v MANURES 91 
To continue using nitrates alone would be like the 
Irishman who, having a note from his bank that he 
had overdrawn his account and that they required 
a remittance, sent them a cheque upon themselves 
for the amount to make things square. 
Plenty of nitrogenous matters may be found in 
the best of the solid and liquid natural manures 
recommended, but these have to be changed into 
nitrates by the action of the earth bacteria before 
they can be assimilated by the Rose, so that the 
stimulus is most immediate when applied in the 
form of nitrates. Another important point about 
the nitrates is that they are the very first of 
manurial matters to be washed out of the ground 
into the drains by heavy rainfall; the soil does not 
retain them so well as the other constituents of 
manure, and of course they go soonest in a porous 
or light soil. This points to the use of some nitrate, 
or good natural lquid manure which would very 
soon afford nitrates, in the growing season after 
long and heavy rains, when the soil is known to be 
well stored in other respects. Nevertheless, it 
should be stated that there is some little nitrogen 
in the rain itself, though not in ordinary water. 
Potash and Phosphates of Lime are much the 
most important items, and the others, such as soda, 
silica, &c., which are mostly present in very small 
quantities, are generally disregarded, as they would 
be present in sufficient quantities in almost all soils. 
Silica means flinty particles. It may seem strange 
to think of these as soluble, yet there is much silica 
in corn, straw, canes, and tall grass stems, affording 
the smooth surface, and the brittle sharp nature; 
and as ‘l'ea Roses are found to succeed in these soils 
