanks for 

 their faithful and 

 successful work, and 

 congratulations for 

 progress achieved. 



School Gardens. 



It is eminently 

 proper that we should 

 try to exercise some 

 influence outside of 

 our professional 

 boundaries, or in 

 other words, spread 

 the gospel of garden- 

 ing among laymen 

 and their people. Ben- 

 jamin Hammond is 

 chairman of our 

 school gardens com- 

 mittee, and, as such, 

 has tried to reach 

 every city and village ' 



