-COMING EVENTS 
UB ^SOCIETY 
MEETINGS AND EXHIBITIONS IN JUNE 
2. Short Hills Garden Club, Short Hills, N. J. meeting. 
3. Garden Club of Lawrence, L. I.: peony and iris 
exhibit; lecture, “Dahlias,” by Mr. R. Vincent. 
Warrenton Garden Club, Warrenton, Va.: meeting. 
4. Pasadena, Calif., Horticultural Society, meeting. 
American Sweet Pea Society, San Francisco, Calif.: 
show in connection with the Panama Exposition. 
5. 6. Horticultural Society of New York, Bronx Park, N. Y.: 
rose and peony show. 
7. New Bedford Horticultural Society, New Bedford, 
Mass.: meeting. 
9. Short Hills Garden Club, Short Hills, N. J.: meeting. 
Nassau County Horticultural Society, Glen Cove, 
L. I.: meeting. 
10. Connecticut Horticultural Society, New Haven, 
Conn.: spring flower show. 
Worcester County Horticultural Society, Worcester 
Mass.: exhibition cut flowers. 
Warrenton Garden Club, Warrenton, Va.: meeting. 
11. Central New York Horticultural Society, New Hart- 
ford, N. Y.: peony show in Utica. 
12. Dobbs Ferry Horticultural Society, Dobbs Ferry, 
N. Y.: meeting. 
Garden Clubs in the United States 
m — THE DEMOCRATIC GROUP: SOME 
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES 
T HE democratic group of garden clubs, into 
which the social element enters but second- 
arily, is the smallest group of all. Even in this 
group, we occasionally find the number of members 
limited, but usually they are open to all. As a rule, 
the dues are decidedly less than in other clubs; one 
club requires no dues at all. As regards qualifica- 
tions for membership, one organization “demands 
actual planting — dirty hands, if not the shirt sleeve 
— on an equal suffrage basis.” This club will not 
let in “society people who have never raised a flower 
but would like to be “in it” because garden clubs are 
getting to be “the thing”. A friend says that we are 
aristocratic, and ought to let in any one who wants 
to come but in spite of him, we are democratic, in 
a Walt Whitman sense. We want those who love 
flowers, and who, even under unfavorable circum- 
stances, have tried to satisfy that love 
— and the number of such people is, un- 
fortunately, not great.” One may, per- 
haps see an aristocracy of intellect in 
the limited membership of such a club 
but surely not a social aristocracy! 
Another club admits any one more 
than fifteen years old, who raises flowers 
(or, presumably, vegetables) on a piece 
of ground not smaller than three by five 
feet. Still others absolutely dispense 
with qualifications, admitting prac- 
tically any one who wishes to join. 
The activities in this division are 
very much the same as in the semi- 
social group, previously discussed, ex- 
cept for the fact that, as a rule, there 
is more individual work done for club 
inspection, and less money spent. 
Members write and read individual 
papers, bring individual collections, 
etc., rather more than in the other groups, perhaps, 
but it is in their ideals, more than in their activities, 
that these democratic organizations differ from the 
rest. 
Many of the semi-social clubs so closely approxi- 
mate the democratic standard, that it is difficult to 
draw the line, but in the main, the truly democratic 
ones may be summed up as those having member- 
ship unlimited, or limited only to actual workers; 
a generous readiness to correspond and cooperate 
with other organizations, without any restriction of 
red tape; a civic pride, and public spirit of working 
with, and not down to the community, including not 
only the streets, parks, and surrounding country, 
but the working people and the children; and above 
all a readiness and gladness to receive — to learn, to 
assimilate, and to progress. 
The social aspect of all these groups has here been 
treated seriously, because we believe the garden 
Shedowa Garden Club, Garden City, L. I.: third 
annual flower and vegetable show. 
14. Rochester Florists’ Association, Rochester, N. Y.: 
meeting. 
New York Florists’ Club, N. Y. City: meeting. 
Garden Club of New Rochelle, N. Y.: meeting. 
16. Tarrytown Horticultural Society, Tarrytown, N. Y.: 
meeting. 
Short Hills Garden Club, Short Hills, N. J.: meeting. 
17. Worcester County Horticultural Society, Worcester, 
Mass.: exhibition cut flowers. 
Garden Club of Lawrence. L. I.: exhibition cut flowers; 
lecture, “Roses,” by George T. Powell. 
18. Pasadena Horticultural Society, Pasadena, Calif.: 
meeting. 
22 24. American Seed Trade Association, San Francisco, 
Calif.: meeting. 
23. Short Hills Garden Club, Short Hills, N. J.: meeting. 
New Canaan, Conn. Garden Club: rose show. 
23-25. American Association of Nurserymen, Detroit, Mich.: 
annual convention. 
club to be a moral, as well as a physical power, for 
civic and national betterment, and we hope that 
more and more it will be so regarded. 
