Reports from Local and Horticultural Societies. 
By Lawrence C. Moore. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
At the time I received President 
Rolf’s circular letter (which was 
doubtless mailed to every member), 
naming certain subjects which should 
have the attention of our Society, and 
then mentally examined my stock of 
knowledge upon said subjects I threw 
the letter in with my answered mail, 
satisfying my conscience with the 
thought that he would find more fully 
equipped men to discuss and entertain- 
ingly present all the leading facts; so, 
donning my hat, I wandered forth to 
my orange trees, drying up for want 
of water and cultivation, with work 
enough in sight to keep three men 
busy for a year! But—two topics kept 
persistent hold of my mind and I found 
myself repeating the old adage, “What 
is everybody’s business is nobody’s 
business,” and, in my egotism, I ap¬ 
plied it to the letter of our President, 
and persuaded myself that it was my 
duty to do the little I might, to hold 
up his hands—send him some response 
and leave it to him to present the best 
thought offered on any given subject, 
or to dissect each paper, and combine 
the best ideas, to the end that individ¬ 
ual knowledge might be increased and 
some progress be the result. I there¬ 
fore throw upon him the whole respon¬ 
sibility should this paper reach other 
eyes—or ears—than his own! 
Having determined my duty, next 
came the selection of the subject. This 
was not difficult; it was suggested on 
every hand by the wilting trees, the 
encrusted ground, the hot, dry winds 
and eight or ten neighbors sitting 
around whittling, smoking and dis¬ 
cussing everything but the improve¬ 
ment of surrounding conditions. Per¬ 
haps it was the strong contrast to all 
this which caused my mind to revert 
to my boyhood’s days, when I had the 
good fortune to spend several happy 
vacations in that wonderfully thrifty 
Quaker settlement, Sandy Spring, 
Montgomery county, Maryland, where 
both my grandmother and my honored 
father first saw the light. Here the 
local Horticultural Society has ce¬ 
mented the neighborhood into one 
homogeneous 'whole, and no such con¬ 
ditions as those surrounding me could 
exist under the unity plan. Neglected 
trees, idle men have no part or place 
in that community, but persistent 
labor and the helping hand of neigh¬ 
borly neighbors have converted it into 
one of the garden spots of this country. 
And so I wrote to our President and 
accepted an assignment on “Local 
Horticultural Societies.” Then came 
the rub; I was committed; had to 
work out a given thing in a given time, 
and that is always a nerve-strain. 
Suddenly a brilliant inspiration came: 
why not write for a full account of the 
organization and life of the Society at 
Sandy Spring and substitute it, warm 
from its birthplace, for any colder facts 
which I should have to cook over? 
