i 6 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
of the State is a thing to be desired. She 
has no prejudices—she reaches out to all 
sections and would promote the good of 
each. She loves all the people of the 
whole State and would have them pros¬ 
per and their various undertakings and 
enterprises succeed. In this spirit she 
wishes your meeting here may be profit¬ 
able, and again bids you welcome. 
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. 
BY CAPT. C. E. GARNER. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
In behalf of the Board of Trade and 
representing the business interests of our 
city, it is again my pleasure to extend to 
you Mr. President, the officers, and to 
every member of the Florida State Horti¬ 
cultural Society, a most hearty and sin¬ 
cere welcom.e. 
I had in mind telling you a great many 
things. I had conceived of a magnificent 
oration, expressing my personal senti¬ 
ments of the Horticultural Society, of its 
splendid work in behalf of our beloved 
State, and I also had in mind telling you 
something of the progress and prosperity 
of our city; but, to use the yachting 
phrase, “my little craft has had the wind 
taken out of its sails” by the eloquence of 
the gentleman who has just preceded me. 
If any one in this audience thinks they 
can follow the Hon. D. U. Fletcher along 
the same lines, and especially in the mat¬ 
ter of delivering an address of welcome, 
and say anything original, or anything 
appropriate to the occasion which has not 
already been said, I would like for him 
to step up on this platform and take my 
place because I feel utterly unable to con¬ 
ceive of anything that is appropriate that 
would not be a reiteration of what had 
been stated. 
I wish, therefore, to simply express my 
high appreciation not only of the Horti¬ 
cultural Society as an organization but of 
the Horticulturists of the State of Florida. 
Probably no man within the bounds of 
the State has been brought in closer con¬ 
tact with them than myself. It is not an 
acquaintance of a few days or a few years 
but for a quarter of a century I have 
known them, and know them intimately, 
and I wish on this occasion to say that 
they are in my judgment the bravest, 
most heroic class of people in this country. 
I know of their struggles, I have seen 
them under all circumstances, of pros¬ 
perity and adversity, chiefly the latter, 
and if you wish to measure the heroism 
of people you must be acquainted with 
them under all conditions, and I know of 
no people who have withstood adversit}' 
with a braver spirit than have the Horti¬ 
culturists of this State. 
You talk about the rebuilding of your 
city, the rebuilding of Baltimore, the re¬ 
habilitation of San Francisco from the ter¬ 
rible disaster that has just befallen that 
fair city, I have in mind the struggles of 
your horticulturists against all sorts of 
unfavorable conditions and disasters. 
They have been attacked by the white fly, 
that threatened their industry; the red 
