GA RDENING BY M YSELF. y 3 



shoots, and all that have strayed into un- 

 gainly length ; cutting them back to a sound, 

 fresh bud. Above all, give them a thorough 

 application of whale-oil soap, to kill or keep 

 off the slugs ; unless indeed you have no 

 such pests on your roses ; and even then it 

 is safe, for an importation might come w^ith 

 some new rose-bush from a distance. If you 

 are happy enough not to know them by 

 sight, let me say that they are little green 

 worm-like creatures — yet not quite a worm ; 

 working generally on the under side of the 

 green leaves (Mr. Henderson says that 

 one variety eats the whole leaf) ; and mak- 

 ing your roses look as if they had been 

 through the fire. The fly is a small, gauzy- 

 winged busybody, with a black head. Neith- 

 er of them can bear whale-oil soap ; which 

 for beings living on rose leaves, is not won- 

 derful. Put a pound of this in eight gallons 

 of water, and syringe the bushes, or water 

 over the tops with a fine-rose watering pot, 

 just as the leaf buds begin to swell; and re- 

 peat the dose two or three times, until the 

 7 



