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JANUABT 11, 1912. 



TIic Weekly Florists' Review. 



17 



The American Beauties at Detroit, January 10. 



(Rustic Booth of L. Bemb Floral Co. In the right back«rrouad.) 



All members of the American Eose 

 Society can feel that the idea, "A 

 rose for every home, a bush for every 

 garden," meets a response in the hearts 

 of the people. 



A. B. S. TBEASUBER'S BEPOBT. 



Treasurer Harry 0. May, of the 

 American Rose Society, presented the 

 following report at the convention of 

 the society in Detroit, January 10 to 

 12, 1912: 



iDTestment accouot — 



Westchester & Bronx Title & Mortgage 

 Guaranty Co., three mortgage certifi- 

 cates $ 3,000.00 



Summit Trust Co., Permanent Fund 



and Hubbard Medal Fund 360.00 



Receipts $1,485.06 



Disbursements 753.40 



Cash In bank 742.26 



$1,485.66 



MR. VALENTINE'S ADDEESS. 



[The following is the address of President J. A. 

 Valentine, of the American Carnation Society, 

 read at the conyention of tlie society in Detroit, 

 January 10 to 12, 1912.] 



After a good many years of discus- 

 sion, we are at last trying the experi- 

 ment of holding an exhibition jointly 

 with the American Rose Society, in 

 <:onnection with the annual meetings of 

 both societies. 



Whether this is a desirable change, 

 which ought to be continued and be- 

 come an established custom, will re- 

 main for this exhibition to demon- 

 strate. There are sound arguments to 

 be advanced on both sides of the ques- 

 tion. To the man who comes a long 

 distance and wishes to see the exhi- 

 bitions of both societies, the saving of 

 time and money would be quite con- 

 siderable. This feature of it appealed 

 to me so strongly that at our meeting 

 in this same city of Detroit, eight years 

 ago, I introduced a resolution seeking 

 to bring it about. 



The object of these exhibitions is 



probably threefold, but, if I am not 

 mistaken, they could not be success- 

 fully carried on were it not for the 

 new varieties of roses and of carna- 

 tions. Joint exhibitions ought to in- 

 duce a larger attendance of florists 

 who are in the market for novelties 

 than where the exhibitions are held 

 separately. The interest of the general 

 public ought to be more largely aroused 

 by joint exhibitions, with a consider- 

 ably larger attendance and larger gate 

 receipts, if an admission fee is chafed. 

 The expense incurred for one exhibi- 

 tion ought to be less than for two. 



A Weighty Question. 



All of these arguments, however, 

 would be outweighed if roses and car- 

 nations could not both be shown of 

 good quality and in sufficient quantity 

 at a joint exhibition. This is a diffi- 

 culty which many growers have seemed 

 to think insurmountable and the show- 

 ing made at this present exhibition 

 should go a long way toward determin- 

 iT'g that point. 



At the same time, undue weight 

 should not be given to the showing 

 made by standard commercial varie- 

 ties, because the novelties are the 

 things which most florists come to these 

 exhibitions to see. 



I think I am well within the truth 

 when I say that the tendency is to 

 place orders for novelties earlier and 

 earlier each succeeding year. Early 

 exhibitions are, in this particular, an 

 advantage to the disseminators of new 

 varieties of either roses or carnations. 



This question is a weighty one and is 

 entitled to careful consideration. I 

 hope that each member will take an 

 active interest in its final settlement 

 and that he will, as far as possible, put 

 aside all personal prejudice and help 

 settle it for the ultimate good of both 

 societies. 



During the years covered by the life- 

 time of this society, much has been 

 accomplished by the exchanging of 

 ideas concerning methods of cultiva- 

 tion and the best manner of fighting 

 diseases and insect pests, and the dis- 

 cussion of other matters of mutual in- 

 terest to carnation growers. 



The improvement made in the carna- 

 tion itself, both as to size and quality, 

 has been quite marked. 



The Society's Fast and Future. 



The American Carnation Society has 

 been an exceptionally vigorous and 

 virile organization, and its member- 

 ship has averaged as widely awake and 

 keenly alive to matters that affected it 

 as has the membership of any other 

 similar organization in this country. 

 We have been fortunate in our mem- 

 bership and a number of our members 

 have become known to carnation grow- 

 ers throughout the world, by reason of 

 the excellent varieties which were orig- 

 inated and disseminated by them. We 

 should, however, bear in mind that 

 whenever a society becomes contented 

 with its past achievements and re- 

 laxes its eflforts, the situation becomes 

 perilous. 



If this society is to keep abreast of 

 other bodies of like character, its 

 members must not fail to note that the 

 world's knowledge of the laws of 

 heredity has been greatly increased 

 within recent years and that other 

 bodies of men are setting us a lively 

 pace. 



Until recent years there was no 

 knowledge which could enable an ex- 

 perimenter to make his crossings in an 

 intelligent, orderly manner. Crosses 

 were made almost at random between 

 promising varieties, a good deal as a 

 man might shake dice in the hope that 

 he would make a lucky throw. In fact, 

 many crosses are still made in that way 



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