220 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



they will certainly fail to thrive as they should. The anal- 

 ysis of the ashes of our fruit trees, which contain the ele- 

 ments they have derived from the soils on which they 

 grew, enables us to ascertain what kinds of plant-food 

 should be present in the soil we are about to use, or what 

 materials we may safely and judiciously add to it as ma- 

 nures. Lime, and the alkalies, are generally safe and use- 

 ful additions, in connection with clover as a green manure ; 

 these may be applied to almost any worn soils with great 

 advantage. Clover is an invaluable assistant. Its long 

 roots pierce deeply into the soil, bringing up from below 

 hidden treasures, which are left in the upper layers, modi- 

 fied by the digestion of the plant, and by new chemical 

 changes and combinations, rendered fit food for succeed- 

 ing crops. The mere disintegration of the soil produced 

 by the roots of clover, is, in itself, a valuable mechanical 

 preparation, quietly performed, without plow or team. 

 The clover lea may be limed with great advantage; an 

 application of twenty-five to fifty bushels of slacked lime 

 to the acre will improve the growth of clover, and will 

 exert its appropriate influence upon the soil, with very 

 happy results for the succeeding crop of orchard trees. 

 Alkalies may be applied, in the form of wood ashes, either 

 at the preparation of the soil, or at any subsequent period, 

 as may be found most convenient. Stable manure, and 

 composts, will seldom be required in lands that have not 

 been nearly ^ exhausted, and therefore unfit for an orchard. 

 In case it becomes necessary to use such a field, the ma- 

 nuring should be done all over the surface, and a crop of 

 clover should be grown and plowed in before planting the 

 trees ; upon no account should fresh stable manure be 



