66 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
January, 1918 
THE ANNUAL CONVENTION. 
Report by E. R. McIntyre in Wis- 
consin Farmer of Dec. 20th. 
Confronted with the war-time 
duty of developing to the utmost 
the commercial fruit and vege- 
table industries of the state on 
the one hand, and assuming 
direct leadership in teaching in- 
tensive home gardening as well, 
the fifty-second annual convention 
of the Wisconsin State Horticul- 
tural Society held at Madison, 
December 11—13, took on a most 
serious and deliberate tone. Ses- 
sions were held in the state capi- 
tol. 
At the outset of the convention, 
the keynote of the situation was 
expressed by Secretary Frederic 
Cranefield, who emphasized the 
fact that it is now the absolute 
duty of every public or semi-pub- 
lic organization concerned in the 
production of food to postpone 
for a time such activities as relate 
only indirectly to that problem, 
and put extra force into methods 
of increasing and conserving the 
commissary stores. 
In this line of work the State 
Horticultural Societv has taken a 
leading part. It was the first in 
the field with a publication in- 
tended to aid the amateur gard- 
ener, namely, the special edition 
of the society’s magazine, AViscon- 
sin Horticulture, which was 
mailed to members and others in- 
terested on April 17th. 
This initial drive for better 
home gardens as national food de- 
fense measures was quickly fol- 
lowed by the organization of The 
Wisconsin Gardener’s Advisory 
Council, a group of volunteer 
workers who directed local efforts 
in fruit and vegetable growing. 
Secretary Cranefield declared 
that nothing in his fourteen years 
of service as an official of the so- 
ciety equals the spirit and results 
accomplished by this brigade of 
garden guardians. 
Members of the Gardener’s Ad- 
visory Council went on record at 
the convention as firm believers 
in the ultimate good of the move- 
ment in which they were engaged, 
and pledged to continue the work 
with added reinforcements next 
spring. Many of the members 
stated that winter garden confer- 
ences have been planned in their 
districts in order to review the 
past season’s successes and fail- 
ures and create wider enthusiasm 
for future work. 
'They believe that the sum total 
in production from 100,000 well 
worked tenth-of-an-acre gardens 
is of greater economic importance 
than 10,000 acres devoted to mar- 
ket gardens. Mr. Cranefield said 
that Wisconsin does not have 
quite 5,000 acres devoted to com- 
mercial vegetable gardening, 
while it is not an overstatement 
to place the Wisconsin home gar- 
den area cultivated in 1917 at 200,- 
000 gardens of one-twentieth of an 
acre each, or 10,000 acres. 
Wives of the visiting delegates 
and others interested in county 
council of defense garden move- 
ments lent aid to the program. 
Mrs. H. II. Morgan, chairman of 
the women’s committee for Wis- 
consin of the National Defense 
Council spoke in support of the 
state-wide garden movement, as 
did Miss Abby L. Marlatt, head of 
the home economics department 
of the University of Wisconsin and 
home economics representative of 
the United States Food Adminis- 
tration. 
Mrs. Morgan urged closer unity 
and more thorough local organi- 
zation of all women to the end 
that war work may become a vital 
part of home life and ambitions. 
Miss Marlatt dwelt in particular 
upon the conservation of fruits 
and vegetables, and asked horti- 
culturists to support all present 
and future plans based upon intel- 
ligent and rational methods of 
kitchen economy. Miss Marlatt 
placed the services of herself and 
members of the home, economics 
staff at the university at the dis- 
posal of women engaged in all 
phases of food thrift. 
Mrs. C. E. Strong, of AA T est Allis, 
presented the results of the war 
garden movement in that city. 
There during the past summer the 
loyal populace, aided by public 
information from the State Horti- 
cultural Society and the College 
of Agriculture, planted and culti- 
vated fully 1,200 gardens, averag- 
ing 60 by 120 feet in size. Similar 
accounts of personal interest and 
devotion to back-lot farming were 
outlined by Mrs. J. J. Ihrig, Osh- 
kosh, who gave a brief synopsis 
of the garden plans mapped out 
for that city next season. 
N. A. Rasmussen, president of 
the society, aided by A. Martini, 
Lake Geneva, secretary of tne 
Walworth County Foremen’s and 
Gardeners’ Association, then pro- 
vided some technical information 
to aid the directors of forthcom- 
ing garden campaigns. They ex- 
plained soil requirements and soil 
management, and gave hints on 
early crops, succession crops, and 
the storage of different varieties 
of fruits and vegetables. Next 
spring both Mr. Rasmussen and 
Mr. Martini, through the society’s 
publication and by means of spe- 
cial lectures, will continue to lend 
help to the cause in many parts of 
the state. 
Owing to the severe weather 
many of the numbers scheduled 
on the program had to be omitted. 
