LAYING OUT THE GARDEN 71 



French varieties produce beautiful flowers but they 

 look less like Lilacs, the tendency being to improve 

 a flower out of all likeness to its old form. Hy- 

 bridizing has played havoc with sentiment and 

 tradition. The new varieties are less sturdy and 

 vigorous than the old ; and are of less use in a real 

 garden. When purchasing Lilacs from the nursery 

 be sure to get those grown on their own roots, for 

 most of the new stock both here and in Europe 

 is budded on Privet and is worthless, as it only 

 lives a few years. This is done to gain time and 

 save money, and is a good example of the modern 

 way of doing things in a hurry. 



White Lilacs grow into large trees and are ex- 

 tremely picturesque with their fascinating clusters 

 of highly scented flowers. Although at an ad- 

 vanced age these trees present a somewhat gaunt 

 and scraggly appearance, they are perhaps more 

 suggestive of antiquity than anything else that 

 we can put in the yard, always excepting Box. 

 Hardly a house was built in New England, or in 

 Westchester County up to the middle of the nine- 

 teenth century, or even later, that did not have 

 a clump of Lilacs planted within sight of the win- 



