Vv MANURES 89 
the component parts of a plant by burning it and 
analysing the ashes, and they then said (and proved 
it), These are the things of which the plant is made, 
and therefore with these things it can be fed. They 
found next that the different parts of a plant, roots, 
stem, leaves, and flowers, often had the principal 
constituents in very different proportions, but this 
could be allowed for in considering which part of the 
plant is most valuable. The obvious next step was 
to analyse the soil too, and it was found that some 
of the mineral constituents of plants are practically 
present in sufficient quantities in nearly all soils, but 
that some land is deficient in one material and some 
in another. A pleasing picture was then presented 
to the cultivator, that, with the analyses before him 
of his own soil and of the plant he intended to grow, 
it was comparatively easy to see just how much he 
required of each mineral constituent to feed his 
plants fully and perfectly. 
But in practice, I am bound to say, the matter is 
by no means so simple. Analyses both of soil and 
of plants have proved very fallacious, at all events 
to those who, like myself, are not chemical experts: 
and specially compounded Rose manures have 
often proved disappointing, particularly in dry 
seasons. 
Still, I give here an account of what is probably 
the best known Artificial Rose Manure, which may 
at all events be worth a trial. 
In the Rosarian’s Year-Book for 1889, edited by 
the late Rev. H. D’Ombrain, Sec. to the National 
Rose Society, there was a very interesting and valu- 
able paper on artificial manure for Roses, by Mr. 
EK. Tonks, B.C.L. The analysis of the ashes of the 
