20 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
ished products; and just to the extent that 
he can throw safeguards around these 
productions, increase their quantity and 
improve their quality, just to that extent 
is the commercial prosperity of that coun¬ 
try confirmed and enchanced. 
I hold in my hand, Mr. President, a 
copy of the ‘‘Transactions of the Florida 
State Horticultural Society for 1905”—a 
fair sample of many that have preceded it. 
We have been issuing them annually ever 
since 1892. This copy of our transac¬ 
tions covers 132 pages of revised Horti¬ 
cultural advice obtained from experience 
—'and experience that fhas to do with 
Florida conditions. It contains more 
than that. It contains 22 additional pages 
of catalogue, in which all the different 
fruits that are grown in Florida are listed 
in such a way as to give the comparative 
value of each variety to any given sec¬ 
tion of the State; whether it be Western 
North Florida, Eastern North Florida, 
Central Florida, or South Florida. The 
work entailed in getting out this annual 
edition in the creditable manner in which 
it is presented is unknowable except to 
someone who has had experience in this 
direction. 
The price of the book, which also in¬ 
cludes membership in the Society is $1.00. 
If we have 500 annual, and say ten new 
life members (life memberships are $10.- 
00) our income for the year would be 
$600.00, out of which we have to pay for 
stenography, secretary’s salary, printing of 
the book, stationery, stamps and all minor 
expenses. The secretary’s salary has in 
time past been, of necessity, so absurdly 
small, as compared with the work, that it 
has been repeatedly turned back into '.he 
Treasury by past secretaries, as a gift. 
Not that we want or expect the secretary 
to do this; on the contrary-we want suf¬ 
ficient funds provided from the source 
from which it should be provided, the 
State, to enable us to meet proper ex¬ 
penses in a manner that shall comport 
with our own dignity and that of the 
great Commonwealth we are trying to 
serve. 
Mr. President, I think that you will par¬ 
don me if I say that I have had an almost, 
or quite, unequalled opportunity to know 
the amount of work performed by this So¬ 
ciety. This from the double fact that I 
have been a member from the beginning, 
and that, since then, I have filled every 
office but one that it was in the society’s 
power to confer. I was its first Sec¬ 
retary, then, successively, Vice-Presi¬ 
dent, President, and now, a member of 
the Executive Committee. I have never 
yet been elected Treasurer, and know but 
one reason—or possibly two—why I have 
been overlooked in this connection. The 
first is that the handling of the societv’s 
funds is too easy a job, and the second 
—but perhaps I had better not allude to 
the second one. 
Mr. President, our work has to do with 
the aiding, up-building and uplifting of 
Horticultural pursuits throughout our 
State. It is gratifying to know that we, 
as a society, are held in esteem both at 
home and abroad; and it is doubly grati¬ 
fying to know that in this city of Jack¬ 
sonville. where so many pleasant meetings 
have been held in the past, we are still re¬ 
ceived with open arms. To you gentle¬ 
men who in behalf of the City and the 
City’s Board of Trade, have so cordially 
welcomed us, we feel profoundly grateful, 
and again say with heart-felt sincerity 
and with emphasis, we thank you. 
