Mat, 1917 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
233 
flowers before any of the others. Its fragrance 
is very marked. 
Syringa Lemoinei flowered for the first time 
in 1877, and was put in commerce in 1879; 
this was not a hybrid but simply a cross 
between Syringa azurea plena and another 
variety of Single Lilac; the flowers of this 
variety were double, of a good size and pure 
blue-lilac in color. From the same cross 
also resulted the varieties Revoncule and 
Rubella plena (1881) and Mathieu de Dom- 
basle (1882). 
The first Double Lilacs were crossed with- 
out much difficulty with Single Lilacs and 
gave after a few years a new line of seedlings. 
The following were placed in commerce — 
Alphonse Lavalle and Michel Buchner (1885): 
Maxime Cornu, President Grevy, Pyramidal 
and Lamark (1886); Toumefort, Comte 
Horace de Choiseul, Mme. Jules Finger and 
Senateur Volland (i887);Condorcet, Virginite, 
Leon Simon and La Tour d’Auvergne (1888); 
and Jean Bart and Emile Lemoine (1889). 
Most of these varieties, however, are not now 
in commerce having been replaced by better 
kinds. 
As time progressed the younger Lemoine, 
Emile, gradually succeeded to the part his 
mother played in active hybridizing and began 
to fertilize the single varieties with the pollen 
of the double. This work was far more diffi- 
cult and needed the steady hand and keener 
eyesight of youth, as with the single varieties 
it was necessary to open by hand the flowers 
while yet in bud, to remove the stamens and 
when ready apply the pollen from the chosen 
double flower, as otherwise the single varie- 
ties would have fertilized themselves naturally 
and interfered with the cross. 
In particular the fine single variety Marie 
Legraye was used as a parent, crossed with 
double varieties, and most of the finest double 
white Lilacs of to-day come from this cross. 
The following Lilacs have been introduced 
by Mr. Lemoine and his son: 
1890 — Mme. Lemoine, President Carnot, Linne and Dr. Jus- 
sieu (double). 
Claude de Lorraine, General Drouot and Mon. Lapage (single). 
1891 — Comtesse Horace de Choiseul, Belle de Nancy, and 
De Humboldt (double). 
1892 — Pierre Joigneaux and Mme. Abel Chatenay (double). 
1893 — La Mauve, Charles Baltet, and Souvenir de Louis 
Thibaut (double). 
1894 — Obelisque, Mme. Casimir Perier, and Louis Henry 
(double). 
1895 — Dr. Maillot, Grand due Constatin, Monument Carnot, 
and Doyen Keteleer (double). 
1896 — Rabelais, Boussingault, Francisque, Morel, Abel Car- 
riere, and Charles Joly (double); Congo (single). 
1897 — Mme. Leon Simon, Marechal de Bassompierre, Prince 
de Beauvau, and Guizot (double). 
1898 — Arthur William Paul, Dr. Masters, Marc Mitchell, 
and Colbert (double); Toussaint-Louverture (single). 
1899 — Comte de Kerchove and Wm. Robinson (double); 
Crampel, Negro, Volcan, and Othello (single). 
1900 — Georges Bellair, F.douard Andre, Maurice de Vilmorin, 
and President Viger (double). 
1901 — Le Printemps, President Loubet, Dr. Troyanowsky, 
and Mme. de Miller (double). 
1902 — De Saussure, Jeanne d’Arc, Paul Hariot, and Viviand- 
Morel (double^. 
1903 — Dame Blanche, Gaudichaud, and Miss Ellen Willmott 
(double); De Miribel, L’Oncle Tom, and Pasteur (single). 
1904 — Mireille, Deuil d’Emile Galle, Waldeck, Rousseau. 
Banquise, Taglioni, and Etoile de Mai (double); Reaumur and 
Christophe Colomb (single). 
1905 — Charles Sargent, Due de Massa, Rene Jarry Desloges, 
Desfontair.^s and Maximowicz (double); Montgolfier and Ed- 
nond Boissier (single). 
1906 — Siebold, Victor Lemoine, and Montaigne (double). 
1907 — Jules Ferry, Leon Gambetta, Godron, and Planchon 
(double). 
1908 — Edmond About and Jules Simon (double). 
1909 — Hippolyte Maringer, Mme. Antoine Buchner, and 
Olivier de Serres (double); Decaisne, Milton, and Tombouctou 
(single). 
1910 — Comte Adrien de Montebello, and Marechal Lannes 
(double); Cavour and Vestale (single). 
19 * I — President Fallieres and Henri Martin (double); Gilbert, 
Danton, and Ronsard (single). 
19 * 3 — Naudin, Thunberg, and President Poincare (double); 
M arceau, Laplace, Lavoisier, and Monge (single). 
1915 — Emile Gentil, Paul Thirion, Claude Bernard, Jean 
Mace, and Magellan (double); Diderot and Mont Blanc 
(single). 
1916 — Edith Cavell, double pure milk white, buds cream 
and sulphur; Julien Gerardin, double soft lilac; Saturnale, 
single bluish mauve; Vesuve, single claret purple, nearly red. 
So much for what we have before us to-day, 
but the end is not yet for as Mr. Emile Le- 
moine informs us he has also produced some 
interesting hybrids between Syringa Giraldi, 
a new early flowering species from Western 
China and the Common Single and Double 
Lilacs. These hybrids are very ornamental 
and valuable shrubs, they grow very fast, 
some of them making as much as five feet of 
bered — that is, in this country to be really 
successful, Lilacs should be had on their own 
roots, not grafted. It is common practice in 
the European nursery trade to graft Lilacs 
on Privet, with the result, all too often, that 
ultimately the planter has a fine collection of 
Privet, the Lilacs having succumbed to the 
borer. If, however, these plants are on their 
own roots, the attack of the borer simply 
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The present day perfection of development in the Lilac is fairly represented by Miss Ellen Willmott which has large 
branched thyrses of large double white flowers 
new growth a year; flower a week or ten days 
before the other Lilacs and are both double 
and single. Those already in commerce are: 
Lamartine and Mirabeau (single), Berryer 
(Semi-double), and Vauban and Claude Ber- 
nard (double). What does the future hold? 
A LT HOUGH the Modern Lilac has been 
given considerable attention in some 
places, yet it may be questioned whether the 
full merits of the modern improvements are 
really appreciated. People buy “Lilacs,” and 
they get — just Lilacs. What a pity when there 
is such a selection of these improvements that, 
from a flowering standpoint, are so vastly 
superior. There is one point to be remem- 
results in the production of so many more 
suckers from the ground, and the glory is 
multiplied. 
Lilacs may be planted in fall or spring. 
1 he Common Lilac starts growth very early 
in the season and is best handled, therefore, in 
early fall. Io achieve the maximum of floral 
beauty, the Lilac needs pruning every year, 
otherwise, it has a tendency to grow to too 
great a height so that the flowers are not 
easily seen. Cut off all flower clusters as 
soon as blooming ceases, and it is a good thing 
also to remove suckers from the base, espec- 
ially in the case of the Common Lilac. Re- 
member that the Lilac flowers on the wood of 
the previous season, and therefore must not 
