FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
lapel of my coat, as I go to the busy 
cares of the day at my office, garlands 
for the vases of the festal hall and per¬ 
haps to the sick chamber of the invalid, 
carrying with them a fragrance and sen¬ 
timent that can not be expressed in 
words. It would be impossible for me 
to enumerate all of our lovely flowers 
or the ones most dear to us. We love 
them all, as their sweet fragrance is 
wafted from waving branch or clinging 
vine. Personally, however, I do not con¬ 
sider that the vine, at least in our sec¬ 
tion, should be encouraged near the 
dwelling, as I have found them to be an 
harbor for the mosquito. For this rea¬ 
son, I have set all of my vines at a dis¬ 
tance, ornamenting some old stump or 
tree for instance, on the lawn or away 
from the dwelling. Again, Mr. Presi¬ 
dent, permit me to say that the women 
of this committee are to be congratula¬ 
ted by the society for their unceasing, 
untiring work and achievement in or¬ 
namental lawn and garden work. 
Dr. Richardson—Mr. President, I can 
heartily second the sentiments of the 
gentleman for the lower East Coast. I 
do not think we pay half enough at¬ 
tention to the ornamentation of the 
home; the home is the haven of rest. In 
there we seek and enjoy the sweet com¬ 
panionship of wife, children and all of 
our loved ones. No time or money 
should be spared to make the home at¬ 
tractive, and there is no' surer way of 
doing this than the ornamentation of 
the garden and the lawn. The thanks 
of the society is due the women of this 
committee for their noble work. 
Mr. Blackman—Mr. President, this is 
a topic I am extremely interested in. I 
do not arise again to make any extended 
remarks, merely to say that we would 
very much like to hear from some of the 
85 
ladies present as this subject is one pe¬ 
culiarly their own. 
The President—The chair heartily en¬ 
dorses the sentiments expressed on the 
subject of ornamentals, and begs to assure 
the committee on ornamentals that their 
noble work is most heartily appreciated 
and endorsed, not only by this society 
but by the state at large as well. 
Mrs. Geo. S. Gates—Mr. President, on 
behalf of the women I can assure the so¬ 
ciety of our appreciation of the enconium 
On woman’s work as also at all times of 
your co-operation. I must say, how¬ 
ever, Mr. President, that I can not agree 
with the gentleman from Miami, Mr. 
Blackman, in regard to the ostracism of 
the vine. A vine is too near and dear 
to a woman’s heart as an ornamental, to 
be permitted to receive such treatment 
without a protest. (Applause and 
laughter.) 
I am president of a little village improve¬ 
ment society Welaka, Putnam county, 
and we have been for several years 
very much interested in the matter of 
shade trees. Our stand-by has been 
the Water Oak, but experience has 
shown that the Water Oak is a com¬ 
paratively short-lived tree. It is, in my 
judgment, best to transplant the Live 
Oak and Water Oak alternately, the Wa¬ 
ter Oak, which is the quickest growth, will 
give the quickest shade, later resigning 
in favor of the long-lived Live Oak which 
in 15 to 20 years will have become a 
thick spreading tree with a great gnarled 
future before it, under whose grateful 
shade and luxuriant foliage, festooned 
with great strands of waving Spanish 
moss, our great grandchildren may play 
upon the village green. The prere¬ 
quisite of the lawn is grass and shade. It 
is here again that I would urge the trans¬ 
planting of the Water Oak and the Live 
