174 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
Crown Gall Investigalion after reading the report of this 
eonnnitlee. 
Tlie repoi't of the State Viee Presidents only gave two 
l)laees as the next plaee of meeting, Rochester and Chi¬ 
cago. When tlie two i)laees were j)roposed in open meet¬ 
ing, sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of the for¬ 
mer, so Itoehester was unanimously adopted as the next 
plaee of meeting. 
In regard to the election of officers a new precedent 
was established. Harlan P. Kelsey was elected to suc¬ 
ceed himself. 
Those elected to seiwe for the ensuing year are: Presi¬ 
dent, Harlan P. Kelsey, Salem, Mass.; viee president, 
George A. Marshall, Arlington, Neh.; secretary-treasurer 
and traflic manager, Chas. Sizemore, Louisiana, Mo.; Ex¬ 
ecutive Committee, 2 years, Michael R. Cashman, Owa- 
tonna, Minn., and William Flemmer, Jr., Princeton, N. J. 
PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS 
The American Association of Nurserymen, Incorpor¬ 
ated, is the official organization of the nursery industry 
of America. Its functions are to bring together for their 
common good the plant growers and sellers of this coun¬ 
try, and to promote their mutual welfare in every legiti¬ 
mate way. This implies also fair and diligent attention 
to the welfare of the great American public who in rap¬ 
idly increasing numbers, consume our products and with¬ 
out whom, we could do no business. A mere statement 
or perfunctory recognition of these functions and duties 
of this association are by no means enough however. 
Forty-nine years ago this associations ^vas founded by 
leaders in the nursery industry who realized the tre¬ 
mendous good that comes by intelligent organized co-op¬ 
eration between business men whose life wmrk is dedi¬ 
cated to the same or similar pursuits. Every other in¬ 
dustry of account is also similarly organized, and experi¬ 
ence has shown that such organization is absolutely es¬ 
sential to success under the increasingly complex condi¬ 
tions of modern business life. 
HAZARDS OF THE BUSINESS 
The nurseryman is apt to think his lot a peculiarly 
hard one—what with State tags, and Government tags, 
local quarantines and Federal quarantines, exhorbitant 
freight rates and trebled express charges, early frosts 
and late frosts, rotting floods and shrivelling drouths, 
short shijiping seasons and long expensive maintenance 
])eriods, eating bugs and boring beetles, voracious moths 
and sucking scales, entomologists and phytopathologists, 
fungi and nematodes, hairy-root and nary-root, blister 
rust and risk of “bust,” crown gall and official gall—to 
mention but a few of the special “providences” of the 
nurseryman—surely it might seem that his business is 
beset by hazards and sorrows beyond that of any other 
industry. 
To the nurseryman, who happens to be a fundamental¬ 
ist, there should be great consolation in that passage in 
Scripture, “whom the Lord loveth. He chasteneth”—yet 
after Ml may it not so be that we know of our own bur¬ 
dens and know not of the other fellow’s which per¬ 
chance may be even more galling than ours. In any 
event however, the nurseryman must fight his own fight 
courageously and grin when he can. No one else is go¬ 
ing to do either for us. 
CO-OPERATION 
The greatest of the above enumerated troubles—the 
man-made ones—were not experienced by those pioneer 
nurserymen 49 years ago, nor by their successors even 
a dozen years ago, and so today, with the same natural 
afflictions and rapidly accumulting man-made disabili¬ 
ties, we need increasingly closer co-operation, better or- : 
ganization for more sinews of war, and above all per¬ 
sonal devoted seiTice of the individual members of our : 
association. 
ACTIVITIES INCREASING 
Few members, I am sure, realize the tremendous labor 
and time involved in carrying on the affairs of this asso¬ 
ciation, if it is done efficiently and effectively, and the 
work is increasing yearly. Your officers and committees 
are doing this service freely and gladly for the good of 
all. Is it not incumbent on each member to not only be 
ready to serve his turn when called upon, but to individ¬ 
ually work and boost for the good of his association 365 
days in the year and to loyally back up both financially 
and morally those to whom he has entrusted the associa¬ 
tion’s affairs? 
DUTY OF MEMBERS 
If the American Association of Nurserymen is to serve 
its members well, each member must realize that some¬ 
thing is required far beyond merely attending the annual 
convention and then going bask home and spending the i 
rest of the year sucking his individual stick of pepper¬ 
mint. 
It is not proper nor necessary for me to go too far into 
the details of your various committees’ activities—you \ 
will hear from each chairman in turn, and you will be 
made aware of very faithful stewardship. May I try ' 
quickly to pass in review a few of the most striking i 
achievements of the year of interest to us nurserymen, ? 
and make some suggestions for the future based on an | 
active year’s experience as your president. j 
PLANT FASHIONS CHANGING J 
From tlie reports that have reached me, I conclude it j 
has been an unusually good year in the nursery busi¬ 
ness, and the outlook for the coming year is bright. In 
the ornamental line, the past few seasons have seen a 
curious reversal in the type of plant material called for. 
Perhaps seventy to eighty per cent, of the demand this i 
year, at least in billing value, was for conifers and broad- t 
leaved evergreens, whereas a few years ago the figures J 
were just the opposite, in favor of deciduous shrubs. It 
is a wise and successful nurseiyman who can correctly 
foresee a few years in advance what the fashion in plant ' 
materials will be. By skillful advertising and specializ- ^ 
ing, almost anything can be sold, yet the greatest sue- 1 
cess probably can only come by utilizing as fully as may I 
be this curious human characteristic or custom called | 
fashion, which nowadays applies to plants quite as much, ; 
or more than it does to pants. It may be well worth our 
while to try and discover if this association might not 
be able to somewhat direct plant fashions into worth- : 
while and profitable directions. This thought has fas¬ 
cinating possibilities. 
EXECUTIVE COAIMITTEE 
To the Executive Committee is entiaisted the general , 
