94 A BOOK ABOUT ROSES. 



forming underneath a central drain, having lateral 

 feeders, and at the lower end an external tank, af- 

 ter the fashion of those huge dinner-dishes whose 

 channels carry to the ''well" the rich gravies of 

 the baron and the haunch (here that fastidious 

 reader collapses, and is removed in a state of syn- 

 cope), so that the rich extract, full of carbonate of 

 ammonia, and precious as attar, may not be wasted, 

 but may be used either as liquid manure in the 

 Rosary,* or pumped back again to baste the 

 beef. 



How long should it remain in the heap before 

 it is fit for application to the soil ? The degree of 

 decomposition to which farm-yard dung should ar- 

 rive before it can be deemed a profitable manure, 

 must depend on the texture of the soil, the nature 

 of the plants, and the time of its application.** 

 In general, clayey soils, more tenacious of mois- 

 ture, and more benefited by being rendered in- 

 cohesive and porous, may receive manure less 



* The happy Rosarian who has a farm-yard of his own, will, of 

 course, have a large covered tank therein, for the reception and pres- 

 ervation of liquid manure. At all times, of drought especially, diis 

 will be more precious as a restorative and tonic to his Roses than the 

 waters of Kissingen, Vichy, or Harrogate, to his invalid fellow-men. 

 Only let him remember this rule of applicadon — weak and oft, rather 

 than strong and seldom. I bought my own experience by destroying 

 with too potent potations, forgetting that infants don't drink brandy 

 neat, the delicate, fibrous rootlets of some beautiful Rose-trees on the 

 Manetti stock. 



** See the article on Agriculture, Encyclopcedia Britannica, ii. 300. 



