68 THE GOLD MINE 



below it was all the same. I have a fine grove of these 

 trees, now six years old. Some of them are about a 

 foot in circumference, and. fifteen feet tall. They 

 are trees, not shrubs. They do not bloom as early as 

 the bush lilacs, but make up for lost time when they 

 get at it. They have great spikes of snow white, honey 

 scented flowers. If they never bloomed at all they 

 would be worth planting on account of their gracefully 

 drooping branches and fine foliage. The leaves are 

 small, and those on the young shoots have a purplish 

 tinge. They are yet scarce and high, but it pays to 

 have them. In the future they will be used for ave- 

 nues, where their splendid bloom and pendulous bran- 

 ches will be very attractive. They propagate readily 

 by grafting them on the root of the common lilac. 

 Only note this : If you use the lateral roots of the Vul- 

 garis they will sprout like the mischief. If you lake 

 the tap roots, they cannot sprout. You graft just as 

 the nurseryman grafts his apples in winter — a piece of 

 scion and a piece of root to match. Make a splic? or 

 lip graft, and wind with waxed thread. Sometimes, 

 when compelled to use a lateral root, I have taken 

 them up after the first year and cut off the Vulgaris 

 root, leaving only those thrown out from the scion. By 

 doing this you have them on their own roots. Grafted 

 trees should be planted deep, so you can get roots from 

 the scion of the tree itself. Otherwise if you depend on 

 the Vulgaris root your tree will be dwarfed. I much 

 prefer to sow the seed and draw^ on my friends east for 

 it. Then we have a tree on its own roots. 



