CHAPTER y 



MANURES 



" Manures " may seem an unsavoury subject to those 

 lovers of the Rose who only know of the flowers as seen 

 in the garden or after they are cut ; but to the Rose- 

 nurses, under whose constant care each shoot grows 

 onwards to the perfect bloom, it is as important a matter 

 as the food of a babe is to its mother. The Rose 

 enthusiast, for whom I write, has no obj ection to exploring 

 the recesses of a muck-heap— he rejoices in the discovery 

 of a dead well of really good stuff— and wonders much 

 how others can find any objection to the wholesome and 

 invigorating fragrance from a big watercart full of the 

 drainings of a cow-shed. 



The Rose is said to be a gross feeder, but this does not 

 seem a satisfactory statement, for though it will take 

 and absorb, and " answer to treatment " as doctors say, 

 in the reception of large quantities of strong manure, 

 yet is it fastidious in the manner of its application. 

 The roots of the same plant which when strong and 

 well established will rejoice in liquid rank enough to 

 bring the worms struggling to the surface, or even 

 under some circumstances to kill the weeds, will, when 

 that plant is moved in November, become sickly and 



