24 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
home, and I want you when you go 
away to bear only good feelings for our 
city. Palatka this week is your home 
and we will be glad to believe that your 
stay with us may always be a cherished 
experience, and the wish is expressed 
that you may come often. 
If my memory serves* me, this society 
is the outgrowth of a meeting held here 
by orange growers twenty-eight years 
ago. In the years since then mighty 
changes for the better have taken place 
in Palatka, in Florida, and in the 
strength and fortunes of your society, 
one of the best, if not the best, among 
all similar organizations ill the republic. 
Your society has made a reputation 
for Florida, and I am proud of you, and 
our people are sincerely glad to have 
you here. The reports of your meet¬ 
ings are sought for and serve as text 
books in the homes of intelligent peo¬ 
ple on every continent. This is a fact 
of which all of us can be proud. 
Your deliberations reflect the achiev- 
ments of men and women whose minds 
are free and hands unbound, and who 
are wresting from the ground, the pa¬ 
tient mother of us all, the bounties 
she freely yields to those who gently 
and intelligently and earnestly perse¬ 
vere. 
No land is fairer than our Florida. 
The climate in Florida is nature’s smile 
and goes with the land. Florida is a 
land of flowers, of plants in myriad va¬ 
riety and of trees. I was looking over 
a list of the merchantable trees of Flor¬ 
ida, not long ago, and was surprised 
to find over two hundred, one-half 
more in number than in any other state. 
And yet the stranger hurrying through 
our state and forming his opinion from 
a car window survey, says “nothing 
will grow in Florida.” He has eyes, yet 
he sees not. The more I study the pos¬ 
sibilities of Florida the stronger my 
convictions of a greatness to come 
without comparison in any equal area 
on the continent. Florida is going to 
help solve the problem of how to keep 
down the high cost of living by grow¬ 
ing plenty of things, and growing them 
at minimum cost. Florida has the soil, 
mark you I say soil, the water, the 
warmth, the light, the great markets 
are near and available by car or ship, 
the food demand is large and growing, 
and with more farmers and fruit men 
to join the pace set by the splendid men 
and women before me, to what heights 
of greatness can our state not attain? 
I thank you. Come again. 
