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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Mabch 7, 1012. 



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ILLINOIS STATE 



FLORISTS MEET 



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Officers Elected. 



President — ChaTles Loveridge, Peoria. 



Vice-president — Charles W. Johnson, 

 Morgan Park. 



Secretairy — J. F. Ammann, Edwards- 

 ville. 



Treasurer — ^F. L. Washburn, Bloom- 

 ington. 



Sidesteps the Plunge. 



For a moment, March 5, the Illinois 

 State Florists' Association stood on 

 the threshold of an open door leading to 

 a new field of labor in which there is 

 great need of powerful leadership — but 

 it stood only a moment — then it backed 

 away. 



It was the seventh annual conven- 

 tion, held at Joliet, and W. L. Palinsky, 

 of Chicago, had brought up the subject 

 of the great damage done to florists 

 because of illuminating gas seeping 

 through the ground in cold weather 

 into greenhouses near leaking mains. 

 Mr. Palinsky and several other Chicago 

 florists have suffered damages from this 

 cause this winter and it developed that 

 President-elect Loveridge, of Peoria, 

 has just had a similar loss in two 

 houses containing 3,500 rose plants that 

 dropped their leaves. So graphically 

 did the Chicago man paint the troubles 

 of the small grower in getting an ade- 

 quate settlement from a powerful cor- 

 poration that, after a half dozen speak- 

 ers had related the facts regarding 

 other such losses of which they had 

 heard, a motion was made that the ex- 

 ecutive committee gather data and seek 

 expert testimony to be available when- 

 ever the members are in need. Mr. 

 Palinsky explained that he did not 

 seek financial aid in the suit he pur- 

 poses instituting against the big Chi- 

 cago gas corporation, but wanted the 

 backing of the organization to give 

 weight to the florist's side of all such 

 cases. He said he will fight it out on 

 principle anyway and put his story in 

 such plain language that for a moment 

 the association seemed about to accept 

 his invitation to "come on in; the 

 water's fine." Then it declined to 

 take the plunge. J. F. Ammann, H. B. 

 Dorner, George Asmus and others 

 pointed out that the departure was not 

 only radical but that its effect would 

 be far-reaching, that much work would 

 be necessary, that it would bring the 

 association frequently into court and 

 that it might detract seriously from 

 the experimental work for floriculture 

 the association has in progress and 

 requiring all the effort of which the 

 association seems capable — in other 

 words, the association has its hands 

 full, and the motion was withdrawn. 

 Many individuals offered personal as- 

 sistance in case of losses similar to 

 those that have been unusually nu- 

 merous this winter. 



The Opening Ceremonies. 



The business sessions were held in 



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the parlors of the Hotel Munroe, across 

 the street from the exhibition. Presi- 

 dent Washburn asked W. N. Rudd for 

 some introductory remarks. He spoke 

 of the well known hospitality of 

 JoUy-et and told the story we all like 

 so well, about there being no florists at 

 the institution at which abide a con- 

 siderable number of those in other 

 walks of life. He introduced Mr. 

 Mooney, secretary to the mayor, to give 

 an address of welcome in behalf of 

 the absent executive. Mr. Mooney said 

 that Jo-le-et appreciates its own flo- 

 rists and always welcomes visitors from 

 the craft. George Asmus responded 

 and pointed out that the association's 

 first president, James Hartshorne, was 

 a Joliet man. He also emphasized the 

 fact that the organization does not fos- 

 ter individual interests but seeks to 

 advance the general good, having 

 worked so successfully that other states 

 now are following the lead of Illinois, 

 notably New York, which is seeking 

 a state appropriation for experimental 

 greenhouses at Ithaca. 



President Washburn 's address will be 

 found in full in another column. 



Secretary's Report. 



Secretary J. F. Ammann read the 

 lengthy minutes of the 1911 meeting at 

 Champaign and then presented the fol- 

 lowing brief annual report: 



"I take great pleasure in reporting 

 a successful year of our organization. 



this association is shown by the liberal 

 appropriation made for floriculture in 

 the last general assembly. This is 

 work, gentlemen, that this organiza- 

 tion can be proud of. Full reports oT" 

 this work will be given by others later 

 on. 



"The finances of our association are 

 not large, yet I am pleased to report 

 a balance to date of $234.01. 



"We have increased our membership 

 in the last year as follows: Annual 

 members, from 153 to 175. Life mem- 

 bers, from eighteen to thirty-two. Hon- 

 orary members, four, giving us at this 

 writing a total membership of 211. So 

 far as your secretary knows there have 

 been no deaths in our ranks during the 

 year. I shall not dwell on the ever im- 

 portant question of new membership 

 any more than to say the importance 

 of this I am sure we all realize and 

 the way to get new members we all 

 know, so just hustle." 



Treasurer ' s Report. 



Treasurer F. L. Washburn presented! 

 the following financial statement: 



RECEIPTS. 



Balance Feb. 2, 1911 $118.28 



Balance from banquet 2.10 



From secretary (dues) 151.00 



Total $271.38 



DISBURSEMENTS. 



Miscellaneous $ 37.37 



Balance March 1, 1912 .^34.01 



Total $271.38 



Charles Loveridgr, President-elect Illinois State Florists' Association. 



The interest and the display of floral 

 work shown at the state fair held in 

 Springfield last fall, which was direct- 

 ly due to the work carried out by this 

 organization, was indeed a credit to 

 us. 



"Another feature of the work of 



Mr. Hill's Address. 



E. G. Hill was introduced by the presi- 

 dent "to talk on his new rose." Mr. 

 Hill said that the subject was solely 

 the president's and that modesty forbade 

 his saying much on it; "anyway, the 



