80 



THE BOOK OF THE ROSE 



CHAP. 



and that is nitrogen, for which in a chemical formula 

 the uninitiated must look for the words " nitrate " or 

 " ammonia." Nitrogen is the stimulant which gives life 

 to the whole, like the spark of fire which gives such 

 mighty power to the loaded cannon, or (to use more 

 humble imagery) the penny in the slot which sets 

 the whole elaborated machinery in motion. Mere 

 nitrates, such as nitrate of soda, show immediate 

 and wonderful results on unexhausted land, when all 

 the plant wants is a start; but it is like drawing a 

 cheque upon a bank, a capital way of supplying the 

 needful as long as the bank is replenished accordingly, 

 but otherwise not a mode of raising money likely to be 

 successful for long; so the nitrate makes the mineral 

 stores (such as potash and phosphates) available if they 

 be there, but cannot replace them. To continue using 

 nitrates alone would be like the Irishman who, having 

 a note from his bank that he had overdrawn his account 

 and that they required a remittance, sent them a cheque 

 upon themselves for the amount to make things square. 



Plenty of nitrogenous matters may be found in 

 the best of the solid and liquid natural manures recom- 

 mended, but these have to be changed into nitrates 

 by the action of the earth bacteria before they can 

 be assimilated by the Rose, so that the stimulus is 

 most immediate when applied in the form of nitrates. 

 Another important point about the nitrates is that they 

 are the very first of manurial matters to be washed out 

 of the ground into the drains by heavy rainfall ; the soil 

 does not retain them so well as the other constituents 

 of manure, and of course they go soonest in a porous or 

 light soil. This points to the use of some nitrate, or 

 good natural liquid manure which would very soon 

 afford nitrates, in the growing season after long and 



