34 



ThcWeckly Florists' Review. 



AUQUST 17, 1011. 



The board of directors has proposed, 

 as one way to promote the plant and 

 flower exhibition at the convention, to 

 allow the local people at certain times 

 to admit the public at a reasonable ad- 

 mission, the money thus obtained to help 

 defray the expense of music, decorations, 

 etc. 



Superintendent of Exhibits. 



Eules 1 and 2, as adopted by the 

 executive board, should, I think, be added 

 to our constitution and by-laws, and are 

 as follows: 



"1. The society shall control all the 

 features of the trade exhibitien. 



' ' 2. There shall be appointed annually 

 at the winter meeting of the executive 

 board a superintendent of exhibits and 

 an advisory committee of three. Said 

 superintendent shall have general charge 

 of all details of the annual exhibition. 

 He shall receive all applications for space 

 and assign the same in the order in which 

 they are received by him. He shall 

 furnish the society, through the secre- 

 tary thereof, a list of the exhibitors 

 and exhibits by 1:00 p. m. on the day 

 of opening the convention. He shall 

 also furnish the secretary with a list 

 of novelties and new devices submit- 

 ted for awards, said list to be for the 

 use of the judges. 



' ' He shall make no expenditure exceed- 

 ing $10 in amount without the consent 

 of the advisory committee. He shall 

 keep full, detailed records of receipts 

 and expenditures and other matters of 

 importance relating to the exhibition. 

 Immediately after the close of the con- 

 vention he shall make a complete report, 

 which, after having been audited and 

 approved by the advisory committee, 

 shall be forwarded vrith the records of 

 the exhibition to the secretary. All 

 money collected by him shall be for- 

 warded from time to time, without undue 

 delay, to the secretary. All bills in- 

 curred shall be endorsed by him and sub- 

 mitted to the advisory committee for 

 approval, after which they shall be sent 

 to the secretary for payment by the 

 treasurer of the society. 



"The advisory committee shall act as 

 an advisory and audit board, subject to 

 instructions of the executive board, and 

 in case of disagreement between them 

 and the superintendent their decision 

 shall be final, except it be reviewed by 

 the executive board." 



My reason for this is that it has taken 

 years of work to bring this feature up 

 to its present standard and a matter in 

 which the revenue involved is so large 

 in comparison with the total amount of 

 dues received should be under the control 

 of the society proper. The details should 

 be left as they now are, in the control 

 of the board, as minor changes are often 

 necessary. 



Increasing the Membership. 



This is one of the great problems 

 that confront us, and in proportion to 

 the growth of all branches of our busi- 

 ness, it suffers by comparison. Reasons 

 and theories have been advanced, but 

 when the benefits derived are considered 

 it seems incredible. True, we are slowly 

 and steadily growing. Our secretary's 

 report will show that we made a fine 

 gain during the national show at Boston, 

 and the results of recent efforts with 

 which you are familiar through the liter- 

 ature "received will also be given you, 

 but when our tariff and legislation com- 

 mittees go before bodies of whom we 

 are asking our rights, they immediately 

 want to know who we are and whom 



we represent, and our membership of 

 only eleven hundred does not signify that 

 we are as strong as we should be to 

 obtain proper recognition. 



By carefully examining the secretary's 

 reports we find that our gains in mem- 

 bership are almost entirely at conven- 

 tions or national flower shows and in 

 some cities where we had reason to ex- 

 pect the largest increase we were disap- 

 pointed, and for the reason, we have 

 discovered, that the open hand of hos- 

 pitality was 60 far-reaching. The craft 

 in general has been invited, regardless 

 of their being attached to any organi- 

 zation. Just so long as they were flo- 

 rists they were feted and treated, and 

 went away happy, but forgot the mag- 

 nitude of hospitality offered them 

 through the members of the society and 

 the society itself. 



The S. A. F. Fins. 



We have been so liberal that we 

 thought it would be terrible if when 

 a florist cj^e to the outer doors of the 

 tabernacle and asked for admission, we 

 would ask him if he was a member, but 

 does not the work of you gentlemen for 

 the last twenty-six years in their interests 

 demand support? Aye, and so for sev- 

 eral years past we have asked that in 

 consideration of his membership we shall 

 pin upon his bosom the highest token of 

 honor, the leaf and emblem of our na- 

 tional organization, which grants the 

 right to our festive occasions and busi- 

 ness meetings. Not to be severe with 

 those that are paying for space in our 

 trade exhibitions, we have granted them 

 the privilege, by personal recognition, of 

 bringing into the building our brothers 

 in the trade, and we have always hoped 

 and trusted that before they retired they 

 would join in our ranks — this has helped 

 us gain some members and it will con- 

 tinue to do so just as long as we adhere 

 to this policy. 



