IS THE BOOK OF THE ROSE chap. 



rain would wash " the good " out of the top-dressing 

 more gradually and with better effect than could be 

 produced by applying liquid manure in quantity, 

 and if the top-dressing was exhausted by much 

 rain, a new supply could take its place. This is 

 true, but a top-dressing has its drawbacks : — not 

 only in its unsightliness, for the enthusiast will 

 think nothing of that — he wants the most perfect 

 Roses and will endure anything for that object 

 — but that, if laid on thick enough to be of any 

 service in feeding, it hinders the beneficent influences 

 of sun and air, brings weeds of its own and makes 

 their extirpation troublesome, and, above all, pre- 

 vents the most important cultivation of the surface 

 during May and June by the Dutch or rather the 

 " Sproughton " Hoe. 



Nevertheless, on light soils, by which in this case 

 I mean light in colour and light in weight, decom- 

 posed solid manure has a very good effect when 

 applied as a top-dressing, and does act as a mulch as 

 well. On hungry and porous soils, such farmyard 

 manure, sufficiently far gone for the straw to have 

 lost all colour, or " short " enough to be moved with 

 a shovel or spade, even though it be laid on several 

 inches thick, completely disappears in the course of a 

 year, and hardly any sign of it except a darker colour 

 to the soil remains. 



On poor gravelly ground, where no fresh soil has 

 been imported, a liberal top-dressing of this sort, 

 especially if plenty of good manure has also been 

 placed beneath the roots, will enable Standard Teas 

 to be grown to perfection ; for it will not hinder but 

 facilitate the use of liquid manure, natural or artificial, 

 as well. On such ground, poor, porous, and wanting 



