26 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



ACGDST 18, 1910. 



noon, August 16, by F. W. Vick, presi- 

 dent of the Eochester Florists' Club. 

 The attendance was not large, although 

 the hall was cool and comfortable. Mr. 

 Vick introduced Mayor H. H. Edger- 

 ton, who made a two minute talk of 

 welcome. There was no rhetorical flub- 

 dub about it, but its sincerity and good 

 taste were evident. Following His 

 Honor, Mr. Vick introduced George 

 Deitrich, president of the Chamber of 

 Commerce. He has a thorough ac- 

 quaintance with the trade interests in 

 his city, and spoke entertainingly of 

 trade history. 



In his response to the double wel- 

 come, Robert Craig made recognition 

 of the work of Messrs. Barry and Ell- 

 wanger and said that, though the so- 

 ciety has this week brought to Roches- 

 ter some fine examples of the plant 

 growers' art, there is much in Roches- 

 ter to interest every man in the trade, 

 especially in spring, and he hoped to 

 see the S. A. F. return to the city for a 

 spring meeting. 



Patrick O'Mara gained the floor to 

 present to President Pierson an ivory 

 gavel as a token of the high regard in 

 which he is held by his fellow members 

 in the New York Florists' Club. Mr. 

 Pierson evidently was taken entirely by 

 surprise, but expressed his appreciation 

 in a few well-chosen words, and then 

 proceeded to read his annual address. 



Though President Pierson has been 

 an exceedingly busy man this summer, 

 he evidently had given the future of 

 the society much serious, close consid- 

 eration. While his suggestions as to the 

 affiliation of the special flower societies 

 presented some wholly new ideas, and 

 his thought with regard to the semi- 

 annual meetings was equally original, 

 the more the members mulled them over 

 the better they liked them. The paper 

 is printed in full on another page. 

 Close attention was given to every 

 word, and at the close of its reading 

 there was an outburst of applause that 

 showed that the effort put into the 

 preparation of the document was fully 

 appreciated. 



Secretary H. B. Dorner presented a 

 report of the year's work of his office. 

 It showed steady progress, and is 

 printed in full in this issue. Minutes 

 of the meetings of the executive board 

 were read and approved. 



Treasurer W. F. Kasting presented 

 the year's financial record, also printed 

 on a following page. C. L. Washburn, 



A, L. Miller and Joseph Heacock were 

 appointed as an auditing committee. 



W. B. Ihi Rie, F. H. Traendly and 



B. Hammond were appointed to con- 

 sider the reports of the state vice- 

 presidents, which were volupiinous and 

 not read to the convention. 



J. J. Davis presented a lengthy re- 

 port on behalf of Dr. S. A. Forbes, the 

 official entomologist of the society. He 

 did not read it all, as it will appear in 

 full in the society's annual voluthe. ; 



P. O'Mara presented, and rea^ 

 sketchily, the correspondence betweeq 

 himself and other members of the CQm- 

 mittee on tariff and legislation, spe?' 

 cially with reference to a resolution of 

 the board of directors instructing tie 

 investigation of the causes of the high 

 price of glass. The correspondence waa 

 voluminous, but led to the conclusion 

 that no facilities within the command 

 of the committee could be effective in 

 grappling with so large a problem as 

 the glass situation presents. 



Because of increasing heat and 



diminishing attendance, there was an 

 early adjournment. 



President's Eeception. 



The annual reception to the presi- 

 dent, which always has been the chief 

 social event of the convention, was this 

 year a notable success. Held in the 

 big ballroom of the fine new Seneca 

 hotel, there was abundant room, al- 

 though the attendance was large. The 

 ladies were excused from duty in the 

 receiving line, but in the extension of 

 the fraternal glad hand President Pier- 

 son had the assistance of President 

 Vick, of the Rochester Florists' Club; 

 venerable "William R. Smith, of Wash- 

 ington; Adam Graham, of Cleveland; 

 Robert Craig, whose smile is perennial; 

 J. Otto Thilow, who seems to know all 

 about every man in the trade, even if 

 he never saw him before, and James 

 Dean, whose hair now is white as snow, 

 but who has lost none of his youthful 

 enjoyment of such occasions. 



Following the reception, refreshments 

 were served by the skilled employees of 

 the hotel, and a fine orchestra made 

 music by which the young folks, and 

 some of the older ones, danced till 

 midnight. Those who thought the at- 

 tendance of ladies lighter this year 

 than some other years were surprised 

 at the attendance at the reception, al- 

 though, of course, the visiting ladies 

 were there reinforced by the ladies of 

 the Rochester members of the horti- 

 cultural trades. 



Wednesday's Session. 



Wednesday opened cool and cloudy, 

 delightful convention weather, but a 

 multiplicity of interests prevented a 

 large attendance at the opening of the 

 business session. Those present were 



the wheel-horses, the workers, and t; e 

 work of the society was put through 

 expeditiously. The attendance i .. 

 creased as the morning passed, the e 

 dropping in finding their attentii n 

 closely held. 



At the opening Secretary Dorn r 

 made a report of the accessions to meni- 

 bership since the date of his repoit, 

 August 10, when there were 825 meiu- 

 bers in good standing. Since thin 

 sixty-two had paid up and 180 new 

 members had been admitted, making a 

 total of 1,067 members, against a best 

 previous record of 995 — for the first 

 time the society has over 1,000 paid-up 

 members. 



Edward D. Boyer, of Northampton, 

 Pa., read a paper, "Use of Cement with 

 Special Reference to Greenhouse Con- 

 struction." Mr. Boyer is a cement ex- 

 pert, but his paper was not technical; 

 he treated the subject from the point 

 of view of the outsider and did not 

 profess expert knowledge of greenhouse 

 problems, inviting questions from the 

 growers. 



J. A. Peterson said he used coal ash 

 screenings; coke ash screenings were 

 used for benches and gave good drain- 

 age, using one to seven. Mr. Boyer 

 said such a bench would not be per- 

 manent; he wanted a more dense mix- 

 ture. Mr. Peterson said a one to four 

 mixture did not give enough porosity, 

 no matter how many drainage holes 

 were left. Mr. Boyer said concrete 

 does not become completely set. like 

 stone, till seven years have passed. 



E. H. Cushman asked for instructions 

 on mixing. Mr. Boyer said the use of 

 too much water is as bad as too little. 

 He said a consistency like mortar is 

 best. In reply to a question by W. A. 

 Christy, he recommended chicken wire 



R. Vincent, Jr. 



(Vlce-preHident-elect Society of American Florists.) 



