ONCOCYCLUS IRISES 23 



chance of making myself a bankrupt over these flowers, 

 for I never could leave them alone. One year a terrible 

 catastrophe ensued, and really it made me waver for a 

 little. A great authority said, and I can quite believe he 

 was right in his words, that weak manure water is highly 

 beneficial to these Irises in the month of April when 

 they are in a "growing state. I repeated this to my 

 gardener, but without any safeguards at all, and I do 

 not know what he did ; but I soon found Iris after Iris 

 in a very low, and then despairing, and then moribund 

 state ; and my whole collection was wiped out. It was 

 my own fault, for I ought to have seen the thing done 

 properly, if at all, and I dare say the manure water 

 which was given to them was much too strong. But 

 thus it has gone on with very varying fortunes. There 

 has often been enough of prosperity to make me think I 

 was about to turn the corner at last, and then dark 

 clouds would gather, and I felt I must give it all up ; 

 but when it came to the point I never could give it up. 

 Iris Lorteti and Iris iberica and Iris Gatesii and others 

 had completely thrown a spell over me, and for twenty 

 years and more, I should think, as soon as autumn came 

 round, I began to read up all the catalogues I could get 

 hold of, and again to go to work as though no harm had 

 occurred. 



But I have not been wrong in the full and determined 

 belief that some day or other these plants would be quite 

 manageable. Perhaps some one may say to me you 

 may be mistaken now as you have been before, and you 

 will have chaos to deal with again. I do not know, and all 

 I pretend to say is it may be so, but I do not think it ; 

 there is far better ground now for reading prosperity into 

 this matter than there has ever yet been, and more than 

 that I can point to my plants which are at this moment 

 as strong and as happy as plants can be ; there is a very 

 different situation in Ryde to-day from what has ever 



