Old Time Gardens 
*44 
they were seldom satisfactory if clipped, for the broad- 
spreading leaves were always gray with dust, and 
they often had a “ rust ” which wholly destroyed 
their beauty. The finest clipped Lilac hedge I ever 
saw is at Indian Hill, Newburyport. It was set out 
about 1850, and is compact and green as Privet; 
the leaves are healthy, and the growth perfect down 
to the ground ; it is an unusual example of Lilac 
growth — a perfect hedge. An unclipped Lilac 
hedge is lovely in its blooming; a beautiful one 
grows by the side of the old family home of Mr. 
Mortimer Howell at West Hampton Beach, Long 
Island. To this hedge in May come a-begging 
dusky city flower venders, who break off and carry 
away wagon loads of blooms. As the fare from and 
to New York is four dollars, and a wagon has to be 
hired to convey the flowers from the hedge two miles 
to the railroad station, there must be a high price 
charged for these Lilacs to afford any profit; but 
the Italian flower sellers appear year after year. 
Lilacs bloom not in our ancient literature ; they 
are not named by Shakespeare, nor do I recall any 
earlier mention of them than in the essay of Lord 
Bacon on Gardens/’ published about 1610, where 
he spelled it Lelacke. Blue-pipe tree was the ancient 
name of the Lilac, a reminder of the time when pipes 
were made of its wood ; I heard it used in modern 
speech once. An old Narragansett coach driver 
called out to me, “ Ye set such store on flowers, 
don’t ye want to pick that Blue-pipe in Pender 
Zeke’s garden?” — a deserted garden and home at 
Pender Zeke’s Corner. This man had some of the 
