Fertilizers. 217 



having given them any very practical test on the rose, 

 I had formed the opinion there were other fertilizers 

 that were better. Nitrate of soda has already been re- 

 ferred to, and it only remains to say in addition, if used 

 at all, let it be with the greatest care. Only a few days 

 since, in visiting a florist in another city, I was sur- 

 prised to see the condition of his roses, as he has the 

 reputation of being a good grower. Enquiring the 

 reason, he told me it was through the use of the article 

 in question. Careful man as he is, he had, unwittingly, 

 used enough to burn the surface roots. Action was 

 destroyed, water had to be withheld, and the plants 

 allowed to go dormant for a time, and this during the 

 three months when flowers are in the greatest demand. 

 While exceedingly sorry for his loss, many of us have 

 been in the same position, not from just such a cause, 

 perhaps, but through over-confidence in what we were 

 trying, either as an experiment of our own, or acting on 

 the advice of others. Another argument for conduct- 

 ing experiments on a small scale. 



The application of aqua ammonia to the roots of 

 plants, has also been referred to. For roses it is some- 

 times beneficial when used on the foliage, but I would 

 not advise it, unless from some cause they need a quick 

 stimulant late in the season, and then only on plants 

 that are to be rejected at its close. No doubt many of 

 these more powerful liquids stimulate a plant to greater 

 exertion for a short time, but as a rule it is safer to con- 



