, FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
, 4 
he possessed at the time of his death. 
While each and every one of us must 
deplore the calamity that made necessary 
a change in our meeting place, yet it 
seems to me peculiarly fitting that the 
Florida State Horticultural Society, 
which, more than any other, represents 
the peaceful, substantial progress of our 
State, should hold a convention in this 
historic town, the oldest, not only in 
Florida, but in the United States. It 
was here that, more than three and one- 
third centuries ago, Menendez’s expedi¬ 
tion of conquest and control first found 
anchorage. It was from this port the 
Don sallied forth to give battle to the 
Frenchman; it was near this town the 
massacre of the French occurred that, in 
turn, brought forth from France the ex¬ 
pedition that wrought terrible retribu¬ 
tion on the Spaniard. In those days 
Florida was primeval. The most val¬ 
ued art was the art of wan Fighting, 
for occupation or defense, was for many 
years the most important business of the 
inhabitants of this city and of this State. 
It had to be. Those were days when, if 
ever, might made right. But now see 
how changed! No need now for sen¬ 
tries to pace the ramparts of yonder an¬ 
cient fort and signal whether the fleet 
sailing up the bay is bringing relief to a 
beleaguered people, or flying colors that 
mean fight or be destroyed. No need 
now for moat or drawbridge. No need 
now for the portcullis at old Fort Marion 
to be kept in working order; the one at 
the Ponce de Leon has replaced it—and 
it is raised to all without fear of an ene¬ 
my. St. Augustine has no enemies, but 
hosts of friends, and among them all 
none more friendly that the horticultur¬ 
ist. It is in the practice of our art that 
the grounds surrounding her palatial 
buildings have been embellished, and 
without this art her magnificent arch¬ 
itecture would lose half its significance. 
THE SCOPE OF WORK. 
And now, ladies and gentlemen, let us 
consider for a few moments the scope of 
work that lies before us at this meeting. 
Our Society has to deal with the horti¬ 
culture of the second largest State east 
of the Mississippi river, embracing, 
roughly speaking, fifty-nine thousand 
square miles. From Fernandina to the 
Perdido we cover six degrees of longi¬ 
tude, and from St. Mary’s river to Cape 
Sable about the same number of degrees 
of latitude. Figures, however, whether 
representing distances or areas, carry 
much more weight when reinforced by 
comparisons: 
Let us suppose that aerial navigation 
—which the present century will un¬ 
doubtedly see perfected—is already in 
successful operation. With one of these 
space-annihilating machines, let us start 
from the northwestern extremity of the 
State of Florida and make a flying trip 
in a straight line to the southeastern ex¬ 
tremity of our mainland. An examina¬ 
tion of the meter will show that we have 
logged off five hundred and fifty miles. 
Now, returning to our initial point of 
Northwestern Florida, let us take a trip 
of equal distance in a northeasterly di¬ 
rection. This will take us across a large 
portion of the State of Alabama, the 
whole of the States of Georgia and 
South Carolina, and land us in the mid¬ 
dle of the State of North Carolina, or, 
with our course a little more to the 
northward, take us clear over the north¬ 
ern line of North Carolina into Virginia; 
or, trending still more to the northward, 
