264 STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



bushes with abundance of small quinces, which in September become 

 a beautiful yellow. This fruit is fine for jelly, and even finer for it& 

 perfume. Placed in drawers it never rots, but gives out a delicious 

 odor, scenting your clothes for years. I have them two years old in 

 my drawers. The foliage of the Japan quince is bright and glossy, 

 and always clean. 



Sixth comes Lilacs. Of course, we place at the head the old-fash- 

 ioned Communis, or common purple. Nothing can ever displace it. 

 But those who have not seen the new lilacs do not know how great 

 improvements can be made in our every-day flowers. The Persian 

 varieties are more slender in growth but enormously prolific in bloom. 

 Of dark purples, the Ludwig Spaeth is the richest. Of blues, Presi- 

 dent Grevy is best. Of whites, Frau Dammann is finest. This leaves 

 out of the count some very recent additions to the list that are double, 

 semi-double, and enormously large in truss. There are over 100 sorts 

 in cultivation. 



Seventh, I place the bush or Tartarian Honeysuckles. These are 

 so freely distributed by birds which drop the seeds about that they can 

 be found wild in many parts of the country. There are three colors — 

 red, white and pink, all equally tine. There is no better ornamental 

 hedge plant. The flowers come the last of May, and in great profusion^ 

 There is a delightful sort of native to our woods, the Cerulea. The 

 flowers are cream-colored and very sweet. You can indulge in these 

 bush Honeysuckles very freely, for they do not appear out of place 

 anywhere. If broken or cut, they are speedily in good shape again. 



Eighth, select the Japan or Chinese Snowball. It is not as rapid a 

 grower as the common sort, but the flowers are clean and clear white, 

 and they endure for a long time. The common sort is very subject to 

 aphidse ; the Chinese, or Plicatum, is free of insects. 



Ninth, you will do well to plant the Weigelas, and plant them 

 freely. The earliest to bloom is the variegated-leaved. This is a per- 

 fectly model shrub — an ideal beuty. The shadings of white and pink, 

 almost concealing the green, are admirable. I am inclined to place it 

 at the head of shrubs for beauty. But the other sorts are close rivals*^ 

 Rosea and Candida, rose-colored and white, are indispensable. The 

 bushes in bloom are masses of flowers. They blossom through June 

 and July. The erect bushes droop over with weight of flowers, and 

 grow more graceful with age. 



Tenth in order come the Syringas or mock oranges. These can, 

 be had in quite a variety now-a-days, covering June and July with their 

 flowers. It is well to raise seedlings, and you will find they vary quite 

 a little in time of flowering ; ending with the large Gordon's Syringa. 



