556 GENERAL REVIEW. 



are principally natives of North India, South America, the Cape, 

 and also of New Holland, while a few are European. The 

 principal genera grown in our gardens are Daphne Mezereum, 

 Pimelia, and one or two others. Many of the plants in this 

 group bear berries, which germinate freely sown in a gentle 

 heat, or the hardy species in pans or boxes in a cold frame or 

 pit. Cuttings of the young or partially-ripened wood are also 

 successful. 



Daphne. A genus of deciduous or evergreen shrubs, princi- 

 pally natives of Southern Europe, India, China, and Japan. The 

 varieties of D. indica and D. cneorum are favourites, their 

 flowers being deliciously fragrant. All the tender species may 

 be propagated from cuttings taken off either in spring or autumn 

 and inserted in well-drained pots of sandy soil. Side branches, 

 an inch or two long, are best. The hardy kinds may be pro- 

 pagated by layering, and some, as D. Mezereum and the com- 

 mon British Spurge Laurel, D. Laureola, from seeds, which are 

 freely produced. Seedlings of the last-named species are 

 generally used as stocks on which to graft the tender and more 

 valuable stove or greenhouse kinds. The seeds of D. Laureola 

 take two years to vegetate, so that cuttings or layers are more ex- 

 peditious. Stocks for grafting, no matter whether of D. Laureola 

 or D. pontica (which some propagators prefer), may be estab- 

 lished in pots. Graft in heat in the winter or spring, and in- 

 troduce the stocks and plants from which the scions are to be 

 taken into heat a week or two before the operation takes place. 

 A young shoot, 2 3 inches in length, is selected for a scion, 

 the lower leaves being removed. Side and splice grafting are 

 the methods generally adopted. Do not head down the stocks 

 entirely until after the scions have taken. Side-grafting in a 

 close case, with the pots plunged in a genial bottom-heat, is 

 best, and do not use too much tying material ; indeed, a clever 

 manipulator discards it altogether in the case of Daphnes, Gar- 

 denias, Ixoras, and Camellias ; and when a moist genial heat is 

 kept up regularly, it is not required. Care must be taken, 

 however, that the scions are not displaced in watering or syr- 

 inging. There are several hybrid Daphnes in cultivation 

 and several seminal varieties, some of the dwarf bushy kinds 

 being very beautiful hardy shrubs. It does not appear to be 

 generally known that cuttings of all Daphnes succeed perfectly 

 if grafted in a close-heated case on pieces of their own roots. 

 In the case of the choice and tender varieties, roots of the 

 commoner species, such as D. Laureola^ or better still, D. 

 pontica, are preferable for many practical reasons, and give 

 better results. In Devon, Cornwall, and other mild southern 



