iH 
BRAND PEONY FARMS 
FARIBAULT . MINN. 
. 
Sis 
Jinnies oHew improved french £ilacs 
With Blossoms so Large and so Beautiful One can Hardly Imagine that 
They are Related to the Common Lilac 
We have experimented with the propagation of the 
French Lilac for over 20 years to find how to grow it 
in a practical way on its own roots. We have discov¬ 
ered how to do this successfully. Before we were able 
to do this we never had any success with French 
Lilacs in the Minnesota climate. We have never had 
any trouble with our French Lilacs dying out since. 
A French Lilac must be on its own root to do well in 
a severe climate like that of Minnesota. 
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 
satisfactory, so our customers can depend upon re¬ 
ceiving 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. 
Our Lilacs are making a wonderful growth as this is written and as our stock 
is almost twice as large as we have ever had before, if nothing happens be¬ 
tween now and digging time the chances are that our customers will receive 
some unusually fine bushes 1 his fall. 
Planting: Lilacs can be planted either in spring or fall. In the fall the plant¬ 
ing 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 not less 
than 8 feet apart. Dig a hole as large as a bushel basket. Fill back with rich 
top soil mixed with 1/3 part well-rotted cow manure if same is obtainable, 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 from 4 to 6 inches deeper than it 
was in the nursery row. 
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 6 inches deep about bushes first winter to keep ground 
from heaving. 
Fertilizers: A Lilac likes a sweet soil and responds wonderfully to applica¬ 
tions of lime. Use 4 quarts of lime to a large bush each year. Any good well- 
balanced fertilizer can be used with good results. 
Heavy applications of well-rotted barnyard manure every year 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 be¬ 
come too large and tall it should be gone over in 
March and from a quarter to a third of the old main 
branches cut back to within a foot of the ground. 
These old stumps will soon put out a new growth 
which by fall will have developed into long new shoots 
which in the course of two years will have formed 
virtually a new bush in the place of the old one and 
it is on these new growths that the great large pan¬ 
icles will appear that are so desirable. 
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. 
Pests: 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 1 5 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 culti¬ 
vated 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 or gum. 
OUR ENTIRE LIST. We have many varieties growing which are not listed 
in this catalog. If varieties not listed are desired, write us about them, we 
may have them. We list only varieties of which we have a comparatively 
large supply. 
BRAND'S LILACS 
are all on their 
OWN ROOTS 
These bushes come to you already 
to plant. They need no trimming. Now 
that the French Lilac can be propa¬ 
gated successfully on its own root, 
there is no longer any reason why a 
Lilac propagated in any other way 
should be planted. 
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