Soil. , 47 



CHAPTER XL 

 SOIL. 



The impression at one time prevailed to a consider- 

 able extent that a chemical analysis would reveal what 

 was lacking to make a perfect soil, and that this ingredi- 

 ent could be supplied artificially. Unfortunately, ex- 

 periments in this line only went to prove that Dame 

 Nature resented any such interference with her secret 

 laboratory, so that observation and experiment seem 

 to be the only means at our command with which to 

 prove their adaptability for producing certain desired 

 results. 



For ten years past, no one rose has been cultivated 

 so extensively, as Perle des Jardins, and still in some 

 localities it cannot be grown with any degree of suc- 

 cess. In fact it has been discarded by some prominent 

 growers for that reason. 



Where I am located, the soil is a rich loam with a 

 slight mixture of sand, and has a sandy clay subsoil, 

 but not of sufficient strength for the manufacture of 

 either brick or pottery ware. It is a soil perfectly 

 adapted to the growth of Perle, and in which a crop 

 has never failed to give the best results. 



When Catherine Mermet and American Beauty ap- 

 peared and were given a trial,- disappointment was the 

 only result. Both made a magnificent growth, but the 

 Beauties rarely formed a bud, while those that matured 

 on Mermet were so inferior in size and color as to be 



