DECIDUOUS FLOWERING TREES 43 



although seldom planted in gardens, is very elegant in 

 aspect, and bears in great profusion large clusters of 

 pure white flowers about a month after the blossoming 

 of the hawthorn. 



The several thorns here mentioned are readily in- 

 creased by grafting or budding, the common hawthorn 

 being used as a stock. As grafted and budded thorns 

 have a tendency to produce growths below the junction 

 of stock and scion it is important to remove the shoots 

 produced by the stock as fast as they make their 

 appearance. 



HALESIAS OR SNOWDROP TREES. These are so 

 exquisitely beautiful that it would be difficult to over- 

 praise them. Neat in growth and free in flowering, they 

 are of special value for small gardens. Halesia tetraptera 

 is the most handsome of those in cultivation. It attains 

 a height of eight or ten feet, is graceful in habit, and 

 has pure white flowers that have a close resemblance to 

 those of the snowdrop. The flowers are borne in 

 clusters of six or eight each, and are produced in April 

 or May according to the season and district. H. hispida, 

 which was introduced from Japan in 1875, ^ s Vei 7 

 similar to the first-named species, and is vigorous in 

 growth and free in blooming, the flowers being white, 

 with a resemblance to the snowdrop, and are produced 

 during the spring months. 



The snowdrop trees should be given prominent 

 positions along the front of the shrubbery and care 

 be taken to prevent them being crowded by strong 

 growing subjects. A well-drained light soil is essential 

 to success, and the stations should be properly pre- 

 pared ; the first - mentioned species should, where 

 practicable, be grown in a mixture consisting of peat 

 and light loam. 



LABURNUMS. The laburnums are so well known for 

 the glorious display of golden flowers they produce 



