THE COMEDY OF THE GARDEN 145 
easiest of all to grow successfully. So I suppose 
I shall pet and coax mine more than the others, 
and I may even give them a taste of something they 
like. As I told Joseph long ago, I feel sure I can 
make roses grow because I love them so' much. It 
would be most grievous not to see the Soleil d’Or 
thriving. With the exception of the Marechal 
Neil, I think it is the prettiest of all yellow roses. 
The Persian yellow ones at Miss Wiseman’s are 
not a shade that is attractive to me; and I do not 
like their scent. I am glad we have none of them. 
This year. May w^as such a warm and friendly 
month that few roses were frost-bitten or damaged. 
The gardeners, therefore, are saying that the little 
insect called the aphis has not had its usual chance 
to develop as a major pest. They seem to think 
that, when roses are perfectly healthy and vigorous, 
the aphis does not torment them so much, since it 
likes only the taste of sap that is tainted with dis- 
ease. I am, therefore, making an effort to keep 
my roses well. Then, if the aphis comes in force, 
it will have to be dealt with in some radical, now- 
unknown-to-me manner. 
Every girl or boy who has a garden will learn 
sooner or later to dread the aphis. It is a mite 
that, when only a day old, begins sticking its beak 
through the rind of plants and sucking their sap. 
Then gardeners resort to putting on destroying 
powders, syringing or sprinkling with tobacco^ 
