THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
193 
ANNOUNCEMENTS 
By John Walson, Presidenl of the National Association of Nurserymen 
To the nicinbers of llie executive committee: A 
Special Meeting of the Exeeulive Coiiiioillee is hereby 
called, to be held in Parlor B, llolel Adelphia, Philadel¬ 
phia, on Monday morning, June Iwenty-iiflh, at 9:12 
o’clock. 
To the Members of the advisory board: You are es¬ 
pecially invited and urgently requested to be present at 
the meeting of the Executive Committee called above. 
You represent the interests of twenty state and district 
nursery trade associations, and in eoiisidering matters 
alfeetiiig the whole nursery trade, the Executive Com¬ 
mittee desire your advice and counsel and co-operation. 
If another engagement should interfere and prevent your 
attendance, it will not only be agreeable but it is es¬ 
pecially requested that you give a proxy to some other 
member of your association who can represent your 
membership in this conference. 
To all Chairmen of Committees: You are urgently re¬ 
quested to attend this meeting of the Executive Commit¬ 
tee. The Committee, if agreeable to you, will be very 
• glad to know at that time what report you will make to 
the Convention upon the work assigned to your committee 
for the year ending; and especially to consider appropria¬ 
tions recommended or required for the continuance of the 
work of each committee. This information is especially 
necessary in making up the budget for next year. 
To EVERY Member of the Association: I wish to ex¬ 
plain why this meeting of the Executive Committee is 
called for Monday, when the Association meets on Wed- 
-f nesday; an explanation may be unnecessary, but I wish 
to be sure that there is no possible misunderstanding. 
Your Executive Committee are a sort of Board of Direc¬ 
tors who have to consider many propositions and then 
offer their conclusions for your action in convention. The 
seven members of the committee are so widely scattered 
that it has not been possible to get all the committee to¬ 
gether since the last annual convention. At the last two 
conventions, we were in session not only before the meet¬ 
ing but throughout the convention and the members of 
the Executive Committee were really deprived of the op¬ 
portunity to meet their friends and to transact their pri¬ 
vate business. The majority of them have asked for 
this advance meeting, pointing out that it will enable the 
committee to complete the routine work and then to be 
free to meet their friends when they begin to arrive on 
Tuesday. The only reason, then, for holding the com¬ 
mittee meeting on Monday is to enable the members to 
enjoy the convention eciually with others, something they 
have not been permitted to do in recent years. They 
feel sure that the members of the Association will ap¬ 
prove of this arrangement. 
Every Member of the Association having any matter of 
business reejuiring action by the Executive Committee, or 
having suggestions or advice to offer, will be cordially 
weboiiH'd at this committee meeting. The door will be 
wid(‘ open all the time; there is no business that the Ex¬ 
ecutive Committee have to transact in which any memlx'r 
has a greater interest than any other member; their only 
thought and wish is to do what you want done; and they 
can’t know what those things are uidess you tell them. 
There are no private meetings of this or any other com¬ 
mittee of the Association. If you have anytliing to bring 
before the Executive Committee, come in and tell us 
about it, or write to any member of the committee. 
Dues. Have you paid yours yet? If not, won’t you 
mail a check to Secretary Smith today? That will in¬ 
sure a number being assigned to you so you will be prop¬ 
erly labelled that strangej's may identify you at the meet¬ 
ing. 
Badge Book. You want to be listed properly; an ad¬ 
vertisement placed in the Badge Book will be read by 
five hundred nurserymen who will hunt you up to buy 
what you have to sell and to sell you what you want to 
buy. I mention this, not because of any profit in the 
advertising because it costs $5 a page to i)rint it, but be¬ 
cause the Badge Book advertising is useful and valuable 
to the members. 
Tbe attendance will be the largest in the history of the 
Association. Spring business has not been up to the 
mark, and it will probably not be better next season; but 
these are reasons for attending our annual conference; 
many serious problems confront us and they will require 
our best thought and our soundest judgment, followed 
by consistent action. I have been in Philadelphia je- 
cently, conferring with members of our committees and 
local nurserymen and I have found indications of a 
record-breaking attendance. Philadelphia holds an es¬ 
pecial interest for all Americans right now: Independence 
llall and the Liberty Bell and the house of Betsy Boss 
who made the first Stars and Stripes. 
We nurserymen feel more and more the nect'ssity lo 
get together, to become better acquainted, to realize full 
the identity of our interests and to work togtdher in har¬ 
mony and in a spirit of frieiully cooperation. It has not 
been conducive to the cultivation of the “spirit ol the 
hive” for our members to separate themselves into little 
grouj)S and cliques for their own pleasure; and so it has 
been decided by the Program Committee lo hav(‘ a I'am- 
ily Dinner the first evening of the convention when we, 
shall all sit down together and enjoy a reunion. Lach 
man will pay for his own dinmu', which will cost >$2. 1 he 
local nurserymen claim the pleasure of having all the 
ladies present as their guests, and in the same hospitahle 
spirit, they insist upon the privilege of furnishing some 
music and some other entertaiiiTneid ol a novel sort; and 
during the evening, ol course, we can reasonably expect 
that our own famous Glee Club will l)e heard, and that 
our after-dinner speakers will take their best stories out 
