Response 
Mr. President of the Jacksonville Board 
of Trade, Mr. President of the Florida 
State Horticultural Society , Ladies and 
Gentlemen : 
As your president has told you, I am 
acting as a substitute. Now, it is some¬ 
times hard to act as a substitute, because 
you do not know what the other fel¬ 
low would do or say. It was manifestly 
impossible for me to write out anything 
in advance, because I did not know what 
the president of the Jacksonville Board of 
Trade would say. He has certainly given 
us a very cordial, warm welcome to Jack¬ 
sonville, and, Mr. President, it was what 
we expected. We have received just the 
same hearty welcome every time we have 
been here. 
Ten years ago, just at the time of your 
fire, we were expecting to hold a meeting 
in Jacksonville. I was president at that 
time, and the arrangements had been 
made, the railroad rates had been en¬ 
gaged, and everything was just about con¬ 
cluded for holding our meeting here. It 
was to be held three weeks from the time 
your fire occurred. We were compelled, 
of course, to change. There was no place 
left in Jacksonville to hold the meeting. 
Our executive committee empowered me 
to do what was best in the matter, and 
we decided upon St. Augustine. Ladies 
Taber. 
and gentlemen, I shall never forget the 
action of the Jacksonville Board of Trade 
through Capt. Garner, its president, and 
what he told me when I advised him that 
we had decided to go to St. Augustine. 
He said: “Mr. Taber, please tell your 
society and the good people of St. Augus¬ 
tine, that in addition to the loss which 
Jacksonville has suffered-by fire, she feels 
the loss of the Florida State Horticultural 
Society.” 
Coming from the Jacksonville Board of 
Trade, through its president, at such a 
time, you can imagine how these words- 
impressed me. It shows the interest which 
the Board of Trade has always taken in 
our society. The sentiments were mag¬ 
nanimous, they were unexpected, because 
at such a time it was hardly to be ex¬ 
pected that the Board of Trade, or any¬ 
one connected with it, could give thought 
to the Florida State Horticultural Society. 
We have had other samples of your 
courtesy. We have appreciated them. We 
recognize that Jacksonville of today is a 
wonder. We all know that. I cannot 
help marvelling at the city, when thinking 
of what she has suffered in the past. 
There was the epidemic, which was such 
a fearful thing to undergo at the time it 
happened; there was the fire, which is 
now almost forgotten; and in this same 
connection, I thought of what our State 
