almost equal proportions. If, however, the value of farmyard dung lay in these fertilising products alone, then indeed the expense of making and applying it would be out of all proportion to the result. But it has other qualifications as well; it warms the soil and assists in retaining moisture; and warmth and moisture, as we have observed in a previous chapter, are most essential to plant life. Moreover, it lightens the soil, thereby assisting ventilation. Therefore, a dressing of farmyard manure, however deficient it may be in manurial value, is of considerable benefit to the soil, and should form the basis of all manuring.

It has been demonstrated that farmyard dung is not by itself a complete or perfect manure for the rose garden. What, then, is required? The answer is, auxiliary manures-organic and artificial.

AUXILIARY MANURES

These act in various ways:

(1) As direct plant foods, supplying the crop with phosphoric acid, lime, potash, nitric acid, &c. (2) As indirect plant foods, causing various chemical changes in the inert constituents of the soil.

(3) As improving the texture of the land.

As to the best time of the year to apply them, we have to consider whether they are soluble, partially soluble, or insoluble; or, to put it another way, whether they are quick-acting, acting slowly, or acting only when in combination with others. Soluble manure, such as nitrate of soda, should be given when the plant has commenced to shoot; partially soluble manure, such as

guano, just before the commencement of the growing a dressing of bones, for

season; insoluble manure

instance in the previous autumn.

The three principal ingredients of the rose are, as has been shown above, phosphoric acid, potash, and lime. In what form they may best be given should now be considered. To supply phosphoric acid, the most useful auxiliary is bone manure.

Bone manure owes its fertilising power primarily to the phosphoric acid, and secondarily, to the nitrogenous matter which it contains. Bones may be used in the raw state, under the name of crushed bones, reduced by bone grinding works to one-inch bones, half-inch bones, bone dust, or meal. The coarser the bones, the longer they last and the slower they act. Bones effect an almost permanent improvement on the land, the one-inch bones lasting seven years at the least, but as they are less speedy in action than bone-meal, they should be applied when planting. Bones of good quality should contain 45 per cent. of phosphate and 4 per cent. of nitrogen. Another method of preparing bone manure, and to be used as a top-dressing, is to subject them to the action of sulphuric acid. Treated thus, it then is known as superphosphate of lime-a partially soluble manure to be applied as a top-dressing in the spring, and hocd in if the weather is dry.

Thomas' Basic Slag is another valuable auxiliary for contributing phosphoric acid. Basic slag or basic cinder is a product obtained during the conversion of castiron into steel by the "basic" process. A very fine, almost imperceptible powder, it is supplied at the rate

of 2s. 6d. per cwt.; it is very heavy, and therefore only equals in bulk about half the same quantity of crushed bones. We have used it annually for many years, dusting it in the trenches when planting dwarf stocks; but now and again, by way of a change, bones have been used instead. It is partially soluble, and we think it helps the stocks to become established in readiness for budding. Good basic slag should contain 18 to 26 per cent. of phosphoric acid. "Thomas' phosphate" is recommended as the best kind of basic slag.

The next essential mineral constituent is potash. Every plant requires a certain amount for its proper development, since upon its presence in the soil depends to a great extent the formation of chlorophyll. Potash is indispensable for the formation of starch in the foliage, and where it is deficient the plant is more liable to attack by vegetable and animal parasites. Clay soils usually contain sufficient potash, but in sandy and light soils the supply is poor. From the table of manures given above it will be seen that potash occurs in farmyard dung and urine. It is, therefore, important in the making of the dung to preserve the urine. Note also that wood ashes, leaves, and burnt earth are all contributors of potash, the wood ash yielding 10 per cent.

Burnt Earth is within the reach of every one, and a good supply should always be at hand. Apart from its manurial value, it is invaluable for sprinkling among the roots, especially when at the time of planting the soil has a tendency to become wet and heavy, for friable earth of some sort should always lie close around the roots. When we speak of burnt earth we do not mean that

hard red substance called "ballast," or baked clay, but friable black earth-it may be red when the fire has been fierce-burnt to a powder. To burn a heap of earth properly requires a little care and attention; those who know will, I hope, pardon a few details. Lay a good foundation of straw, twigs, and several logs of wood -stumps of trees split up are useful. After lighting wait until the fire has obtained a good hold of the logs, and then begin by degrees to cover it with dry mould or turf, roots, weeds, and leaf refuse, but do not hurry on the earth or it will put out the fire. After awhile when much heat is engendered completely cover the heap with a layer of earth. And here lies the difficulty; a slow smothered combustion is necessary if the earth is to be burnt to a friable ash, for a fierce fire causes the earth, especially if it is clayey, to bake hard and lumpy. Therefore we must never allow the fire to break through, and so wherever there are fissures and smoke is given out they must at once be covered, for if this is not attended to the fire will soon burn out. As the earth on the top dries rake it down the sides, applying fresh soil in its place, and keeping the heap cone-shaped. The heap should appear to be heating rather than burning, for if a smell arises it is a sure indication of mischiefthe heap requires recoating. Little by little, if this method is followed, the heap will gradually increase in size until all has been laid on. A heap well banked up will last for twenty-four hours without further trouble, but it is best looked at night and morning. With attention the heap, once the interior is hot, will continue in this state of smothered combustion for a week or

more-the longer the better. It is needless to say that this process should be carried out in the summer.

A mixture of brewer's grains and burnt earth and applied as a surface dressing in November, as Mr. Rivers points out, is good. The grains should first be fermented in a heap for two or three weeks, and then mixed as follows: three-fourths grains to one-fourth earth; they both contribute potash. A mixture of malt dust and horse droppings fermented and applied in the same way is likewise good; it may also serve as a mulch.

Lime. The function of lime is to build up the tissues of the plant, but unless used very sparingly it will do more harm than good. Being an indirect plant food it acts upon other ingredients, and if too strongly applied will soon exhaust the soil. Lime plays an important part in the process of nitrification by hastening the decomposition of organic matter; it also improves the condition of some soils, especially heavy clays. Most soils, however, contain calcareous matter, and where bone or basic slag is used no direct application of lime will be found necessary.

Nitrogen. We now come to a most important element in rose cultivation, without which all other things are useless; "without nitrogen, no growth." Nothing so much affects the fertility of the soil as nitrogen when supplied in a form by which it can be assimilated, and nothing can be more readily abstracted either by the plant itself or by drainage. Nitrogen is an element not only of the air, but it enters into the composition of root, leaves, and wood, and therefore nitrogenous manures are indispensable to the rose-grower who seeks strong