MANURES 93 



precious as it was in the siege of Samaria) or bone- 

 dust, when the buds are swelling into bloom ; so 

 that, as the lanky schoolboy is placed upon a 

 regimen of boiled eggs and roast-beef, Allsopp, 

 Guinness, and Bass — so the Rose-trees (those 

 nursing-mothers of such beautiful babes) may have 

 good 'support' when they want it most. * It is 

 believed/ writes Morton, 'by observers of nature, 

 that plants do no injury to the soil while they are 

 producing their stems and leaves, and that it is 

 only when the blossom and the seed require 

 nourishment that they begin to exhaust it/ 



A very effective surface-dressing was communi- 

 cated to me many years ago by Mr. Rivers, who 

 afterwards published it, as follows: — 'The most 

 forcing stimulant that can be given to Roses is a 

 compost formed of horse-droppings from the roads 

 or stable ' (he says nothing about a fire-shovel), 

 'and malt or kiln dust, to be obtained from any 

 malt-kiln, equal quantities. This, well mixed, 

 should then be spread out in a bed one foot thick, 

 and thoroughly saturated with strong liquid manure, 

 pouring it over the compost gently for, say, two 

 days — so that it is gradually absorbed. The com- 

 post is then fit for a summer surface-dressing, 

 either for Roses in pots, in beds, or standard Roses. 

 It should be applied, say, in April, and again in 



