MANUKES. 27 



mental to plant life ; on the contrary, it is noticeable 

 that for higher cultivation it is essential to increase 

 those properties required, but there are limits, and 

 enough is as much a feast as a feast is enough. 



Experiment and experience are our best tutors, 

 and when we are in doubt it is far wisest to call in 

 the physician. I have always been content to place 

 myself in the hands of good reliable firms of some 

 standing when dealing with artificials, and such firms 

 as Walter Vass and Co., Wm. Thompson, Joseph 

 Bentley, Clay, the Molassine Co., the South Metro- 

 politan Gas Co., L. T. Donelly, are quite good enough 

 for me. These firms have made a great study of 

 fertilisers, and their products, of which we will treat 

 later, have stood the test, and are to-day too well 

 known for me to dilate upon them to any extent. In 

 the case of natural manures, these we get in varying 

 strengths, and it is almost impossible to estimate 

 their accurate values. 



For instance, manure from cattle fed on cake and 

 corn is of far greater value than that from hay or 

 grass-fed beasts. Even soot varies, w^hile bone meal 

 and guano are hardly ever the same. The Rose 

 grower, fortunately, is interested in a plant of gener- 

 ous habits, and which possesses a constitution not 

 easily upset, so that he need have no fear of a slight 

 overdose doing much harm, even if it does not do any 

 good. 



In considering suitable manures it is necessary 

 also to take some stock of our soil. Fres'h broken 

 land may be poor and need more manure than land 

 that has been worked for many years, but speaking 

 generally, fresh broken pasture land with a good 

 depth of loam should need very little manure for a 

 year or two. If devoid of humus or decayed vegetable 

 matter, stable manure should be dug in, or unburnt 

 garden refuse should be returned to the land ; but in 

 no case should any fres'h manure be placed in contact 

 with the roots of the newly-planted tree. Fresh 

 broken land, as a rule, if poor, is better enriched with 



