242 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
was felt that the date fixed by the constitution would prove 
too early for eastern members. 
The address of the President was a brief but pointed 
document, calling^attention to the ])ending federal inspection 
bill, the necessity of nurserymen standing together on the 
question of prices, and upon the other important question of 
standardization of grades. Mr. Dayton also spoke a strong 
word for the dignity of the nurserymen’s profession and 
the necessity of each member doing his share to maintain 
that standing which it rightly deserved. 
The Secretary’s report called attention to the ad interim 
publication of the report of the Committee on vStandardiza- 
tion of Grades. Mr. Hall showed that continuous effort was 
necessary, in order to keep up membership, and while a 
considerable number of new members were enrolled during 
the year, the total membership was somewhat less than in 
and up to the present time, including the metropolitan park 
system, we have spent over thirty million dollars in beautify¬ 
ing the city and its suburbs. We think, taking it all in all, 
that it is unequalled in this country. 
I would bring to your notice the lack of attention that is 
paid by the American people generally to the proper cultiva¬ 
tion of the soil. When we have a situation such as exists in 
this country at the present time, with the cost of food prod¬ 
ucts having increased twenty per cent, within a year, and 
statistics showing practically no increase in the acreage 
devoted to farm products in the United States since 1900, it 
shows necessity for an educating process to be carried on in 
our schools. Think of the immense waste of the soil, the 
hundreds of thousands of acres here in New England that 
could have been devoted to the growing of potatoes, yet this 
commodity has been at prohibitive prices during the past two 
Seated, left to right: T. J. Smith, New York; W. F. Ilgenfritz, Michigan; George A. Marshall, Nebraska; W. P. Stark, Missouri; Orlando 
Harrison, Maryland; C. M. Peters, Maryland. Standing', first row: S. W. Crowell, Mississippi; H. H. Hooker, New York; A. L. Lake, Iowa; 
H. M. Simpson, Indiana; T. J. Rice, New York; E. A. Arrderson, Kansas; John Charlton,. New York; C. A. Bennet, New Jersey; Janies M. Irvine, 
Missouri. Second row, standing,: J. Frank Darrow, New York; F. T. Ramsey, Texas; W. T. Stark, Missouri; J. A. Bailey, New York; James 
Kelly, New York. Back row, standing; L, C. Stark, Missouri; C. L. Yates, New York; Thomas Welch, New York; M, B. Fox, New York; 
B. J. Vandervent, Illinois. (Courtesy Christian Science Monitor). 
the year 1911. The vSecretary’s report feelingly called 
attention to the passing of several honored members during 
the year. The latest of these was Mr. J. J. Harrison, the 
father of Storrs & Harrison, Painesville, Ohio, whose obituary 
appears in another page of this issue. 
The Treasurer’s rejiort showed the finances of the conven¬ 
tion to be in a healthy condition. 
ADDRESS OF WELCOME BY MAYOR FITZGERALD 
OF BOSTON 
I am here to officially welcome you, though I think you 
have seen the welcome of the citizens of the city, iDCcause I 
think the local committee has been energetic in organizing a 
program which has been a very pleasant one. I know with 
the many attractions of our beautiful city that you will go 
away from here with the idea that we have one of the most 
beautiful cities in the world, 
I think that this organization appreciates what Boston 
has done in establishing parks and boulevards, and in its 
public grounds department during the past twenty-five years. 
I think we can claim without successful dispute that Ave led 
the cities of America. We began otir park system in 1885, 
months. It seems to me something is radically wrong with 
the American mind. Some attention must be paid to an 
increased use of the soil. Population in this country tends 
towards the cities, so that it is difficult to get farm labor. 
The farmer has been made to appear ludicrous on the stage. 
That is something I think your organization could take up. 
If the farmer’s life is going to appeal to boys, it ought to be 
made as attractive as possible. 
In the metropolitan district in Boston, I have favored 
legislation calling for the organization of an agricultural 
school in the district. I am discussing the advisability of 
establishing a farm school on practical lines right here within 
a mile of this hotel, where two or three hundred boys can be 
schooled for two or three hours, than taken out on the farm 
and taught the elements of farming, to see if they cannot be 
induced to like that sort of business. 
There is a vast difference between this country and 
Europe in that direction. The population of Germany is 
300 to the square mile, compared to our 30. It isn’t strange 
they have intensive cultivation there. Belgium, the most 
populous countr\^ in the world, has two, three, and four crops 
a year. 
