448 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
to avail tluinselvcs of the offer antl to be competed for diirinji 
the >ear 1!I17. the only stipulation being that the medal was to 
be won Ijy a member of the association. Seven medals have been 
awarded so far as follows: 
Stanley R. Candler, Southampton (N. T.) Horticultural Society, 
Boston. July. 1917. 
David F. Roy, New Bedford ("Mass.) Horticultural Society Show. 
September. 1H17. 
John Barnet, Sewicklev (Pa.) Horticultural Society Show, Octo- 
ber. 1917. 
Robert Tyson. Morris County (N. J.) Gardeners' and Florists' 
Show. November, 1917. 
Thomas Wilson. Tuxedo Park (N. J.) Horticultural Society Show. 
November. 1917. 
William Rayment. Santa Barbara County (Cal.) Horticultural 
Society Show. November, 1917. 
The following societies accepted the offer of the medal but have 
not yet reported the successful contestants; 
Chrysanthemum Society of .America. 
Riverdale iN. Y.) Horticultural Society. 
Grosse Point (Mich.) Horticultural Society. 
Dutchess County (N. Y.) Horticultural Society. 
Monmouth County (N. J.) Horticultural Societ.v. 
St. Louis (Mo.) Association of Gardeners. 
Menlo Park (Cal.) Horticultural Society. 
Nassau County (N. Y.) Horticultural Society. 
A commnnic-ation was sent to the local societies annonncinii 
the decision of the Board of Directors to offer the silver medal. 
and notices were printed in several issues of our official orjian, 
but, notwithstanding, complaints have come to hand from mem- 
bers of some of the local societies that they knew nothing of the 
offer and intimating that their societies have been discriminated 
against. 
The committee feels that it did its full duty in addressing a 
communication to the local societies and having the offer of th- 
medal published in se\eral notices in the monthly association 
notes, and that it should not be held responsible for the laxity 
on the part of officials of some of the local societies. 
The association's gold medal offered for the production of am 
meritorious novelty in flowers or new or rare plants by a gar- 
dener has never been competed for. Your committee would like 
to see some interest manifested in this direction. 
WILLIAJI KLEIXHEINZ. Chairman. 
()j;ontz, Pa., De-ember 1, IfllT. 
COMMITTEE ON ESSAYS AND HORTICULTURAL INSTRUC- 
TION. 
This commiltee. 1 am afraid, has l>een somewhat remiss in its 
duties during the present year. We have been faced with very 
umisual conilitions, however, including an acute labor shortage, 
a call for a big increase in food production, and more recently 
still greater drains which have crippled us. The present war 
conditions have not seemed the best in which to make progress 
in horticultural instruction, and more especially as a large jjer- 
cenlage of our younger members are now in military training or 
on the European firing line. 
The winners for the essay contest for assistant gardeners which 
was decided last April were as follows: 
First Prize — "Rock Gardens" by Marcel M. Twinney, second as- 
sistant greenhouse gai'dener to J. Ogden Ai'mour, Lake Forest, 111. 
(Thomas W. Head. Supt.) 
Second Prize — "Hardy Fruits" by Frederick W. Bateman. assis- 
tant in charge of greenhouses, Mrs. P. Boettger Estate, Riverdale- 
on-Hudson. N. Y. 
Third Prize — "Garden Chemistry in Soil Cultivation" by William 
S. Gillies, assistant gardener to R. H. Boggs. Sewicklev. Pa. 
Your committee is not unmindful of its duties, and if con- 
tinued will endeavor to do something in the near future to 
justify its title. It will endeavor, and will be glad to act on 
any helpful suggestions v^•hich members can offer on how best 
to continue this important line of work. 
\V. X. CRAin, Chairman. 
Brookline, JIass., December 1. I'.UT. 
COMMITTEE ON BIRD PROTECTION AND PROPAGATION. 
This committee consists of five members of the National .-\sso- 
cia,tion of GardiMiers and four members of the American Associa- 
tion of Park Superintendents with myself as cliairman. represent- 
ing both associations. 
