up to its privileges will be without them. If I could have but one
shrub, I think my choice would be a white Lilac.

Another shrub of tall and stately habit is the old Snowball. When well
grown, few shrubs can surpass it in beauty. Its great balls of bloom are
composed of scores of individually small flowers, and they are borne in
such profusion that the branches often bend beneath their weight. Of
late years there has been widespread complaint of failure with this
plant, because of the attack of aphides. These little green plant-lice
locate themselves on the underside of the tender foliage, before it is
fully developed, and cause it to curl in an unsightly way. The harm is
done by these pests sucking the juices from the leaf. I have had no
difficulty in preventing them from injuring my bushes since I began the
use of the insecticide sold by the florists under the name of
Nicoticide. If this is applied as directed on the can in which it is put
up, two or three applications will entirely rid the plant of the
insects, and they will not return after being driven away by anything as
disagreeable to them as a nicotine extract. Great care must be taken to
see that the application gets to the underside of the foliage where the
pests will establish themselves. This is a matter of the greatest
importance, for, in order to rout them, it is absolutely necessary that
you get the nicotine _where they are_. Simply sprinkling it over the
bush will do very little good.

The Spirea is one of the loveliest of all shrubs. Its flowers are
exquisite in their daintiness, and so freely produced that the bush is
literally covered with them. And the habit of the bush is grace itself,
and this without any attention whatever from you in the way of training.
In fact, attempt to train a Spirea and the chances are that you will
spoil it. Let it do its own training, and the result will be all that
you or any one else could ask for. There are several varieties, as you
will see when you consult the dealers' catalogues. Some are double, some
single, some white, some pink. Among the most desirable for general
culture I would name _Van Houteii_, a veritable fountain of pure white
blossoms in May and June, _Prunifolia_, better known as "Bridal Wreath,"
with double white flowers, _Billardi_, pink, and _Fortunei_, delicate,
bright rose-color.

The Spireas are excellent shrubs for grouping, especially when the white
and pink varieties are used together. Thi