14 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
of your society is doubtless familiar, I 
should become bewildered. The greatest 
ancient achievement in horticulture was 
perhaps the hanging gardens of Babylon, 
from whence transplanted from Persia we 
know came the rose, apple, pear, quince, 
pomegranate and the peach—there, Mr. 
President, at the mention of the luscious 
peach I can proceed no further. I do not 
say this with any disparagement against 
any of the other of our great family of 
citrus fruit, the orange, the grapefruit, the 
plum, the apple, but the vision and aroma 
of peaches and cream makes oratory suc¬ 
cumb to appetite, and I must stop. (Ap¬ 
plause.) 
Mr. President, in conclusion, I have the 
great honor to tender to you the keys of 
the city, and to extend to you and each of 
you a double, thrice welcome to the City of 
Jacksonville, the Metropolis of your State, 
and bespeak for you a session of great 
benefit to the State as well as of pleasure 
and profit to each of you individually, and 
as a society. 
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. 
BY CAPT. C E. GARNER. 
Mr. President^ Ladie.s and Gentlemen: 
On behalf of the Board of Trade as its 
president, and as representative of the 
business interests of the City of Jackson¬ 
ville, I desire to extend to you, to the 
Florida State horticultural Society and 
to each of you individually and collective¬ 
ly a most hearty, cordial welcome to our 
City. I wish to reiterate what has been 
said by the Honorable Mayor who has 
just preceded me, that Jacksonville has 
become one of the greatest convention and 
assembly meeting places in this country. 
There are at the present moment several 
other organizations and societies holding 
their annual sessions in the city, moreover 
these conventions and gatherings are not 
confined to those of the State, they come 
here from all over the country to hold 
their annual meetings. Many of these 
dates being arranged for during the win¬ 
ter months in order that they may enjoy 
the balmy climate of our fair State for 
their deliverations, Mr. President, I wish 
here to assure you that, of all of these 
societies, none of them are more welcome 
than the Florida State Horticultural So¬ 
ciety, indeed we claim you as one of us, to 
you, to your great work, is due in a great 
measure the renown of our fair State. 
Mr. President, I wish at this time to 
invite the attention of your society to a 
movement in this State which in my judg¬ 
ment, if properly handled, will prove of 
much benefit to the State and to the Horti¬ 
cultural interests of this State. I refer to 
the effort now being made to the trans¬ 
planting of a Japanese Colony in Florida. 
The Japanese, Mr. President, as you know, 
are essentially a horticultural people, and 
I believe if this movement receives the 
encouragement it merits that the State 
will be greatly benefitted, especially the 
horticultural interests of the State. 
Now, Mr. President, after you have lis¬ 
tened to the eloquent address of the Hon¬ 
orable Mayor, you will perhaps be inclined 
to expect me to soar into similar flights of 
