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LILACS IN LAWN 



AND LANDSCAPE 



When florists try to boost their incomes in fall and spring hy handling 

 hardy shrubbery, one of their problems is the selection of shrubs that thrive 

 in adverse conditions. In such endurance of hardship, few plants excel the 

 lilac, but it deserves better treatment than it usually receives. 



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OU KNOW the good-na- 

 tured man, don't you? He 

 is the man — surely you 

 have met him — who is so 

 even-tempered, so accom 

 modating, so peaceably in- 

 clined, that inconsiderate 

 people impose upon him. 

 They step on his toes, 

 kick his shins and bump 

 roughly against him, literally and figu- 

 ratively, for they are sure he will not 

 retaliate. 



You know, also, the good-natured 

 shrub, commonly called the lilac. It has 

 all the long-suffering patience of the 

 good-natured man. It is persistently 

 neglected and abused, just because it 

 is slow to resent such 

 treatment. It will cheer- 

 fully endure more hard- 

 ship than almost any other 

 plant. It has a wond«rful 

 faculty of returning good 

 for evil. It will flourish 

 and bloom to a fairly sat- 

 isfactory degree in ex- 

 tremely unfavorable con- 

 ditions; hence these are 

 the conditions that are 

 provided for it in a large 

 proportion of cases. 



Give It a Chance. 



Now, the fact already 

 indicated, that the lilac 

 recompenses the grower so 

 abundantly for so small an 

 outlay of effort or expense, 

 is a suflScient reason for 

 its great popularity and a 

 suflQcient reason for con- 

 tinuing to recommend it 

 to customers as one of the 

 most desirable of shrubs. 

 Many florists add a sub- 

 stantial sum to their fall 

 and spring profits by the 

 sale of shrubbery; prob- 

 <nbly other florists might 

 do so if they pleased, and 

 there are few shrubs that 

 can be handled with more 

 safety and satisfaction 

 than the lilac. 



But why not give the 

 lilac a fair chance? If a 

 florist not only sells shrub- 

 bery, but also plants and 

 tends it, he has a fine op- 

 portunity to give a prac- 

 tical demonstration of the 

 right methods. But he 

 should not neglect the lilac 

 and give all his attention, 

 all the good soil, all the 



water and all the little special favors 

 to the other shrubs, on the supposition 

 that the lilac is perfecth' able to take 

 care of itself. 



As Bad Habits Are Baffled. 



Undoubtedly, one of the important 

 points in the cultivation of the common 

 lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is to keep the 

 suckers in subjection. These are often 

 considered a great nuisance and a seri- 

 ous fault of the shrub, but, like men's 

 bad habits, they are easily conquered 

 by cutting them out before they be- 

 come strong. Of course the suckers 

 sometimes spring up in multitudes and 

 must be controlled, for, if allowed to 

 multiply freely, thej' will so absorb the 



There Are Few Shrubs Equal to the Modern Lilac. 



strength of the shrub or choke its growth 

 as to retard the production of blooms. 

 But the suckers do not become formid- 

 able except when long permitted to have 

 their way. It is an easy matter to cut 

 them out with a hoe when they are only 

 a few inches high. 



In the case of the grafted varieties of 

 Syringa vulgaris, it may sometimes be 

 especially important to beware of suck- 

 ers, lest they insidiously usurp the place 

 of the grafts and take complete pos- 

 session. But the truth is that the graft- 

 ed forms, when their growth is well es- 

 tablished, seldom sucker badly, even 

 though S. vulgaris is used as the stock. 

 The suckers should be watched for, but 

 are not likely to be numerous. If crown 

 grafting has been used, 

 the trouble with suckers 

 has thus been reduced to a 

 minimum. 



If the suckers are sup- 

 pressed, there is generally 

 not much else that is need- 

 ed to keep the bushes in 

 shape, for lilacs are nat- 

 u r a 1 1 y of symmetrical 

 habit and need but little 

 pruning. 



Points on Pruning. 



It is true that they may 

 become so overgrown and 

 ungainly as to need heroic 

 cutting back, but such a 

 condition can result only 

 from long continued and 

 utter neglect. All that 

 is necessary, in most cases, 

 is to liead back any run- 

 away shoots and remove 

 (lead or weak wood. Such 

 trimming usually should 

 be done soon after the 

 shrubs have finished 

 blooming, so as not to de- 

 stroy the next season's 

 flower-buds. At tliis time 

 the (lead trusses should 

 also ho cut away, not only 

 for the sak(^ of appear- 

 ances, but also to prevent 

 the weakening of the 

 shrubs by the formation 

 of seeds. 



A few words may here 

 be ventured by way of 

 c()nif)arison between S. 

 vuli^aris and its hybrids, 

 thougli comparisons in 

 this case may be danger- 

 ous if not odious. It is 

 generally agreed, among 

 nurserymen and others 

 wlio are best informed on 



