42 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



August IS, 1910. 



Viuociil, Mrs. lii.linnl, Uhili" M.-irsli, M,l. 

 \'irf;iii, .Mrs. r. J., New ()il(:iiis, ],:i. 



W'iiMcckcr, Mis. II.. r.iiiiiitn (>, M.iss. 

 WiilUiT, Mrs. ,l(]lni. Yiiiiii;,'sl«i\vii. O. 

 Wfbcr. Mrs. <-hiirlcs, l.viilirook, N. Y. 

 Western, .Mrs. Il.iir.v, lhni|islciHl, .\. V. 

 Wils.iii. Mrs. i:il:i Cr.iiit, Clcvi'hinil, (). 

 Wilsiiii. Mrs. ,1. S.. lies Moines, hi. 

 Wiiilerieli, Mrs. Clirisl., Deliniice, (). 

 WilliH.in. Mrs. I!., West lliiliolieii, .N. .1. 

 \\'..lliiiers. .Mrs. J. A., I'.rooklvii, X. Y. 



PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. 



ri'lie folldwiii'; is llio address delivoreil Iiv 

 I'resideiil J'. I{. riersdii before tlie Societ.v of 

 .\im-ricaii I'iorists, iii i-oiiveiitiuii ;it Koelie'ster, 

 .MiKUst IC to I'J, ItJlO.] 



It fjivcs iiu' jrre.'it ]ilc;isiirc 1o addrc^ss 

 yoii on this occasion, our twcnfy-sixth 

 animal convent ion. This convnition 

 marks tlic beginning of the second (juar- 

 liT century in our iiistory. ]t is very 

 litlinii; that Kochoster, the riowcr City, 

 -liould liave been chosen for tliis coii- 

 \ ention, for no city in the United States 

 lias done more to inculcate the love of 

 horticulture among our people tlian has 

 Kochoster. This city was the cradle of 

 the seed and nursery business of the 

 I'nited h'tates, and has a world-wide rep- 

 utation f(jr its love of flowers and the 

 iK'autit'iil. 



To my mind, one of tlie most im- 

 pcirtaiit objrets to be accomplished at 

 this time is tho incorporation or con 

 sdlidation of the various societies de 

 \(it('d to special lines of ornamental 

 hurt icultiire into one lioinogeiieous, liar 

 iiioniotis wiiole. By this 1 do not mean 

 tliat tlu; different societies, su(di as tin' 

 • '.•iriiation Society, the Eose Society and 

 tiie other kindred organizations, shotild 

 hise their individuality or identity, but 

 that, instead of being separate organi- 

 zations, they should become sections of 

 tlic national society, each devoted to 

 its; (iwn individual interests, but incor- 

 jiorated into one jMiweiful organization. 

 This is the day of concentration, ami 

 now, it seems to me, is the j)sychologic- 

 al moment for the unification of tin; 

 dillcrent horticultural interests. 



Theoretical and Practical Union. 



^'ou may ask how this is to be done, 

 and it is a pertinent (piestion. As my 

 friend, I'atrick O'Mara, has expressed 

 it. "We need a ]Moses to lead us out of 

 the wilderness into the promised land.'' 

 If I remember correctly, this promised 

 land flowed with milk and lioney; so 

 it would seem as if tiie object to b(> 

 attained was worth striving for. I do 

 init want you to mistake me as expect- 

 ing to be the ]\Ioses to lead you out 

 of the wilderness of the numerous and 

 varied interests represented liy the dif- 

 ferent horticultural societies. 



This suliject has lieen uppermost in 

 all our miiKls for years, and the ques- 

 tion of afliliation has been threshed out, 

 and it seems to me as if we might ac- 

 complish, iu a concrete and practical 

 foiiii, what we have been theorizing 

 about for years, in the midwinter con- 

 vention, which it is now propositi to 

 hold in connection with the National 

 Flower Show, to be ludd in J^oston next 

 spring, the executive boanl having rec- 

 ommended that a special meeting of 

 the society lie held during the time of 

 tiie National {"lower Show; and I sin- 

 <-erely hope that this recomineudation 

 will meet with your approval and be 

 adopted, especially in view of the fact 

 that the American Carnation Society 

 has already fixed that date for holding 

 its annual convention, .and the American 

 Rose Society has also agreed upon that 

 date for holding its annual convention, 



and I trust we may ha\e the coopera- 

 tion of all the other societies as well. 



A General Midwinter Convention. 



This is directly in line with what I 

 have in mind at this time as a desir- 

 ability. In other words, I believe that, 

 instead of having a convention of the 

 Carnation Society in .Tanuary, a conven- 

 tion of the liose Society in March, and 

 a meeting of the Sweet Pea Society in 

 the summer, it would be better if these 

 different meetings were held at one 

 time, nnder the auspices of the Society 

 of American Florists. 



This would afford us an oj)portunity 

 to test the desirability and advisability 

 of such a midwinter convention before 

 committing ourselves definitely to any 

 change of plan. There are a great many 

 arguments that can be advanced in 

 favor of the summer convention, such 

 as we have always held, and there arc 

 other arguments in favor of the mid- 

 winter convention. 



There are some who advocate doing 

 away entirely with the summer con- 

 vention of the society and substituting 

 a midwinter convention, but at this 

 time I should not want to advocate so 

 radical a change. The secretary was 

 directed to send to each member of the 

 society an inquiry as to whether he 

 would find it more desirable or con- 

 venient to attend a summer meeting or 

 a meeting during some month in the 



spring; so we shall soon have this ii: 

 formation available. I do not know 

 why it would not Vjc advantageous foi 

 the national society to hold a soini 

 annual convention instead of an annua; 

 convention, as in the past. The sum 

 mer convention has its advantages f o ■ 

 plant exhibits, but gives practically no 

 opportunity for an exhibition of oir 

 flowers of any kind. 



To Interest the General Public. 



Last year, at Cincinnati, there Avri- 

 considerable discussion as to the dt 

 sirability of making our exhibitions c 

 such a character as to interest the gen 

 eral public, but on account of lack oi 

 room at Uoehcster, there being so groai 

 a demand for space by exhibitors, i' 

 was found impossible to carry out that 

 suggestion at this time. There is uu 

 doubt but the general public is mucli 

 interested in our conventions, and ii 

 is very desirable that our exhibit- 

 should be of such a character as to in 

 terest the public and help floriculturi' 

 generally in tiie different cities where 

 we gather from time to time. A mill 

 winter convention would offer a mag 

 nificent opportunity for this purpose, 

 and I believe that the coming National 

 Flower Show will demonstrate the de- 

 sirability of a midwinter meeting — pos 

 sibly not on so elaborat<' or extensive 

 a scale as will be attempted in Boston 

 next year, but along those general line.- 



Edward S. Osborne. 



'Clininiian Committee on Transpoitiition. 



