io THE BOOK OF ROSES 



such as cow or pig dung, is preferable, as this binds and 

 cools the soil at the same time as it enriches it. In a 

 soil which requires no special treatment from the point of 

 view of texture almost the ideal manure for Roses is a 

 combination one, a blend of all kinds of farmyard manure 

 cow, pig, horse, and poultry collected in a heap and 

 thoroughly mixed. This, when it has mellowed all 

 the Summer, may be dug in in the Autumn, or spread 

 on the surface of the soil till Spring and then dug in. 

 Old stable litter, used while fresh, is a valuable manure 

 for some light sandy soils. When the Roses are established 

 the best method of feeding them indeed obviously the 

 only way is either by means of liquid manures, or by 

 top-dressings of manure sufficiently thick for the rain to 

 wash the nourishment out of them down to the roots of 

 the Roses. This latter seems at first sight the better of 

 the two methods, as the fertilising material will thus be 

 washed in more gradually and regularly, but it has the 

 disadvantage that the air will rob the manure of many 

 of its valuable qualities while the lengthy process is going 

 on. Liquid manure, on the other hand, gets into the 

 soil at once, and little of its value is wasted. Another 

 disadvantage of the top-dressing of manure is that it is 

 apt to harbour weeds, and at the same time prevents the 

 proper cultivation of the surface of the soil, which should 

 be kept light and porous over the roots. However, the 

 top-dressing must be employed at times, and is useful 

 as a "mulch" for protecting the roots from exposure to 

 frost, drought or heat, and is especially necessary in 

 this way on porous sandy or gravelly soils. Mr Foster- 

 Melliar, who is opposed to surface manuring with solid 

 manures as a general rule, makes an exception in such a 

 case. He recommends that on light soils, decomposed 

 solid manure has a very good effect when applied as a 

 top-dressing, and acts as a mulch as well. " On hungry 

 and porous soils, such farmyard manure, sufficiently far 



