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August W, ign. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



21 



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THE BALTIMORE 

 CONVENTION 



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TWENTY-SEVEiSITH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE 

 V : SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 



THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD AT CHICAGO. 



• . OFFICERS FOR 1912: 



President, RICHARD VINCENT, JR., White Marih, Md. 



... Vice-president, AUGUST POEHLMANN, Chicago, IIL 



Secretary, JOHN YOUNG, Bedford Hill.., N. Y. 

 ■■■ "■ Treasurer, WM. F. KASTING, Buffalo, N. Y. 



For tho twenty-seventh time the 

 'florists of America have gathered in 

 annual convention, on this occasion on 

 the shore of the Chesapeake, at Balti- 

 more, midway between the north and 

 the south, city of wealth, tradition and 

 far-famed hospitality. Except for the 

 expedition to "tickle the angels' 

 feet." and the meeting at the national 

 capital, it is farther south than the 

 society ever has been before. There is 

 a prejudice against going south in Au- 

 gust, but it ought to be overcome, for, 

 though many mansions in Baltimore 

 have the shutters up, the weather is 

 not so warm as most of the visitors to 

 the convention city have experienced in 

 their home towns within the recent 

 past, though the humidity may be 

 greater. There is no kick on Balti- 

 more weather — it is not nearly so warm 

 as the greeting of her citizens. 



The attendance y)roke no records; in 

 fact, it is .just a little disappointing 

 to the Baltimore florists, who say they 

 had counted on more and hoped for 

 twice as many. .Tust how it compares 

 with other years is difficult to estimate. 

 The pioneers used to gather and make 

 a week of it together, but as the trade 

 . has broadened this has changed. Hun- 

 . dreds come from short distances; many 

 go home the same night. Perhaps thev 

 come twice, for the opening day and 

 again to en.ioy the hospitalities of Fri- 

 da.v. At any rate, the crowd never is 

 all together at one time. The Atlantic 

 seaboard, from Boston to the extreme 

 south, was heavily represented this 

 year, but the western men were not 

 much in evidence; there were fully as 

 maoy if not more at Boston in March, 

 which perhaps accounts for the light at- 

 tendance from west of Pittsburg this 

 week. 



The S. A. P\ never had so fine a place 

 to meet as the Fifth Regiment armory 

 in Baltimore. Not only is there an 

 ideal floor for the trade exhibits, but 

 the meeting hall, committee rooms and 

 all the facilities are under one roof. 

 No need to go outside the building ex- 

 cept to sleep. The arrangements left 

 absolutely nothing to be desired. Those 



Baltimore florists certainly have prof- 

 ited by the lessons of the past, for if 

 they made a single misstep it passed 

 unnoticed in the general approval of 

 their accomplishment. 



The convention jirogram also was 

 shaped up by men who knew what the 

 members approve, for the evening ses- 

 sions were cut out and the number of 

 learned essayists held down to a point 

 where time would become available for 



the real work of the society. Thus the 

 interest was^ increased. 



The Opening FormalitleB. 



One of the most popular men in the 

 trade in Baltimore is "Old Bob" 

 (iraham, president of the Gardeners' 

 and Florists' Club, to whom fell the 

 duty of calling the convention to order, 

 which he did promptly at the appointed 

 hour of 2 p. m., Tuesday, August lo — 

 those Baltimoreans are nothing if not 

 prompt. The business sessions were 

 held in one of the larger company 

 rooms in the armory, on the same floor 

 as the trades' displa.y, whore there wore 

 seats for all in spite of the fact that 

 several of the visitors said they never 

 before had seen so large an attendance 

 at the beginning of an H. A. F. con- 

 vention. 



Mr. (jraham said that the governor 

 of Maryland, who had accepted an in- 

 vitation to be- present, had been un- 

 expectedly called away and introduced 

 as the governor's representative N. W. 

 Williams, secretary of state for .the 

 state of Maryland. The Honorable Mr. 

 Williams, who probably is fully as good 

 a talker as the governor, else he would 

 not be sent as a substitute, told of the 

 elevating influence flowers have on 

 those who buy them; of how they ap- 

 peal to man's finer instincts. He said 

 that the men who grow flowers reflect 

 the character of their product and 

 hence attract those with whom they 

 come in contact — that was why he took 

 honest pleasure in welcoming this con- 

 vention to Maryland. 



Mr. Graham introduced Mayor James 

 H. Preston to follow Mr. Williams. He 

 is a booster — you could tell that just by 

 looking at him, before he said a word — 



R. Vincent, Jr. 



(PresldeDt-elect Society of American Florist*. ) 



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