Response 
B. L. Hamner, Tampa 
Mr. President, Dr. Fairchild , Ladies and 
Gentlemen : 
On behalf of the Florida State Horti¬ 
cultural Society, Dr. Fairchild, I want to 
express to you and the citizens of Miami 
our deep appreciation of the hospitality 
which you have so generously expressed. 
I know that our visit here, will be attended 
both with pleasure and with profit. With 
pleasure because hospitality is synony¬ 
mous with Miami, and the opportunity 
for hospitality in Miami is great by rea¬ 
son of your proximity to Bimini and to 
Cuba—the oasis in an arid country. 
I know it will be attended with great 
profit because you have many, many ob¬ 
ject lessons here. I believe that one of 
the great object lessons which you present 
in Miami is the lesson of co-operation. 
The causeway which leads from Miami 
to your beach was only built through the 
co-operation of your citizens. 
I believe that we will learn here the 
lesson of vision because a few years ago 
your beach and the islands which are aris¬ 
ing in your bay were but a sandbar and a 
mangrove swamp which to men of less 
vision would have appeared to be without 
value and without use. And when we 
have seen the wonderful things which 
you are doing with it I know we are going 
to accede to you the right to the title of 
“The Magic City.” 
I believe that we will learn the lesson of 
faith because one could not ride over this 
city and out to Coconut Grove without 
knowing that it was a combined citizen¬ 
ship which helped build those beautiful 
homes; and that they had faith in Miami 
and that without faith they could not 
have built. 
I believe that we will learn the. lesson 
of courage because we know something 
of the struggle that it has taken to ac¬ 
quire these things and to accomplish the 
things which you have. You have shoul¬ 
dered burden after burden of indebted¬ 
ness which to men without vision and 
without faith would seem staggering. 
You have built in advance of your time 
and I know that it takes a great amount 
of courage to do the things that have been 
done here. 
We are also going to learn common 
sense, because in Dade County you have 
had foresight. You have made this a 
tick-free county and you have, acquired 
for yourself common sense, and reason¬ 
able laws respecting fences. 
I believe that we are going to learn op¬ 
timism because people, could not take the 
rather uninviting looking mangrove 
swamps that you had along your shore 
and along your bay and work them into 
the beautiful things that you have here 
