52 DECORATIVE PLANTS, TREES AND SHRUBS 



numerous suckers which are taken to increase the stock, and some 

 are propagated in the ordinary way from cuttings. 



SYRINGA (LILAC) 



The lilac is one of the most typical of our English early-summer 

 flowering trees, one which, on the face of it, remains very much as 

 it was in the days of our grandfathers three-quarters of a century 

 ago, when there were white lilacs and mauve lilacs, and no others. 

 But that is only seemingly so, for in reality there is a very great 

 difference to-day, and it is not unusual to see from eighty to one 

 hundred varieties listed in catalogues. This, of course, is unknown 

 to the man in the street, and his indifference to it equals his ignor- 

 ance ; but if he is the fortunate possessor of a garden he will see 

 to it that the lilac is represented in it somewhere or other, if it be 

 possible. We are expected to pay more regard than he to the long 

 list of varieties catalogued, but even for our purpose we can afford 

 to ignore a great proportion of them. At the least, we want some- 

 thing more than the old common lilac, both in coloured and in 

 white. And these we can easily select, in kinds just as hardy, just 

 as profuse, just as deliciously scented, with much more massive 

 trusses. Do we want giant whites ? We have them in Marie 

 Legraye, Alba grandiflora and Bertha Damman. In lilac ? We 

 have Charles X, Leon Gambetta and Louis Van Houtte. In deeper 

 tints ? There are Louis Spathe, King Albert, Gloire de Lorraine, 

 etc. And these without touching their counterparts in the double 

 form. 



Gradually these more handsome forms are finding their way 

 about the country, and we may see the new and the old, cheek by 

 jowl, almost unnoticed by the passer by. It should be our business 

 to let the old common varieties go by, while we do our best to dis- 

 tribute only the improved varieties, for, after all, that is a duty we 

 owe to our calling. 



The Persian lilacs (persica), both white and lilac, are more often 

 met with than of yore, but they do not form the same dense bushes 

 as the others or give such a massive effect. They are lighter, looser 

 and smaller, but perhaps they make up in elegance what they lack 

 in massivity. 



