210 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
And so I will give you the reply which 
came to my letter, with only such al¬ 
terations as are necessary to elucidate 
facts otherwise obscure because of lack 
of familiarity with the surroundings. 
“Sandy Spring, Md., 
2nd month, nth, 1908. 
My dear Cousin—I was glad to have 
thy letter, for I believe it has been 
twelve years since we have met. I send 
thee, as requested, such information as 
I possess regarding our Horticultural 
Society. The Horticultural Society of 
Sandy Spring has been in exist¬ 
ence about forty years, and it seems 
to us to be a fair model of a local 
organization. It was started with the 
double object of promoting a desira¬ 
ble social life among country people, 
and to cause them, by this contact of 
minds, to learn better ways of living 
and better methods of producing, thus 
enabling the community to discover 
and put into practical use new methods 
of doing old things, as well as the most 
modern and economical manner of 
producing, harvesting and marketing 
the products best adapted to its local¬ 
ity. 
Our Society meets once a month, 
from March first to November first, 
but in thy locality this would doubtless 
be changed, and possibly twelve de¬ 
lightful meetings might be held. About 
fifteen different households belong to 
the Society, with an average of three 
to a house in attendance; guests often 
bring the numbers up to seventy-five. 
Meetings are held in rotation at the 
homes of the members, and each one 
is expected to bring small samples of 
his wheat, best fruits and flowers, or 
specimens of plants to be discussed, 
looking to improvements in its propa¬ 
gation, or to the extermination of 
some enemy. We meet at 3 130 p. m., 
and have the usual officers—President, 
Vice-President, Secretary and Treas¬ 
urer—who are elected annually. The 
latter is a mere complimentary posi¬ 
tion, as funds are not much in evi¬ 
dence, nor are they needed; hence 
there is no membership fee. The read¬ 
ing of the minutes of last meeting is 
disposed of in the usual way, and also 
the minutes of the last meeting held 
at the farm of the present hosts, since 
this takes up the work most interest¬ 
ing and valuable to them. For exam¬ 
ple : Thee may be devoting thy time 
to orange growing; another to pine¬ 
apples; another to grapefruit; and so 
on; each wants the ideas on his spe¬ 
cialty, and it is the aim of the presiding 
officer to keep this subject uppermost. 
Then comes the report of the “Fore¬ 
thought Committee,” which is always 
bright. Then each member is asked 
a question, or may read a brief, suita¬ 
ble selection. Generally two readers 
are appointed, with the understanding 
that they will not be called on if busi¬ 
ness prevents. An early collation is 
served in any informal manner selected 
by the hostess. The collations are 
purposely kept very simple and consist 
of tea, coffee, hot rolls or biscuit, ham, 
chicken, or better still, a salad; or else 
coffee and sandwiches, with a simple 
dessert of cake or melons, in season. 
This is served either by handing round 
with paper napkins or is placed on a 
table on the lawn, each guest helping 
himself. 
I have gone into particulars to show 
how easy it is to serve seventy-five or 
a hundred guests when it is done sim¬ 
ply. It seems unnecessary to say that 
neither politics, religion, nor any sub- 
