GROWING HARDY ORNAMENTAL TREES AND SHRUBS. 407 



bloomed too early in the spring, and there came a hard frost 

 which nipped the bloom. I know it is true that Mr. Harrison 

 says that these Japanese and Chinese varieties are hardy and 

 bloom later, but I do not agree with him in regard to the lilacs. 

 The Japanese lilac may be a beautiful thing, but to me it is no 

 more than the California privet. The bloom is small, and the 

 leaf is not as large as that of the ordinary lilac. Perhaps I have 

 got hold of the wrong tree, but that is my impression. 



Mr. Harrison : Prof. Green has it growing here. He can tell 

 you what it is. 



Prof. Green : There is a little mix up in these names. I 

 don't know just exactly what Mr. Moyle got* hold of, but our 

 specimens are now from twelve* to fourteen feet high with a 

 perfect mass of white blooms a foot to sixteen inches long. They 

 bloom about the twentieth of June, fully a month after the 

 others are gone. 



Mr, Moyle: Has it the true lilac perfume? Doesn't it stink 

 a little, to be a little vulgar? 



Prof. Green : I don't think so. 



Mr. Harrison : One of the best lilacs we have is the Chinese 

 tree lilac. It is a very beautiful thing. You do not want to 

 sow the seed in the fall, or you will lose them ; but sow early in 

 the spring, and you will get a good stand. 



Mr. Hawkins : Now, just a word about the thorn apple. 

 Did anybody ever see it in a lawn? Did you ever see it under 

 cultivation? Did you ever see it sheared? I have a neighbor, 

 an old Englishman, who has a great many English notions. He 

 grows hedges, and he shears them. He says to me "You cannot 

 go up to my place at any time from spring to fall but what 

 there is some plant that will attract attention." He says the 

 most perfect thing he has is that thorn apple. He says there is 

 no plant that he is acquainted with that will stand shearing as 

 well as that thorn apple. He has it sheared in nice shape, and 

 my friend Williams says it is a perfect snowbank in spring, and 

 in the fall it is a beautiful thing with its red berries. 



Mr. Alfred Terry: Is not that the English hawthorn? 



Mr. Hawkins : No sir, it is a native thorn apple tree that 

 came up in his yard. 



Judge Moyer: One of our best native shrubs is the red- 

 berried elder, which is common everywhere. It reseeds itself, 

 and we find it is very beautiful for five or six years, and it seems 

 to me to be one of the most beautiful things we have. The 

 edible elder is also a good shrub. I want to say just one word 

 about the tree lilacs, the syringa vilosa and the Japonica. I 

 have had them growing for five years, and they do very well. 

 Both of them have a heavy perfume, and if made up into a 

 bouquet and placed in a close room many people do not like them. 



The President : In regard to the remark made by Mr. Moyle 

 of Wisconsin, his climate is quite different from ours. I imagine 



