February 21, 18SP. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
147 
compelled them to adopt, as the most effective means of insuring good 
crops, the use of artificial manure. They have by analysis ascertained 
what each crop requires, and they proportion the ingredients of their 
manures so as to obtain the best results at the least cost. If a correct 
opinion may be formed from the treatises and papers on the cultivation 
of the Rose, which are published in such large numbers, it would appear 
"that Rose-growers have much to learn in the art of cultivating their 
favourite, for none of them recommend the proper application of a 
complete artificial manure. Occasionally an inquiry or reference may 
be found relating to the use of sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, or 
some other fertilising agent, but the application of less than all the 
elements required for plant growth to a soil which does not contain the 
■omitted elements would be useless and leave that soil barren. Ville, in 
his book on artificial manure, the best treatise on the subject, records 
an elaborate experiment made on some land which was exceptionally 
■deficient in the elements required by the Vine. An acre planted with 
Vines, and manured with a complete manure containing the proper pro¬ 
portions cf nitrogenous matter, phosphates, potash, and lime, made fine 
growth and produced 4 tons 15 cwt. of Grapes ; while another acre of 
"the same land, planted in the same way, and manured with exactly the 
same manure, except that the potash was omitted, made scarcely any 
growth and produced no Grapes whatever. Cultivated soils generally 
contain in greater or less proportions what is necessary for the growth 
of the Rose, and according to those proportions the Rose flourishes 
more or less. Stable manure contains all the elements which are re¬ 
quired by the Rose, and will, in most cases, supply any deficiencies in 
the soil, but the composition of this manure is very uncertain, and it 
rarely contains all the elements required in such proportions as are best 
-calculated to promote perfect growth. Moreover, the supply of stable 
manure, except in the vicinity of large towns, is insufficient and costly. 
Is there a substitute which is both efficient and economical ? The ex¬ 
periments of numerous agricultural chemists, notably Liebig, Ville, and 
"Gilbert, and a host of agriculturists, especially Lawes, have conclusively 
proved that the most economical method of attaining the best results of 
■cultivation is the application of artificial manure. Artificial manures 
are compounds of animal and vegetable matter, both recent and fossil, 
various salts and minerals. The most important of these are:—Phos¬ 
phorus contained in bones and coprolites or fossil dung, to which has 
been recently added, as a cheap source of phosphorus, the finely pul¬ 
verised linings of the converters used in the Tliomas-Gilchrist process 
for extracting phosphorus from iron in its conversion to steel ; potash 
in its various salts, principally the nitrate, which is additionally valuable 
■as containing nitrogen ; and the chloride, a natural salt found in com¬ 
bination with other salts in Prussia and elsewhere, and known under 
the commercial name of kainite ; and finally nitrogen in the several 
-salts of ammonia and nitrate of potash and soda, the latter found in a 
natural state in large beds in Peru. Generally these substances have as 
'their source the fresh or fossil remains of vegetable life, some of which 
have passed through the animal stage. The composition of vegetables 
and animals is the same, as the herbivora feed on vegetables, and the 
■carnivora on the herbivora. This may be considered a roundabout way 
of describing the best manure for Roses, but as many very good gar¬ 
deners have not yet realised the nature of artificial manures, it may be 
well to show to them that what are called artificial manures are really 
simple and natural, and as likely from their composition to satisfy the 
wants of plants as the most orthodox of all manures, the excreta of 
animals and the decaying remains of vegetable life. The actual ques¬ 
tion for discussion now is—What artificial manure is suitable for the 
Rose ? The question will be best answered by ascertaining what are 
■the elements of which the Rose is composed. Wolff, in his ‘ Aschen 
Analysen, Berlin, 1871, 1880,’ gives elaborate analyses of the garden 
Rose. 
“It may be well to explain that the ashes.of a plant when burnt con¬ 
tain all those parts which are influenced by manure, that is about 5 per 
cent, of the whole, the bulk of the plant, consisting of carbon and 
water, being derived from the carbonic acid of the air, rain, and other 
■sources of moisture. According to Wolff, who is the recognised 
authority on such subjects, the ashes of the Rose are composed as 
follows:— 
Potash. 
Sada. 
Lime. Magnesia. Iron. Phsplirs. 
StCphur. Sili-a. 
Chlorine. 
Roots 
13-45 
4-20 
40-88 
7-15 
2-86 
29-14 
1-95 
021 
0-21 
Wood 
14-25 
2-57 
51-50 
7-G2 
4-23 
10-62 
2-22 
4-35 
2-78 
Leaves .. 
3313 
1-47 
31-29 
9-23 
2-49 
11-68 
4-31 
5-71 
0-89 
■Flowers .. 
47-41 
2-44 
13-25 
5-94 
0-97 
28-46 
3-17 
1-52 
0-57 
11 It has 
been 
found 
in practice that the soda, silica, 
and chlorine 
being present in small proportions may be disregarded, as most soils 
contain sufficient for the requirements of plants But independently 
of the elements contained in the ash, it is absolutely necessary for 
promoting perfect growth to add a source of nitrogen such as nitrate of 
potash or sulphate of ammonia. The following manure will be found 
suitable for the Rose :— 
Superphosphate of lime . 12 par's. 
Nitrate of potash . 10 ,, 
Sulphate of magnesia. 2 „ 
Sulphate of iron. 1 „ 
■Sulphate of lime. 8 „ 
This should be applied in early spring, at tin T rate of £ lb, to a 
square yard. With a bucket containing the manure, and a 48-pot 
which holds about 1 lb., and a 0 foot rod to measure 4 square yards, it 
may be evenly distributed with very little trouble, more especially as 
no digging in is required, the manure being left on the surface.” 
GALEOPSIS DUMA. 
It ha 3 often been urged that many of our native plants are quite as 
worthy of cultivators’ attention as introductions from far distaut coun¬ 
tries, but they are rarely accorded a chance to dcvelope any superior 
qualities to those they possess in a wild state. A member of the 
Labiatre family, the Hemp Nettle, Galeopsis dubia or ocliroleuca, is an 
example of a native plant succeeding well under cultivation, and 
making a beautiful border plant. Its value was well shown last 
summer in the herbaceous department at Kew, where the illustration 
(fig. 23) was prepared. The plant is an annual, requiring a somewhat 
sandy soil, in which it grows freely and flowers during July and August. 
The flowers are yellow, varying slightly in the depth of colour, some¬ 
times very pale or rarely white, while forms have also been observed 
FIG. 23.— GALEOPSIS DUBIA (OCHUOLEUCA). 
with a purplish tinge. They are large and clustered at the apex of the 
stems, the leaves being sharply cut at the margins. This Galeopsis is 
widely distributed in Europe, but is somewhat rare in England, being 
regarded by some writers as a colonist. It is readily raised from seeds, 
which are produced freely.—X. 
JUDGING FRUIT. 
Me. J. McIndoe refers on page 137 to a method I “contrived to 
arrive at a correct decision in judging Chrysanthemums,” and thinks 
it might be serviceable in judging fruit. I think the method 
“ contrived ” itse’f. In endeavouring to record the merits of blooms in 
close competition I found a give and take system resorted to ; a bloom 
was given, say, four points when it was thought to be worth a little more, 
and to balance this another bloom was given five, though that was 
slightly in excess of its real value, and so though substantial justice 
might be done, the method was rough and unscientific. I then divided 
the points, so to say, in the simple manner indicated, and there is no 
