216 



Seeds. — The preferred way of handling seeds is to gather them 

 when mature and stratify them in moist sand in a cool place (about 

 40 degrees Fahrenheit) until February when they are sown in a 

 greenhouse in sandy soil. If not convenient it is not necessary to 

 go to this trouble, lor seeds collected in the fall and stored dry in- 

 doors at room temperature germinate without difficulty when sown 

 in greenhouse or cold frame in the spring. That coddling is un- 

 necessary is vouched for by the fact that seedlings from self-sown 

 seeds come up around the parent hushes provided the soil is not too 

 assiduously cultivated, and weed growth is not too dense. In our 

 Rose Garden, which adjoins the lilac collection, dozens of lilac 

 seedlings originate every year from seeds which germinate among 

 the shoots of the roses where they are undisturbed by the hoe. 



Cuttings. — Softwood cuttings taken 

 two or three weeks after the flowers 

 have faded — usually during the first or 

 second week of June in the vicinity of 

 Brooklyn — offer the easiest way of 

 rooting lilacs from cuttings. Our prac- 

 tice here is to insert the cuttings in 

 sand kept constantly moist in a closed 

 cold frame shaded by a double thick- 

 ness of cheesecloth. Washed hank sand 

 is preferable as a rooting medium to 

 the mixture of peatmoss and sand 

 which works so well with many kinds 

 ol plants. The cutting should contain four or five nodes and the 

 cut should he made just below the lowermost node and the pair of 

 leaves immediately above it should he removed. Fig. /. 



Cuttings inserted early in June should he well rooted by the end 

 of July or beginning of August. Fig. 8. We find it desirable to 

 give them the protection of the coldframe during the first winter. 

 planting them out the following spring. 



Lilacs can he rooted by means of hardwood cuttings hut it is an 

 uncertain method with most varieties. The cuttings, consisting of 

 wood formed the preceding growing season, are gathered in the 

 autumn alter the leaves have fallen. They air cut into lengths of 

 six to eight inches and tied in bundles of about fifty, butts even, 



ug. 7. Lilac cutting pre- 

 pared for insertion. 



