The Florida Growers’ and Shippers’ League 
L. B. Skinner 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
President of the Florida Growers’ and 
Shippers’ League is a title I have held 
for only about two hours, and I do not 
expect to hold it for more than three or 
four hours more. I will lead up to that 
point. 
At a meeting a year ago last January 
at Tampa, which I trust most of you at¬ 
tended, an executive or organization com¬ 
mittee was appointed to take up the or¬ 
ganization of a growers’ and shippers’ 
league similar to that in existence in Cal¬ 
ifornia; a league that had done wonders 
for the State of California and which 
that meeting believed would do wonders 
for the State of Florida. 
We called the first real meeting of that 
committee at the Horticultural meeting 
at DeLand about a year ago. The repre¬ 
sentation of the committee at that meet¬ 
ing was very 'small. The enthusiasm 
felt by those present was not very great; 
in fact, I think Mr. Wright, of the Florida 
Grower, became rather weak-kneed,— 
but he got better later. When we organ¬ 
ized that committee I was elected chair¬ 
man. The obvious thing to do was to 
get everybody we could together and come 
to some action as to a man to head the 
league. It seemed to ns a great thing. 
Some time after that, the thought came 
to me that possibly, just possibly, we 
might get a man who would assuredly fill 
the bill; we might get a man well known 
all over the State of Florida, and who was 
favorably known by all of the growers of 
Florida and admired and loved by most of 
them, if not all of them. I corresponded 
with each member of that committee, and 
without exception they all said, “If you 
can possibly get that man, he is the man 
for the place.” I corresponded with 
prominent growers not members of the 
committee, and their feeling was just the 
same. And then I corresponded with the 
man himself. You can imagine my pleas¬ 
ure and surprise when I found there was 
a grain of hope. 
I talked with MY Powell, of Califor¬ 
nia, who was for many years the head of 
the California league, and Mr. Powell 
said, “If you can get him, you will do 
well; but I do not believe you can get 
him.” 
It has been my habit through life nev¬ 
er to be convinced a thing can’t be done 
until I have used every effort to accom¬ 
plish it; and that I can’t get a man until 
I go right to the man himself. 
After some weeks I arranged a meeting 
with Mr. Tenny—you all know who I am 
talking about; after what I have said it 
is not necessary to mention names (ap¬ 
plause)—in New York. It was finally 
arranged by a meeting of the executive 
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