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The Florists' Revkw 



21 



HOOSIEB0 GATHER AT SOKOMO. 



Some thirty odd members of the State 

 Florists' Association of Indiana took 

 advantage of the invitation of Presi- 

 dent W. W. Coles and his fellow florists 

 to visit Kokomo October 6. There is 

 perhaps no city of equal size in the mid- 

 dle west that can boast of a more pro- 

 gressive lot of florists than can this lit- 

 tle city fifty miles north of Indian- 

 apolis. The day was ideal. 



The Indianapolis party was met by 

 the hosts at the station and taken by 

 automobile to the establishment of the 

 senior Coles. Many of the party had 

 visited this place on previous occasions, 

 and had a fair idea of what to expect 

 in the way of well-grown stock, but 

 even these were surprised by the thrifti- 

 ness of the roses and their general good 

 condition. As in most rose establish- 

 ments, the Killarney varieties occupy 

 by far the greater portion of the bench 

 space. Some'iof the beds are in full 

 crop, whil* bt%rs are coming on in suc- 

 cession. Mr.- CcUes finds that his trade 

 demands a col^nuous supply of roses 

 and every ettioW is bent in that direc- 

 tion. A whoi»bed, for nearly all the 

 roses arti^inftmiig on solid beds, of Kil- 

 laraey 'B«maht^ looked good, but did 

 not shoW'the vtgor of some of the beds 

 of Killarney and White Killarney. The 

 one bed of Mr. Coles' choice carries 

 about 500 Ophelia. The plants literally 

 are growing like weeds and a bud tips 

 every shoot, making it a grand sight. 

 We are informed that it is selling 

 quicker over the counter than any other 

 rose on the place. Perhaps the next 

 variety of his choice is M^s. Chas. Rus- 

 sell. There is a fine bed of this variety. 

 Richmand is gradually losing out and 

 will likely be entirely replaced within 

 a year or two by the new reds that are 

 coming on. 



The carnation houses are equally in- 

 teresting, all the leading varieties being 

 grown. After the rather dry summer, 

 during which the plants did not grow 

 to extra size, the weather since housing 

 has been ideal and the plants more than 

 made up for lost time. The Enchantress 

 varieties are all there in good shape and 

 there is an elegant lot of White Wonder. 

 Gloriosa seems to take kindly to the soil 

 and treatment, and there is little com- 

 plaint of sparse growth. Philadelphia 

 was planted rather largely for a new 

 variety. The later planted bed of this 

 variety carried many more buds than 

 those which were planted early. 



In the mum houses some nice stock is 

 shown, and Mr. Coles threatens to clean 

 up some of the classes at the Indian- 

 apolis mum show next month. Unaka is 

 being cut with fine quality and Chryso- 

 lora will be ready in a few days. Some 

 fine buds of Wm. Turner are being 

 coaxed along for the show, a supper for 

 four being at stake in a competition 

 which is to be staged at that time. 

 Chieftain promises to make good all the 

 claims of the introducers, but Alice 

 Salomon looks only fairly well. There 

 seems to be a general complaint of this 

 variety coming uneven this year. We 

 must not fail to mention the fine bed 

 of King Humbert canna which greets 

 the eye of the visitor as he approaches 

 the place; some 1,500 plants in full 

 bloom and not one yet touched by frost. 



The next stop was at the Lincoln 

 Coles place. There is one 300-foot house 

 I'ere, and only Beauties are being 

 grown. Mr. Coles grew Beauties in this 

 house for several seasons, but thinking 

 that carnations might. pay equally well 



E. C. AMLINa. 



BORN with a genius for the conservative handling of money, it took Ernst 0. 

 Amling forty-three years to become a banker, but having become a banker, it 

 took no time at all for him to become a bank president— the choice was inevitable. 

 Possibly there are people born at Maywood, 111., who have not made a success of 

 life, but that does not include any who went into the florists' business. E. C. Amling 

 began as a grower — not a large one — but he soon sold out to start a conmiission cut 

 flower business in Chicago — not a large one, but one that grew as he applied his 

 genius for organization. In fifteen years he had the commission business running so 

 smoothly that there was nothing for him to do except preside at company meetings, 

 so he helped organize a bank — the State Bank of Oak Park — his home town. Now 

 he's almost ready to tackle another job, for the bank appears to have got over all 

 the rough places in its first year. And Amling won 't be 45 until October- 10. 



and with less worry, he tried them out 

 for a season. An unsatisfactory mar- 

 ket, however, reduced the revenue per 

 foot of bench space to such an extent 

 as to make a return to his first love de- 

 sirable. Mr. Coles' success with Beau- 

 ties is rarely duplicated, and the opinion 

 was expressed by several that there is 

 more money in sight in this house of 

 Beauties than they had ever seen before 

 in a house of equal size. 



At Thomas Knipe's place the party 

 found an additional house and a new 

 salesroom, built since the last visit. 

 Mr. Knipe does a local retail business 

 and during the few years since locating 

 in Kokomo has built up a splendid 

 trade. A varied line of stock is being 

 grown here, all in nice condition. The 



roses are principally the Killarneys and 

 Richmond. The carnations are getting 

 established nicely and the list of mums 

 embraces a number of varieties not seen 

 on many places. Mr. Knipe finds that 

 old white variety, Yanoma, a profitable 

 late sort. Mr. Knipe is fortunate in 

 having a capable helpmate, Mrs. Knipe 

 being found busily engaged in making 

 up some tasteful baskets. 



Fred Kelly was busy with the fall 

 bulbs, but he took time to show the vis- 

 itors around. The stock is coming on 

 in good shape. Some sweet peas are 

 coming into bloom. 



Mrs. Bilter met the party at the door 

 of her establishment and had a pleasant 

 word for everyone. Much of the stock 

 used in her business is bought, as the 



