52 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



to the young shoots every winter. Thus na- 

 ture prunes the lilac, but the trees of the com- 

 mon lilac are greatly improved, by attention 

 in keeping the stem free from suckers, as it 

 will always be observed, that those plants 

 which are so trained, produce the finest and 

 most abundant flowers, and on this account, 

 the plants that are raised from seeds are much 

 to be preferred, as they are not so apt to 

 abound in suckers. If the seeds be sown as 

 soon as ripe, they come up the following 

 spring, and generally flower the third or fourth 

 year from seed, which is earlier than those 

 that are taken from suckers, As the Persian 

 lilac seldom ripens its seed with us, it is 

 usually propagated by suckers, but it is more 

 desirable to multiply the tree by laying down 

 the young branches, which in one year will be 

 sufficiently rooted to transplant. 



We cannot close our account of the lilac 

 without observing that it is amongst those 

 trees that retain their verdure the longest; and 

 as it cannot be too familiar with us, it is to be 

 hoped that we shall see it creep into our hedge 

 rows, and sometimes border our woodland 

 scenes. 



