314 
March 2, 1918 
A Bunch of Sweet Peas from the Pacific Coast. Fig. 143 
tics. Th(*.v art* surer to ri|.cn. ctiii Ix! iilaiitod latt*r 
and are better suited for jiottr soils tbtiii tlie larjrer 
vr. rieties. 
DKXT COU.N.— IX'iit eor’i is very widt'ly trrowii 
tiiroii^liont ( 'oimeel lent, ir.u'tieiilarly in tlie soiitlit'ru 
jiitrl of tin* State. llt'rt* niiiiiy varit'tit's will ont- 
\ !eld tin* be>i Hints by 10 or 20 bnsbels j)(*r jiert* 
but Jire :i little later in rijteidnji titid are soinetiiiK's 
etaijtlit by frost. Dt-nt corn also molds badly in 
the li(‘ld iind in tbe crib nnlt'ss tbor<nt;;bly mti- 
tnred. The brojid-setxied v:irieties of dent corn 
Avitli wide si»tie<*s befwt'en tbe rows dry ont inort* 
eiisily. and lienee are b.**l<‘r iHlajited to northern 
ttnidifions than tin* eoiniiaet. wed.a»*-seed(*d varie¬ 
ties of tbe show corn type of tbe eorn b(*lt Sttites. 
llKtU Fiilil —Allbonjib it takes no more 
labor to jrrow a heavy yieblinjr vari»*fy than :i lijrht 
om*. aside from barvt'stinjr. it does fake more fer¬ 
tilizer. No ijlanls hav(* yt*': lM‘(*n diseovt'red wbieh 
CJin m.'innfaefare till their food ont of thin air, tind 
eorti is no exception. If ji lii'avii*!* yieldin;' corn 
is to be frrown it must lx* fed more. A'jiri(*ties do 
differ in their ability to make use of tbe jdant food 
which is available. 'I'o deti'rmitn* these varieties 
is tin* problem. Aft<*r obtaining a jrood varii'ty the 
chief effort should be jait forth to adjust its time 
of ripeniui' t<» the seasonal conditions of the hicality 
in which it is j;rowu. Somethiiii; can lx* done also 
towanhs obtaining iilants whicb will stand up 
throughout the season and not be t'asily blown 
down. For seed sidect the best ears to lx* found of 
course, but pay more attention to sizi* of (*ar and 
soundness of the seeds than to the tilling out at 
tin* tip, the number of rows and gen(*ral conforma¬ 
tion of the ear. Tin* highest yielding variety of 
corn is the one which iirodnci's one or two good ears 
cn ev(*ry stalk with no bair<*n st.ilks and no fre.ak 
ears. Any endeavor to imjirove corn should aim 
at the production of such a variety. 
AVOID INF.ltFF.DTNO.—Don't limit the seed 
jiianted to a few of the very best ears. It is best 
to have the seed come from at h*ast 50 good ears 
<‘ven if that much seed is n<»t m*eded. This is to 
pievc'nt the injurious (*ff*cts of l<x) close inhreed- 
ing. In most cases there is nothing to be gained 
by the indi'^criminaie cUanging and mixing of 
varieti<*s which is oft(*n jiracticed. Many of the 
best varieth's of corn grown in Connecticut today, 
as shown by the variety .ests, have been grown on 
the same farm for many years. The mixing of 
vari(‘ties is jiarticularly to he condemned, as it is 
a gamble whether or not anything better can be 
produced in that way. and the odds are against the 
gambler. 
ISDN INC AND (Tl( )SSIN<The mixing of 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
varieties should not be confused with the prac¬ 
tice of crossing two varieties to obtain the advan¬ 
tage of hybrid vigor which is often shown in the 
first generation following a cross. Many experi¬ 
ments hav(‘ shown that a cross between two varie- 
ries, particularly between a Hint and a dent, is 
more productive than either parental varii'ty the 
fii-xt )/riir after the crons is made. Dut this in¬ 
creased productivi'iicss is not shown in the follow- 
ii.g genei'ations. In order to obtain the fulle.st 
adv.Miitage of hybrid vigor it is necessary systemati¬ 
cally to cross all the seeds of one variety by jdant- 
ii.g it in alternate rows with another variety and 
detasseling all the plants of the one variety before 
I'ollen is shed and not saving seed from these 
ci-oss(>d ]ilants. This practice, which is ix'com- 
iiK'mh'd to lx; followed with caution, as not all 
varieties give higher yielding h.ybrids, should not 
1)0 confused with the practice of planting two or 
rnoix* varieties together in a field. Whih* tin; re¬ 
sults the first year after the mixing may he a lit¬ 
tle bettei* the cro)is in the following yeai' are almost 
sure to be disappointing. While hybridization has 
been tbe way that all our varieties of corn have 
oi'igin:ited in the ])ast it needs long-continued scl<>c- 
ticn and careful testing to jiroduce anything new 
of real value. The indiscriminate mixing of varic- 
A Bunch of Wisconsin Cherries. Fig. 145 
ties is too uncertain and unprofitable a process to 
be followed by the man who is emh*avoring to 
grow corn. fruor. l o. i.. joxks. 
Connecticut Experiment Stiition. 
