such it must never lose sight of its real purpose. When sessions are in progress, a full attendance should be in order. Subjects of general interest should be presented and fully discussed. The trade exhibitors, who undertake a great deal of trouble and expense in making their exhibits, should be considered and given the opportunity to do business during the few days that the convention lasts. There should be no outside attractions sanctioned by the officials that prove detrimental to their interests. I have heard many an exhibitor vow time and again that this is his last; fortunately as a year passes his rancor dies down, and he appears again. Without the trade exhibits, I question if the conventions would be nearly so successful.
Our society should follow the example of the nurserymen's association, the fruit growers' association, the canners' association, and many other strictly trade associations, having for their object the promulgation of trade interests for the benefit of all their members. I am heartily in favor of setting a day aside for entertainment and sport; but I question the wisdom of taking up one afternoon with bowling, a second with clay-pigeon shooting, and a third with baseball and automobile rides through the town. As in the case of the individual, with the society it should be business before pleasure, if the best results are to ensue.
The S. A. F. and O. H. is responsible for the organization of the numerous florists' clubs throughout the country. The latter indeed seem to be offspring of the mother society. The good that these clubs have already accomplished is a sure indication of the great benefits that will come to each member if he remains loyal to his organization and does all within his power to promote the interests of the whole. I have attended meetings of many of these clubs, upon many occasions, and I know whereof I speak when I say that "in union there is strength." Is there any better place to discuss the subject of supply and demand, the subject of prices, the merits of plants and cut flowers, than a florists' club? If John Smith is accustomed to sell his four-inch Geraniums at ten cents per plant, or three plants for a quarter, and carry on this low scale of prices all along the line, in the end wondering how it happened that he did not save sufficient money to pay last year's coal bill or bulb bill, a progressive member of the florists' club, who pursues a different method, can give Mr. Smith the benefit of his experience by which he not only meets all bills but has a tidy little surplus in the bank. If Mr. Brown has a badly affected lot of Lilies, short and belated, he is apt to find out at the florists' club from a brother member the cause of his troubles, and the remedy. The florists' clubs are great organizations indeed. The smaller towns in various sections of the country are falling into line with the larger ones in this respect. Many florists' clubs and State florists' associations are springing up from time to time.
Playing the Carnation Game Again
My sad experience with the Nelson Carnation, though discouraging for awhile, did not deter me from playing the Carnation game again. It was about 1900 that I first met Fred Dorner and his two sons, Fred, Jr., and Theodore. I had long heard of Mr. Dorner as the father of the American Carnation. He introduced numerous varieties, long since gone and forgotten, which in their day were grown extensively by every Carnation grower throughout the country. Indeed the names Dorner and Carnation were synonymous. There were other Carnation hybridizers, such as Simmons, of Geneva, N. Y., William Swayne, of Kennett Square, Pa., John Breitmeyer, of Detroit, Mich., and a few others; but Mr. Dorner was a specialist of the Carnation, and not only was he a specialist, but a lover of the Divine Flower as well.
When I met and introduced myself to Mr. Dorner, his kindly benevolent manner sufficed to reassure me as to the result of the object of my call. I wanted