A natural increase in membership also 

 comes from the convention being held 

 in new localities where the society has 

 not held its meetings for several years, 

 and in the selection of the place for the 

 next meeting this should be given due 

 consideration. 



The Elections. 



I am now going to voice the sentiments 

 •expressed by several of my predecessors 

 and say that the president of our society 

 ought to have had experience on the 

 executive board, to make him better fitted 

 for the office. I am also in favor of the 

 election of the board of directors by the 

 society. I think that the selection of 

 the men to perform the important work 

 of the board would be better left to the 

 discretion of a number of men rather 

 than to the several presidents. On the 

 contrary, with the oflices of secretary 

 and treasurer, their work has to be 

 scrutinized by the board, who are also 

 the instigators of a large proportion of 

 their work. If perchance the offices were 

 not satisfactorily filled — and satisfate- 

 torily means judiciously, promptly, cor- 

 rectly and obediently — there is no imme- 

 diate redemption. Their official capacity 

 is better known to the board to whom 

 are entrusted the welfare of the society 

 and the greater proportion of our serious 

 questions; therefore why not this! 



Becompensing the OfAcers. 



In conducting the trade exhibit it 

 has been the custom to hire a superin- 

 tendent and as a recompense allow him 

 ten per cent of the gross amount de- 



rived from the rentals of space, which 

 for several years past have amounted 

 to from $225 to $250, and on several 

 occasions an additional $50 has been al- 

 lowed as expense outside of the ordinary 

 requirements. There have always been 

 a number of other items, such as stenog- 

 rapher, bookkeeper and miscellaneous ex- 

 penses, which approximately, from the 

 reports of the last several years, amount 

 to between $400 and $600. 



Each year the office accounts and rec- 

 ords are kept differently and I know of 

 no time when any of the incidentals con- 

 nected with this office were ever used for 

 another year, all of which means some 

 outlay. Now, we are all nearly agreed 

 that the secretary's salary is hardly 

 enough to recompense a man such as is 

 necessary to properly perform the im- 

 portant duties connected with this office 

 for his entire time. Our membership is 

 not increasing rapidly enough to increase 

 this salary. Now then, the same con- 

 ditions exist concerning the office of su- 

 perintendent of trade exhibits. We can 

 not employ one for a long enough period 

 at the amount usually earned, for he must 

 have other employment at the same time 

 and perhaps that something else is his 

 own business or his employer's; there- 

 fore, we have two important positions 

 partially, when we could have them 

 wholly filled at a reasonable increase. 



Combining Two Offices. 



Now, why not combine the duties of 

 the twof They both are clerical in their 

 way, and both at a certain time need 

 the undivided attention of one man. The 

 duties- of the superintendent of trade 

 exhibits are mostly correspondence, except 

 for a short period before the exhibition 

 and then the secretary should be giving 

 his undivided time for the good of our 

 organization and should be in the city 

 where the convention is to be held, assist- 

 ing, as a paid official, the many willing 

 volunteers who are giving their time, 

 without recompense, toward preparing 

 for the grand welcomes that have greeted 

 us in the past and in this city at this 

 time. This is my solution of obtain- 

 in that for which we have been striv- 

 ing, the undivided time of a secretary 

 and superintendent of trade exhibits. 



It can easily be seen that both offi- 

 ces can be combined and the duties be 

 competently and judiciously performed. 

 The secretary has all the advantage of 

 his office to secure new business, and the 

 combining of the two offices does not en- 

 tail any more expense than we have been 

 under during the last two or three years, 

 but it means better results. The amount 

 of salary I have in view at the present 

 time is $1,500 per year, and if the work 

 increases as it should under proper super- 

 vision, our income will increase, and the 

 time is not far distant when $2,000 a 

 year should be • our secretary 's salary. 

 He would be the proper man for secretary 

 of the national flower shows; his statis- 

 tics and experience would make him the 

 natural choice; his salary and the duties 

 of his office ought to make his presence a 

 necessity on such occasions. 



Separate Section Meetings. 



The adoption of this suggestion of 

 President Valentine was one of the good 

 things that cannot be praised too highly, 

 and is conducive to great good to the 

 different societies as well as to our own. 

 Buildings such as this in which we are 

 meeting are particularly adapted, with 

 the different regimental rooms available. 

 I have always been a believer in the 