Typical Shape of Sutton Beauty Apple Tree. Fig. 144 
Home Garden Lilacs 
P liOHAltl.Y the lilac is the most democmtic of 
all garden shnibs. It also is the best known. 
It is to be found beside the doorway of almost <*very 
farmhouse in New Enghind, ;ind yet it is being 
grown by the thousands in some of the imblic parks. 
That the hold wluich the lilac has u])on people in 
g<*neral is as sti’ong :is ever imiy be judged from the 
fact tlvat fully fifty thousand jx'ople have ci-owded 
Highland I’ark, Itochester, N. Y., on a .single day to 
see the hundreds of lilacs there when tit the height 
of their bloom. Of late yt*:trs many n(*w and strik¬ 
ingly beautiful varieties ha\o been introduced. P.y 
cro.ssing and by careful .selection, the fiowers of the 
common lilac have been incrc'ased amazingly, both 
in size and color. It is but fair to note, though, that 
dll the jirocess of improving the blo.ssoms, much of 
the fragrance which (*n(h*ar(‘d the old-ftishioned lilac 
to every heart has been sarviliced. 
Of the hundreds of varieties tested out in the 
Arnold .Vrboretum, near Itoston. only a compara¬ 
tively few have been found ri'ally worth while grow¬ 
ing in the home garden. Prof. Charles S. Sargent 
has recommended the following varieties; Charles 
X, rosy lilac; Philemon, Ludwig Spaeth and Congo. 
'•od purple; Macrostachya and Cloire de Mou- 
iins. double wdiite; Marie T.egraye. single white: 
Mad n'*e Lemoine and Miss Ellen 'Willmott. idnk: 
.'li, oiue. 
Probably most people .suppose that the common 
lilac is a native American shi'nb. It really came to 
tl'is country from Constantinople, by way of West¬ 
ern Eurojie. It was known here very early, though, 
for Washington planted it at Mt. Yernon, and either 
the.se ddentical plants or their de.<cendants are still 
tloweriiig thei'e. For a long time nobod.v knew where 
A Well-Formed Lilac. Fig. 146 
the lilac ix'ally caim* from. ;;nd only in recent years 
has it been traced to Ibe mountain forests of I’nl- 
garia. 
The Pei-sian lilac is (pilie a different species, but 
has long been a popular fi''wer. The blossoms are 
rosy jmrple or white. P>y crossing the common and 
Ihe Persian lilacs some excellent hybrids have lx>en 
eoolved. There is also a very handsome lilac from 
Northeiai China, Syringa pnbesc<*n.s, which ought to 
be known in American gardens to a much larger 
ext(‘nt that it i.s. It is valmible for its beaut.v, but 
more jiarticularly for its delicate fragrance. Still 
another line lilac wliich is worth g(*tting acipiainted 
with is Syringa villosa, wbieh has rose-colored or 
nearly whiite fiowers. In contrast to Syringa jinbes- 
cens, the flowers of this species hav«* a distinctly dis¬ 
agreeable (xlor. They are exli'emely hand.some, 
though, aiid very alnindant. Moreover, this specie" 
is a late bloomer. A jiarticularly interesting lilac, 
although one but little known as yet, is Syidnga rc- 
I'.exa. It is tbe only lilac w hich h.-is flowers in droop¬ 
ing clnster.s. 
It is imjiortant to i-(*im‘ml;er Ilnit lilacs on tbeir 
own roots are very much ."iijierior to tbos<; which 
liav«* been grafted on otb(*r \arieties of the common 
lilac.' For years man.v nnr.-erymen sold tin* newer 
vari(>ti(*s on grafted stock, with re.sults which wi're 
far from satisfactoi'.v. Peihajis the reader may be 
among the many amateurs who have been surjirised 
and disjijijiointed to find t'lat their fancy varieties 
b.ave d(“generated into tlie common tyjie. Lilacs 
throw nj) a great many root suckers, which frequent¬ 
ly gi'ow with great vigor. In t.ime the.se suckers are 
likely to ovei'come the grafted jilant and kill it out 
entirely. This exjilains th 2 curious tran.sformation 
which Inis often Ix'en r<‘jiorted by inexperienced gar¬ 
den makers. iSIany nursi'i-ynien also use jirivet as a 
slock for lilacs. Tbe r(‘sult may not be (juiti; as 
I'lqileasant, but tin; only jirojier way to grow any 
of the newer sorts is on their own roots. They 
come more slowly that Avay, to be sui'e, but they are 
easily jiropagated, either by making hard-wood cut¬ 
tings in Winter oi- soft-wood cuttings in June or 
July. It should lx* set down as an axiom that gar¬ 
den makers should buy only lilacs which are guar¬ 
anteed to be growing on their own roots. 
Although lilacs will grow in almost anj' soil, and 
endure more abuse than most slu'ubs, they will give 
the best croji of fiowers in a fairly rich loam, which 
i.s well drained. Unlike Uhododentlrons and Azaleas, 
they have a fondness for lime, whicli exjilains the 
fact that tlH*y can be grown over a much wider area. 
At the same time, they are hetter in the Northern 
Tree of McIntosh Red Apple. Fig. 147 
