23 



CHAPTER V. 



MANURES, 



** I know the secret of the Rose. She blushes!'* 



— Lytton. 



Roses are gross feeders^ and every Rose grower 

 who is desirous of being successful must study to • 

 certain extent the values and application of manures. 

 The subject, at its best, is not a savoury one, and few 

 of us care to make an analysis of the manure heap, or 

 even to handle that which we know to be so goad for 

 our trees; but it is wonderful what we will do for 

 things we love and surprising how keen and enthusi- 

 astic we can become on matters which at first caused 

 positive aversion. 



" Evil be to him who evil thinks I " A very 

 excellent motto to quote when the poor Rosarian has 

 to enthuse upon such a subject as manures. If we 

 were all chemists we s'hould talk in the language of 

 chemists, and allude to the fertilisers of the soil in 

 gilded phraseology, defining only their component 

 parts. But the great majority of Rose growers are 

 only poor gardeners who, unlike their forefather 

 Adam, have to struggle with the difficulties that beset 

 cultivation, and although we do not blame him for his 

 imputed legacy, yet we would rather that things were 

 made easier for us in the fostering of the things we 

 love. Personally, I feel that half the joys of life come 

 from the difficulties that surround the getting and 

 achieving;; possession and retention of what we hold 

 are too often fraught with anxieties and cares. " A 

 glorious Rose that has cost us something to produce, 

 even the supposed humiliation of the muck heap, will 

 give greater pleasure than a bloom culled from a 