The following letter was sent to each one of the members earh' 
in the year: 
'"As chairman of a joint committee on bird protection and ]irop- 
agation of the National Association of Gaideners and the Ameri- 
can Association of Park Sujierintendents, I am writing you, as 
a member of this committee, to kindly submit to me any sug- 
gestions which you miglit have in regard to the work which our 
committee is presumed to perform. Y'on no doid)t realize tlie 
importance of this joint committci^ and the valuable M'ork whicli 
we might be able to do if each of the members of this committee 
could be induced to help. Could you send me a short arti de of 
what is being done in this direction in your part of the cmmtry. 
or give some personal experience or observation in this line of 
work? 1 would like to have this for our official organ. 1 am 
very anxious to havi> our committee make a good showing at the 
St. Louis and Chicago conventions, and trust you will make every 
possii)le elfiirt to assist in this good \\'ork, etc." 
To this letter I received but one reply, none from the members 
representing this association. Several other letters of a similar 
nature were sent to the members of this committee, to which 
the park superintendents responded, but only one reply from the 
gardeners. This was from Mr. Carl U. Fohn, of Colorado Springs, 
Col., as follows: 
■"In regard to bird protection, we are doing all we can to help 
the little fellows. Quite a number of residents of Colorado 
Springs have taken u]) this work, and there is a bird hospital 
established here inider the direction of Dr. Arnold. School chil- 
dren have been instructed to take disabled birds of him. Dr. 
Arnold has suitable quarters for their care, and also writes arti- 
cles in regard to his work and has them published in the daily 
papers so as to get the public interested." 
L. P. JENSEN, Cliairman. 
Moved and seconded that all the reports be adopted as read. 
Carried. 
Reports of special committees were presented as follows: 
REPORT OF THE SERVICE BUREAU. 
The Service Bureau engaged in a year of profitable experi- 
mentation during 1917, which demonstrated its worth and in- 
tlrence as an adjunct of the association, that could be so de- 
veloped as to become a material aid to those in the profession 
seeking opportunities to better themselves. 
Having up to this time been conducted more in the nature of 
an experiment, the Service Biu'cau has been operated at practi- 
cally no expense to the association, excepting for postage and 
occasional telephone and telegraph charges, the last two named 
having been more than offset by voluntary contributions made by 
members to the bureau for services rendered. 
To thoroughly establish the bureau, a proper system of filing, 
classification, etc., must be installed; more complete methods of 
operation inaugurated than have been in force: provision made 
for maintenance expense; also for proper exploitation to bring 
the bureau and the services it renders more prominently before 
the attention of coinitry estate owners. 
I am firndy of the opinion, judging by the experience gained 
in conducting the Service Bureau the last two years, that the 
association is warranted in taking some favorable action to more 
jiroperly provide for the operation of this department. 
To continue the bureau on its present basis is not justifiable, 
for with the constantly increasing inquiries and apjilications that 
are being received, satisfactory services cannot be given under 
the existing conditions. 
Respectfully submitted, M. C. EBEL. 
ill!. HEAD: I think the report of the Service Bureau should be 
referred to a special committee. The Service Bureau of the Asso- 
ciation is a very important thing, and it is going to be more 
important than ever, especially when you realize that the society 
is now increasing .so fast, and the inquiries arc coming in very 
fast. They are not only coming in, but the inquirers are inquir- 
ing more minutely into the ability of the men they are looking 
for. The Service Bureau itself ought to be supported, and we 
should devise some ways and means to keep the Service Bureau 
in front of the people, and make it more of a bureau which will 
be used by the employees and ourselves, and tinder those circum- 
stances I think there is no easier or quicker way to get it to a 
head than to jdace it in the hands of a committee together, and 
I appoint on such a committee Messrs. Wirth, Cameron and 
Weeks to rejiort back to the convention before we adjourn. 
RECOMMENDATIONS NATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE COM- 
MITTEE. 
Com]dying with the recommendations made by the representa- 
tives of a number of gardeners' local societies at a meeting re- 
cently held in New \"ork for the purpose of creating closer co- 
operation between the tiardeners' National Association and their 
local organizations, the National Co-operative Committee has 
carefully considered the different suggestions that were presented 
at the meeting, and submits its findings as follows: 
The suggestion that local societies elect delegates each year 
to represent them at the annual convention of the national as- 
sociation should, in the opinion of your committee, be brought 
about as soon as the local societies can be sufficiently interested 
to adopt such a plan. Through such action the affairs concern- 
ing the gardening ]n-ofession and its government as a whole can 
be more effectively administered than through any other course. 
But imtil local societies sliow a willingness to enter earnestly 
into such a movement no definite action, on it should be taken 
for it will require a united concurrence to make it successtid in 
its operation. 
The suggestion that the presidents of local societies auto- 
