BRAND PEONY FARMS, Ine 
BRAND’S New Improved French LILACS 
"THE OWN- 
ROOT LILAC 
IS THE ONLY 
LILAC ONE 
SHOULD 
PLANT" 
Far More Beautiful Than the Common Lilac 
Advantages of the Own-Root Iiilac. The Lilac you buy from 
us is on its own root. If this Lilac sends up a sucker, the 
sucker is the same as the bush from which it springs. It grows 
at the same rate as does the mother bush and when it blooms, 
the bloom is identical with that of the original plant of which 
it is a part. 
We have never had any success with these new Lilacs where 
they were on common Lilac root and not more than 50% success 
where they were grafted on privet root, yet we have always had 
perfect success with Own-Root Lilacs, so we believe the Own- 
Root Lilac is the only Lilac to plant and to offer our customers; 
and we believe an improved Lilac on its own root is just as long 
lived as the common Lilac. 
S Plant Early % 
Lilacs are the one 
shrub that SHOULD 
be planted early. 
And by early we 
really mean early. 
As a rule we can 
dig Lilacs after 
March 28th at Fari¬ 
bault. Order lilacs 
if possible so they 
can be dug and 
shipped the fore- 
\.part of April. ^ 
Growing an Improved Lilac on its own root is a slow 
process. It actually takes us 2 years longer to produce a 
Lilac of a given grade on its own root than it would take 
to produce the same grade on privet. Yet we insist on 
sending out only those Lilacs that will prove satisfac¬ 
tory, so our customers can depend upon receiving only 
genuine own-root plants. 
We have a wonderful deep rich alluvial soil; the soil 
in which the Lilac revels. This contributes to strong 
thrifty tops with a large, well-balanced root system. This 
spring our stock will be unusually fine. 
Planting. Lilacs can be planted either in spring or fall. 
In the spring, it should be done very early before the 
buds start. In the fall the planting season starts about 
September 20th and continues in the North well into late 
October, while in the South planting can go on all winter. 
To allow the French Lilac its natural spread, the plants 
should be set out not less than 8 feet apart. Dig a hole 
as large as a bushel basket. Fill back with rich top soil 
and tramp down firmly until you can place the plant on 
this soil so that when roots are spread out naturally the 
crown will be an inch or two lower than it was in the 
nursery. Work the soil in carefully among the roots until 
the hole is half full; then tramp this down unusually 
hard. Then pour in a full pail of water. After this has 
settled away fill the hole with loose mellow soil until it 
is rounding full; then tramp lightly. Keep plants well 
hoed. Where planting is done in the fall, place a coarse 
mulch about bushes first winter to keep ground from 
heaving. 
Fertilizers. A Lilac likes a sweet soil and responds 
wonderfully to applications of lime. Use 4 ouarts of lime 
to a large bush each year. Any good well-balanced fer¬ 
tilizer can be used with good results. 
Heavy applications of well-rotted barnyard manure ev¬ 
ery 3 years covering the ground about the bushes is best. 
Trimming. As soon as the blossoms fade the bushes 
should be gone over and the faded blossoms cut out. 
Remove just the blossom stem but none of the new wood 
surrounding it, as it is on this new wood that next year’s 
bloom appears. As the bush starts to become too large 
and tall it should be gone over in March and from a 
quarter to a half of the older part cut back to within 3 or 
4 feet of the ground. This will soon put on new growth 
and if this practice is carried out every year the bush 
can always be kept young, within bounds, and will pro¬ 
duce very large blooms. 
Caution. The newly planted Lilac often acts as though 
it were going to die, even after it has made a good start 
the first spring. The leaves suddenly stop growing, turn 
limp, and the bush looks as though it were dying. As a 
rule there is no cause for alarm. Give the plant a good, 
thorough soaking of water; then cultivate it well the 
balance of the season. The next spring, remove any dead 
wood and your Lilac will come all right. 
Fests. Oystershell scale and the lilac borer are about 
the only enemies of the Lilac. For oystershell scale use 
as a spray either lime-sulphur or an oil spray. Use liquid 
lime-sulphur in preference to dry at the rate of 1 part to 
7 parts water, or if the oil spray is used, then at the rate 
of 1 part to 15 parts water. In using the oil spray be 
sure the sprayer is thoroughly cleaned out before putting 
in the oil. Lime-sulphur spray should be applied just as 
the buds are beginning to show green, while the oil spray 
should be used just before the buds show any green. 
The lilac borer is best handled by prevention. If bushes 
are kept well cultivated and growing, there is but little 
borer trouble. Where the borer is at work, he may be 
taken and killed by running a small wire into the hole 
and twisting it around to accomplish this. One can also 
shoot carbon bisulphide into the furrow of the borer with 
a medicine or fountain pen dropper; then plug up the 
entrance with putty. 
Our Selection of Lilacs 
We have over 1G0 kinds of the best Lilacs. Whenever 
we hear of a new one. we buy it and try it out. 
We bloom all of these in our trial gardens. In this way 
we can choose from the entire range of varieties, compare 
one with the other, and eventually retain the best. 
We find some of the older sorts as good as the best of 
the new ones. These we retain. We find many superb 
things among the newer sorts. These we add definitely to 
our list. But we also find many of both old and new that 
we can do without. These we drop. It is our constant aim 
to keep an offering of new Lilacs as good as the best. 
This spring we are offering an unusually fine list of 
French Lilacs. With but few exceptions they are all re¬ 
cent introductions. Since we offer no new Lilac until we 
have it on its own root, we may not always offer these 
same Lilacs as soon as those who grow them on privet. 
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