28o 



A BOOK ABOUT ROSES 



sulphur without end, and at last in desperation 

 smothered them with soot, in the dew of the morning. 

 This rested on them for four or five days, and was 

 then washed off. The effect was marvellous : the 

 mildew disappeared, the leaves turned to a dark 

 green, the buds opened freely, and the flowers were 

 brilliant/ 



That yellow-bellied abomination, the grub which 

 produces the saw-fly, in this month attacks the Rose, 

 sucking the sap from underneath the leaf, and chang- 

 ing the colour of the part on which he has fed from 

 bright green to dirty brown. The process of 

 ^ scrunching ' is disagreeable, but it must be done. 



During the continuous droughts which frequently 

 occur in July, it is desirable, of course, to water every 

 evening, where water and waterers can be had in 

 abundance. Everywhere I would advise that the 

 surface of the beds be loosened from time to time 

 with the hoe. It will thus retain for a much longer 

 period the moisture of nocturnal dews. But there is 

 nothing like a mulching of farmyard manure. 



Fading Roses should be removed from the tree, 

 and preserved for the pot pourri jar. The other 

 flowers of the garden perish, but — 



* Sweet Roses do not so :— 

 Of their sweet deaths are sweeter odours made.' 



