36 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Ai'KiL G. 1911. 





THE NATIONAL fg 



\» FLOWER SHOW 



A COMPLETE SUCCESS. 



Now a Triennial Affair, 



The great S. A. F. National Show, 

 scheduled to run from March 25 to 

 April 1, did not finally close its doors 

 until Sunday night, April 2. Demands 

 were so strong for an additional Sunday 

 that the management yielded to the 

 pressure to keep open and the crowd 

 on the closing day seemed even larger 

 than ever. The exhibition closed in a 

 blaze of glory and many were the re- 

 grets expressed that it could not have 

 run another week. There have never 

 previously been exhibitions running so 

 long as this in Boston and there were 

 serious misgivings that the attendance, 

 while splendid during the earlier days, 

 might dwindle towards the close, but 

 there was so much to see and so many 

 new attractions were added day by day 

 that people came, admired and won- 

 dered, and came again with their 

 friends, and had it been possible to 

 maintain exhibits in presentable condi- 

 tion for even another week there is 

 little question but that it would have 

 paid well. 



It was announced Saturday, April 1, 

 that with gate receipts of some $15,000 

 up to that time the show was a finan- 

 cial success, that guarantors would be 

 paid back in full and that there would 

 undoubtedly be a fair profit. This sur- 

 passed the most sanguine expectations 

 of the management. It was decided 

 March 30 by the board of directors of 

 the S. A. F. to have the national show 

 triennially, and now that Boston has 

 shown that it can manage one of this 

 size and make it a financial success, we 

 may fairly expect a chorus of claimants 

 for the 1914 show. 



Weather Favors the Show. 



The weather proved a trump card, as 

 while it remained cold during the entire 

 exhibition, this favored the exhibits and 

 the attendance. With the ground frozen 

 at the end of March and sleighing in 

 progress in Maine, Vermont and Can- 

 ada, many made the Boston trip who 

 would not have come had spring started 

 early, as it did a year ago. 



Many exhibits remained fresh to the 

 end, but the ten days' show was too 

 much for some. Orchids, except cypripe- 

 diums, went to sleep after a few days. 

 Bulbous plants were quite pass6 at the 

 close. On the other hand, azaleas, ericas, 

 acacias and other hard-wooded plants 

 kept finely. It was noted that speci- 

 mens of box lately imported from Hol- 

 land lost their leaves in showers, while 

 those that were acclimated did not suf- 

 fer in the least. The foliage on the 

 rambler roses had mostly turned golden, 

 but there were so many changes made 

 each day that nothing unsightly met 

 the visitors' eyes. James Wheeler, as 

 superintendent of the exhibition, was 

 ever on the alert and every day pleas- 

 ing changes were made. 



The appearance of some plants in the [ 

 main hall a few days after the openin"g* 

 suggested that escaping gas or creosote 

 was causing some damage. The real 

 cause was there undoubtedly in some 

 gaseous form, although it was not lo- 

 cated. Everything being considered, 

 however, things kept well and it .is 

 doubtful if they would have lasted bet- 

 ter in any other hall in Boston. 



Attendance at Meetings Slim. 



A meeting of so manj- national socie- 

 ties brought an attendance unparalleled 

 in the history of American floriculture. 

 A show of the magnitude of this one 

 has demonstrated one thing, viz.: that 

 no matter how diverse and interesting a 

 series of business sessions the several 

 societies may map out in advance, the 

 attractions of the exhibition are so po- 

 tent that it is a difficult matter to get 

 even a quorum together to talk busi- 

 ness. Practically all the business ses- 

 sions showed this. Some were aban- 

 doned and others materially modified to 

 meet the conditions of the case. 



The closing meeting of the S. A. F., 

 scheduled for 9 a. m. April 1, was not 

 called to order until 12:30. The ex- 



hibition hall was packed with visitors, 

 but it was difficult to secure a quorum 

 of members to hold the last session. 

 President Asmus read a short address, 

 congratulating the members on the mag- 

 nificent success of the show and thank- 

 ing all workers for their untiring efforts. 

 He said that his address proper would 

 be reserved for Baltimore, as would 

 other addresses. He appointed as a 

 committee on final resolutions A. T. De 

 La Mare, J. H. Pepper, A. Farenwald, 

 James Forbes and J. R. Fotheringham. 

 The resolutions, which were adopted by 

 acclamation, thanked the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, the Gardeners' 

 and Florists' Club of Boston, the local 

 ladies' committee, F. R. Pierson, the 

 chairman of the National Show com- 

 mittee, and all who had worked and 

 helped to make the show such a suc- 

 cess. 



A telegram was read from Edwin 

 Lonsdale, state vice-president in Cali- 

 fornia, conveying congratulations to 

 the society for its courage in holding a 

 spring show and convention and stating 

 that San Francisco would be the 

 strategic point for a show in 1915. 



James Forfoei. 



