152 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
the hookworm, fly and mosquito ; we’d 
have rigid laws and see that they were 
enforced that would not permit paper and 
fruit skins to be thrown in the street; 
there would be no untidy back yards and 
alleys cluttered up with old boxes, barrels 
and tin cans, and broken crockery and 
bottles. 
We’d have a compulsory school law that 
would protect the interests of children 
whose parents are too ignorant and indif¬ 
ferent to be entrusted with the welfare of 
their offspring; we’d have improvements 
in our public school system and in provis¬ 
ions for the insane and imbecile and other 
incompetents. 
We’d insist on having competent medi¬ 
cal examination for our State charges, 
and where an operation, some dental work 
or optical attention were needed, we’d 
compel these things to be done instead of 
fostering and supporting criminals who 
might be made into honest citizens by re¬ 
ceiving intelligent medical attention. This 
may seem like a far departure from the 
topic of tropical gardening but it is not 
often we club women can find a chance of 
telling you men about our aims so that 
we can get your co-operation to accom¬ 
plish our ideals, and when such a chance 
presented itself I couldn’t forbear from 
grasping the opportunity. 
These are some of the practical crying 
needs in our State today, that we club wo¬ 
men may meet and transform to our 
ideals if we but combine our forces and 
work toward one end. 
J here is no small town or farming com¬ 
munity that does not contain at least 
three intelligent, energetic women, and 
no more than that number is needed to 
make things go if they make up their 
minds to have them. Organize if you 
have but three members, and while you 
are waiting for more you can be doing a 
few things that will leave an indelible 
mark in your wake, if you choose to 
make it so. 
The particular line of work that I wish 
to dwell on in this paper is the part that 
we women may take in developing and 
beautifying the spot we live in. First Til 
take up the possibilities of making a tropi¬ 
cal fairy-land of Florida, and the way to 
go about it to achieve our ideals. I men¬ 
tioned the results that California has ac¬ 
complished by comprehending her possi¬ 
bilities and then putting them into execu¬ 
tion so often and on such a grand scale 
that thousands of our country’s weal¬ 
thiest men have considered that State the 
ideal place for making their final home 
after retiring from the activities of busi¬ 
ness life. 
Last summer I went out to 1 California 
after attending the horticultural meeting 
in Miami, and although I had pictured to 
myself just what I should see there, the 
effect of the real thing at close range was 
such as to rouse in me a tremendous feel¬ 
ing of admiration and appreciation of 
what educated brains can do, and with 
this inspiration I came back imbued with 
a spirit of emulation to get even greater 
results from the greater resources that 
are ours. 
Good roads will have more to do with 
Florida’s rivalry to California than any 
other agency that lies within the province 
of man’s control and to the men we leave 
this problem (although if it were neces- 
