that
time there has been great activity in raising new kinds in France, till
now the list of named single sorts numbers upwards of fifty, while the
doubles are almost as numerous. There are far too many named sorts, in
fact, as the differences between many of them are of the slightest, so
that the selection of the best from catalogues, from the mere names and
brief descriptions (not always accurate) is perplexing to an amateur. To
no raiser do we owe more to the improvement of the Lilac of late years
than to that famous veteran French hybridist, Victor Lemoine of Nancy,
who has made the genus Syringa one of his special studies, and favoured
as he is by a climate suitable for the free seeding of the Lilac, he has
been highly successful. There are four more or less distinct shades of
colour among the sorts, viz. whites, reds, pinks, and so-called blues. A
selection of a dozen single sorts would include the following, placed in
order of merit: _Whites_--Marie Le Gray, Alba grandiflora. _Blue or
Bluish_--Caerulea or Delphine, Duchesse de Namours, Lindleyana or Dr.
Lindley. _Reds or Purple-reds_--Souvenir de L. Spath, Philemon, Rubra
insignis, Mme. Kreuter, Camille de Rohan, Ville de Troyes.
_Pinks_--Lovanensis, Schneelavine. This selection comprises the finest
sorts, having the largest flower clusters in their respective colours,
and is representative of the whole of the sorts. Of the double flowered
sorts there has of recent years been a great number sent from French
nurseries, and only a few of the oldest sorts have developed into large
specimens, and therefore one cannot judge of their merits, as in the
case of the single sorts. The best varieties include the following dozen
sorts: _Lavender and Blue_--Leon Simon, Renoncule, Alphonse Lavallee
(pale blue). _Pinks_--President Carnot, M. de Dombasle. _Whites_--Mme.
Abel Chatenay (the finest), Mme. Lemoine, Cassimir fils.
_Reds_--President Grevy, Senateur Volland, Comte H. de Choiseul, Maxime
Cornu. In the Lilacs there is material for the tasteful planter of
gardens, yet how seldom does one see in ordinary gardens full advantage
taken of them for producing beautiful effects! In the common way of
planting they are dotted about shrubberies indiscriminately, and jumbled
with trees and shrubs of a totally different character, so that the
Lilacs cannot be seen to the fullest advantage. An isolated group of the
choicest kinds, or even a simple hedge of the white or rich purple kind