THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
175 
allairs of the association during the year. Three meet¬ 
ings were held during the year; one immediately after 
adjournment of the last annual convention in Chicago; 
again the usual midwinter meeting in Kansas City, Janu¬ 
ary 24, 1924; and the last held Monday and Tuesday of 
this week. 
The sum of $2,000.00 was appropriated towards a fund 
of $6,000.00 for a scientific co-operative investigation of 
Crown Gall on a two-year program. This action was 
taken to make effective the extraordinarily fine service of 
your “Special Committee to meet Entomologists at Cin¬ 
cinnati 1923 Convention,” Henry B. Chase, chairman, and 
George A. Marshall. Mr. Marshall is also chairman of 
the committee on co-operation with other organizations. 
This piece of work is probably the most far-reaching 
and significant co-operative effort recently in the horti¬ 
cultural field. The “Grown Gall Resolution” printed and 
distributed by the American Association of Nurserymen 
is a record of the above historic meeting. 
A direct result of the Cincinnati meeting, and perhaps 
its greatest accomplishment, is the mutual respect and 
confidence engendered between Entomologist, Patholo¬ 
gist, and Nurseryman, and this was largely brought about 
through the fine diplomacy and ability displayed by our 
committee, headed by Henry Chase. 
Honest John Fraser accepted chairmanship of special 
committee to solicit individual two-year subscriptions 
from nurserymen to complete the fund, and he has had 
great success, though this year’s quota was finally com¬ 
pleted only by tbe State of Iowa and Wisconsin, each 
contributing $500.00. The state contributions will not 
be available next year and nurserymen should now come 
forward and pledge the full amount necessary to com¬ 
plete next year’s fund. This fund is expended under the 
direction of the Crop Protection Institute which is or¬ 
ganized under the auspices of the National Research 
Council. Professor W. C. O’Kane, of New Hampshire, is 
chairman of the Board of Governors of the Institute, and 
it was through his direct and earnest efforts that the two 
state appropriations were secured, thus making it poss- 
sible to start at once, and not lose a year’s time. We 
hope for tangible results from this co-operative investi¬ 
gation, both directly and as an incentive for continued 
research work by this association. 
We should rightly be judged ingrates, did we not ade¬ 
quately express our obligations to the above-named men, 
Messrs. Chase, Marshall, O’Kane and Fraser, for putting 
across this first nursery co-operative research program, 
and it will be worse if we do not back up tbe work to 
completion. Let us try it out fairly and fully, and see 
if it pays. 
The Executive Committee also voted to recommend to 
the succeeding Executive Committee that two thousand 
dollars be appropriated next year as our next year’s quota 
of this joint $6,000.00 annual fund. 
STATE AND REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS 
Last year the by-laws were amended so that state and 
regional associations might become members of the 
American Association of Nurserymen by paying nominal 
dues of $10.00; these associations to appoint delegates to 
oflicially attend the national conventions and act in the 
capacity of a nominatory committee, both for officers and 
place of meeting. I believe the functions of such dele¬ 
gates should be enlarged and carefully defined so that 
greater co-operation will result between our National 
Association and the local organizations. I recommend 
that they he given the specific designations “State” and 
“Regional” vice presidents and that the existing offices 
of state vice presidents be abolished. 
AMENDED CONSTITUTION AND DY-L.VWS 
The American Association of Nurserymen has become 
a far more important and active business body than it 
was but a few years since and represents very much 
larger business interests. The constitution and by-laws 
we are working under have served fairly well in the past, 
but again should be revised in some respects. I recom¬ 
mend tliat the duty of preparing a new draft be placed 
with the Executive Committee, to report at next year’s 
convention. 
xAnoher important change should be the election of your 
president for a term of two years. This is not a new 
proposition, and several preceding presidents have 
strongly urged this, and it seems incredible that such ac¬ 
tion has not been taken long ago by this association, 
where the advantages are so plainly evident. Committee 
work is increasingly serious and vital and similarly in 
most cases the chairman of committees should be ap¬ 
pointed for two or even three years. An administration 
might thus function over a long enough period to really 
accomplish something and carry out a policy. Our an¬ 
nual election upset is one of the weakest features of this 
organization. 
MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICITY 
We should pay marked attention to this committee re¬ 
port and recommendations. For several years past we 
have been learning something about publicity and have 
had unstinted service from this committee with increas¬ 
ingly good results. Yet our market development problem 
is still unsolved, and this I feel is largely due to the 
timid, hesitant, and niggardly publicity policy this asso¬ 
ciation has pursued up to the present. 
MANY PUBLICITY OPPORTUNITIES 
There are a hundred publicity leads we might profit¬ 
ably follow: for instance, we should take a much more 
active and helpful interest in forestry, and in National 
and State Parks as well as in public affairs generally, not 
forgetting our local ones; first, because it is good citizen¬ 
ship and good fun, and second, because it pays. If a 
general policy of planting all the waste land in .America 
were adopted, we nurserymen would have more trade 
than we could handle the next few years. The need is 
for nurserymen to put themselves on the map and let the 
world know we’re here and alive and of the world, rather 
than merely of our own little ant hill, and let us remem¬ 
ber that mere wishing doesn’t make a Brobdingnag out of 
a Lilliputian, nor does the mere swelling of his chest 
make an elephant out of a toad.. 
PUNY PUBLICITY APPROPRIATIONS 
It is not my place here to suggest any definite market 
development program even if I were capable of so doing, 
which I am not. But when a national organization of 
nearly 500 leaders of an industry representing far over 
a hundred million dollars investment flatters itself it is 
carrying on a real publicity campaign on a meagre $6000 
or $8000 annual appropriation—why we are simply 
demonstrating that we are a bunch of baby ostriches 
