A MEZEREON is a dwarf olive, but as the plant is not an olive, nor indeed half so useful, it is proper to add that the name is of Arabic derivation, and the Arabs named plants by their visual analogies, and not by analogies of structure. It is the maczeroun of the Arabian physicians, and a destroyer of life, which the olive is not.

There is no flowering shrub in our gardens that gives us higher pleasure than the mezereon. We have indeed finer subjects (according to our notions), but when this shrub flowers, these finer things are as good as dead, because there is not a flower upon them, or even the sign of a coming leaf. To speak of the mezereon as a spring flower is a mistake. The hedgerows are bare, and the birds for the most part are silent, or dismally twittering, when the lovely mezereon is in its full glory, and most delightful it is to see its branches studded with brilliant pink or purplish flowers--

"Ere a leaf is on the bush

In the time before the thrush."

Nor does the performance end with this fairy tale, for the transformation scene follows, and then the leafy rods are dotted with ruddy berries, and if you come late upon the scene you are sure of something for your money. There are white flowering varieties, and we have heard of, but not seen, a double-flowering variety, the flowers of which are reported to be of the richest fiery carmine colour, and to last twice as long as the single flowers. Long duration is a proper quality of double flowers, and so on that part of the story we raise no question. It will be safe to advise the reader to acquire the double-flowering mezereon, for it must be a fine thing if it really exists. The autumn flowering variety we have long possessed, as also Fortune's (D. Fortunei), which has lilac flowers, which, with us, appear about Christmas.

Hardy daphnes are not numerous, and the best of them are less hardy than they should be for universal usefulness. The commonest is the green-flowered D. laureola, a true native, flowering in February, and a really interesting, though not showy plant. The amateur who is an amateur indeed should make a point of having a few plants of this species always in the garden, in case he should be at any time afflicted with a passion for daphnes in general. It is the species employed for grafting the finer sorts upon, and therefore, when the fit comes, one form of medicine will be ready. Having indulged at some length in such pastime, we can say that to make the stocks and put on the grafts is easy work, and the great point is to have nice quarters ready to promote the junction and the growing. The Pontic Daphne (D. Pontica) is but a form of the last, with lighter-coloured foliage and later flowers. It is also employed as a stock for grafting. It should not be omitted to state that the mezereon is also valued as a stock, but D. laureola is the plant for the purpose.

The better class of daphnes comprise D. alpina, a pretty shrub for the rockery, with white or rosy flowers; D. collina, a smallish arboretum or rockery shrub, with blush or pink-tinted flowers; and D. eneorum, a half trailing shrub, possessing the finest qualities, and much to be desired in every well-kept garden. It is a true evergreen of neat growth, producing lovely rosy flowers, that are exquisitely fragrant early in the spring. For the dressed grounds this is a foreground gem, and hardy enough for any good garden south of the Trent, and for any garden north of the Trent if on the west of the great backbone that divides the hard from the soft climates of England.

Amongst the greenhouse daphnes the most important is the sweet D. odora, of which there are several varieties, pink, white, and variegated-leaved. D. Indica, with white flowers, D. japonica, with pink flowers, and D. Blagayanum, with yellow flowers, are worthy of attention. In places specially favoured by climatal conditions D. odora is hardy, and one of the finest out-door shrubs in the world. But generally speaking it is not hardy, and needs the shelter of glass.

It is better for the amateur to buy than to propagate daphnes. The seed requires two years to germinate under the best of management, and under any other management it does not germinate at all. The grafting, as above remarked, is an easy task, but success depends on having at command a warm pit to promote the junction. As for soil, the mezereon and the laurel daphne prefer loam; all the rest require peat.