228 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
The Forty Second Annual Convention of the 
American Association of Nurserymen 
Tlie Convention o})ene(l on June 27th, at the Hotel 
Adelplha. Philadel})hia. 
Tlie weather was of the usual eonvention kind, rather 
warm, regardless of the geographical location in which 
the convention may he held. 
Visitors began to arrive early in goodly nnmhers so 
that by the time the President called the first session to 
order ovei’ 150 had registered. 
The arrangement of rooms 
at th(‘ Hotel Adeli)hia was 
ideal, Secretary's Desk, (Con¬ 
vention Hoorn, exhibits, etc., 
all being eomu'cted on the 
one floor. 
The Hon. J. Pdward Cat- 
tell welcomed the nursery¬ 
men on behalf of the Mayor, 
and Mr. Powell hvans on be¬ 
half of the Chamber of (h)m- 
nanre, the latter doing all in 
its powc]' to ijiterest the vis¬ 
itors. 
Th(‘ Mayor is to he eon- 
gratulated on his selection 
of spokesman. Mr. Cattell 
opened his remarks by refer¬ 
ring to the Tr('e of Liberty 
plantt'd in i^hiladelj)hia, from 
w lumee eidtings w ere now 
h(‘ing S(Mit to tlu' old eoimtry. 
After a graceful trihide to 
the ladies he sj)oke of ef- 
lici(‘ncy, coiirag(' and hard 
knocks and described thi' 
pessimist as a blind man. in 
a dark room, looking for a 
black hat that was there. 
He illustrated each [)oint so 
a])tly w ith a humorous story 
that he really started tlu' 
eonvention off in a good humor, which clung to it all 
through the me(‘tings. 
.Mr. Cattell congratulated the nurserymen on their pro- 
tession. and termed worthy ones as eomnHU'eial leaders 
and moi'al teacdiers. Urged elimination of jealousies, 
and to (ding to worthy ideals. 
Mr. Lloyd C. Stark, Vice President, in responding to 
the hearty woleome of Mr. (Cattell and Mr. Evans said, 
the nurserymen fully appreciated the privilege of coming 
to Philadelphia at this time because here the seed of the 
trees of liberty was first jilanted, and now the greatest 
war of all time is being fought which really is the cul¬ 
mination of the struggle against tyranny. 
Mr. Stark spoke of the nursiu-yman's part in gathering 
together the resources of the country, and read the fol¬ 
lowing letter from Prince 
Poniatowski pleading for 
donations of fruit trees to 
replant the orchards wan¬ 
tonly destroyiM by the Ger¬ 
mans. Part of his lettm- 
follows: 
“My idea is to ask American 
nurserymen to make a gift of 
so many hundred or thousands 
of trees that would grow in our 
district. I would take full 
charge of them and pay all ex¬ 
penses from New York to the 
pont of landing. My share of 
the burden will be quite a ser¬ 
ious one, as I will have to use 
special men at this end for the 
distributing and planting of 
them in regions which are nearly 
all under ntermittent shelling. 
But I have very much at heart 
to replace these orchards, or as 
many of them as we can, next 
fall, and to do so I must inves¬ 
tigate matters during June. 1 
will start my collection during 
July so as to secure proper trans¬ 
end in time for October planting 
portation and distribution at this 
Some of the big orchard own¬ 
ers would certainly grasp the 
idea, and their love of trees 
would certainly induce them to 
contribute to such an undertak¬ 
ing. They could come later in 
France and find entire orchards 
saved through their contribu¬ 
tions, trees bearing their names, 
and, if my attempt is carefully 
conducted, the region that has 
been devastated by these bar¬ 
barians shall become a first- 
class fruit country in the 
future; in fact, much better 
than in the past. I have no idea of the number of trees that 
could be thus obtained. 
I will send certain analyses of soil which I am now having 
made, and also the exact atmospheric condition, but, as I say, 
our country is cool in summer, with fairly damp springs and falls, 
and a short spell of cold weather (some ten degrees centigrade 
below zero during the winter and sometimes in the very early 
spring).” 
LLOYD C. STARK, Louisiana, Miss. 
President, 
American Association of Nurserymen. 
