THE 



Canadian Horticulturist. 



Vol. XXII. 



1899. 



No. 5 



LILACS. 



At the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ont. 



HE lilacs or syringas are 

 among the most valued of 

 all shrubs for the garden. 

 They are favorites every- 

 where and almost univers- 

 ally grown. Their hardi- 

 ness commends them, for 

 they thrive not only in Eastern Canada 

 but many of them endure the colder 

 winters of the North-West plains with- 

 out injury. They are easily grown and 

 the beauty and fragrance of their flowers, 

 so freely produced in the early spring, 

 and the richness of their foliage through- 

 out the season, are qualities which make 

 the lilacs deservedly popular. 



This useful group of ornamental 

 shrubs contains ab >ut ten species, seven 

 or eight of which, with many splendid 

 varieties which have been produced 

 from some of them, are now more or less 

 generally available for the decoration of 

 our gardens. 



The common lilac, Syringa vulgaris, 

 ■ i 



was introduced to cultivation in 1597 

 and has hence been an object of admir- 

 ation among lovers of flowers for more 

 than 300 years. It is a native of Persia 

 and Hungary, and when planted in good 

 soil grows to a height of 10 to 15 and 

 sometimes 20 feet. Although it suckers 

 freely, if the suckers are persistently cut 

 away it may be trained to a handsome 

 tree-like form. 



Lilacs may be propagated from suck- 

 ers also by budding. They are some- 

 times grafted on the privet, but this stock 

 is undesirable on account of its tender- 

 ness and lack of vigour. Of late years 

 many of the best varieties have been 

 grown from cuttings which, when placed 

 under suitable conditions, are said to 

 root without much difficulty. Lilacs on 

 their own roots are much to be preferred 

 since when grafted on the common stock 

 the suckers thrown up from the roots 

 are sometimes so numerous and vigorous 

 as to crowd out or weaken the graft. 



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