This larger view of the proper function of the gar- 
den club, is really only beginning to make itself 
felt, and many clubs report “we are just planning” 
work on children’s gardens, village improvement, 
and other community interests, but one club has for 
several years given cash prizes for little flower and 
vegetable gardens, planted at the children’s own 
homes, the children paying ten cents entry fee, and 
a member of the club giving a short talk on plant- 
ing, and color planning before distributing the seeds, 
which the club supplies. One club has made many 
gifts to cottage gardens; another has offered prizes 
for those best planted and kept. 
A number have done all in their power to attract 
and protect birds, built and distributed bird houses, 
given talks in the local schools, worked with the 
Audubon Societies, etc. Others have given talks 
on tree and wild flower preservation. Somewhat 
along the “conservation” line, too, is the effort being 
made by a Long Island club, to prevent the annual 
dangerous and destructive “ burning over” of 
Hempstead Plains, with its resultant damage to soil 
and property. A Western club has purchased a 
spraying machine, and engaged a forestry expert 
to superintend the planting, and care for the trees, 
of the several summer colonies represented in the 
club’s membership. This club also works “hand 
in glove” with local associations of professional 
gardeners. Another Western club has a member on 
the local commission for the care and beautification 
of highways. 
Several clubs, notably in New. England, give 
“civic planting” as one of their chief activities. 
Another New England club plans to have lectures 
on garden topics open to the public, for a small ad- 
mission fee. At least two clubs have striven vali- 
antly, with more or less — chiefly less — success, to 
268 
24. Worcester County Horticultural Society, Worcester, 
Mass.: rose exhibit. 
25. Connecticut Horticultural Society, New Haven. 
Conn.: meeting. 
Central New York Horticultural Society, New Hart- 
ford. N. Y.: rose show. 
26. Dobbs Ferry, N. Y.: Horticultural Society, meeting. 
26, 27. Horticultural Society of New York, Bronx Park, N. Y: 
exhibition. 
30. SJiort Hills Garden Club, Short Hills, N. J.: meeting. 
Dates to be Fixed, Depending on Weather Conditions: 
New Bedford Horticultural Society, New Bedford, 
Mass.: peony and rose show. 
Short Hills Garden Club. Short Hills, N. J.: rose show. 
Germantown Horticultural Society, Philadelphia, 
Pa.: rose show. , 
American Peony Society, Ithaca, N. Y. : peony 
exhibit, in connection with the Massachusetts 
Horticultural Society. 
Minnesota Garden Flower Society, State Agricultural 
School, St. Paul, Minn.: mid-summer meeting in 
conjunction with the State Horticultural Society. 
improve the standard of the flower shows at local 
County Fairs. 
It must not be overlooked nor forgotten that in 
every garden club, as well as in every other organi- 
zation, there are both workers and drones. Some 
of the finest individual work has been done by mem- 
bers of some of the least active clubs; some of the 
best working clubs have members who do nothing 
but wonder why the executive committee doesn’t 
do more; some of the least known clubs are most 
absorbed in practical experiment; and some of the 
most widely advertised ones do little but talk. In 
every club, from the richest and most fashionable 
up to the poorest in funds and most democratic, we 
find earnest, clever, capable and warm-hearted 
workers. In some of the least public spirited clubs, 
the experimental wofk has been very fine; in some 
of the organizations of wider and more generous 
outlook, the amount of individual practical work is 
comparatively small. 
One cannot generalize too freely in the treatment 
of “What constitutes the best kind of a 
garden club?” But in the main, can we 
not say that the finest type of organ- 
ization, is that which best exemplifies 
the friendly simplicity of open-minded- 
ness, and which best “preserves to our 
use the kindly fruits of the earth?” 
Mary Youngs. 
[The fourth article in this series, to 
follow in the July number, discusses 
“The Ideal Federation”] 
The International Garden Club 
T HE International Garden Club 
held its annual meeting and recep- 
tion at Pelham Bay Park, New York 
City, on Saturday, May ist, on which 
occasion the Governor of New York 
planted a young oak tree on the site of 
the old Treaty Oak. The event was 
followed by a reception in the old Bartow Mansion 
in which the International Garden Club will make 
its headquarters by arrangement with the Park 
Department of the City of New York. It is pro- 
posed here to establish ' a garden library and the 
Club will also undertake the embellishment of the 
grounds surrounding the mansion. Work has 
already been started under the direction of Mr. 
Arthur Herrington, and a rose garden on a large 
scale is contemplated. 
Meeting of the American Peony Society 
T HE American Peony Society will meet this year 
in Boston, in conjunction with the Massa- 
chusetts Horticultural Society. There will be a 
liberal list of prizes, those offered by the Peony 
Society being added to the schedule of the Horti- 
cultural Society. 
Boston is such a large centre for nurseries that an 
The Bartow Mansion, Pelham Bay Park, N. Y., where the International Garden 
Club has its headquarters, by arrangement with the Park Department of the City 
of New York 
