76 THE BOOK OF THE ROSE CHAP. 
and I should quite allow that solid manure, in the 
right condition and properly applied, is of great 
benefit to Tea Roses. 
Taking first the ordinary manure made with straw 
from stable, cowshed, or pigstye, it is generally 
allowed that as the Roses like ‘‘ a cool bottom,” and 
stable manure is ‘‘ hot,’’ and cow manure “cool,” 
as a rule the former is the worse and the latter the 
better for the purpose. In clay soils stable manure 
would be allowable and perhaps even advisable ; 
but, otherwise, that from cowsheds or, better still, 
from a yard where highly fed bullocks are kept, 
would be the best of all natural solid manure, the 
pigstye contribution ranking next in value, and 
the general heap from a farmyard where horses are 
not predominant being good enough for ordinary 
purposes. 
The next question is, Is it to be dug into the 
soil, among established Roses, or used as a top- 
dressing? I would avoid the digging, if possible, 
by having rich fresh soil with plenty of humus to 
start with, and perhaps moving the Roses, or re- 
planting them after renewing the beds when they 
seem worn out. But if the manure is to be got in 
amongst established Roses, dug in it must be, on all 
but light soils, with as narrow a spade and as much 
care as possible. 
But if it is to be thus dug in and incorporated 
with the soil among the roots, we must consider 
what its condition should be. It should be 
thoroughly decomposed and ‘‘ sweetened” so as to 
have lost its objectionable qualities to the human 
senses, for not till then is it suited for contact 
with the roots of the Rose. It is quite true that 
