Let me not be misapprehended in the statement, just made, with regard to the wide distribution of which the apple appears to be capable. There are soils and situations, in all of the widely-separated regions alluded to, that are wholly unfitted to orchard culture, upon which it were folly to plant an apple-tree; and yet, many of those may be rendered entirely suitable, if subjected to treatment, suggested by science, and executed by human ingenuity and industry; the missing element may be supplied, the compactness of the soil may be overcome by mechanical comminution, and by that effected by aeration; the excessive moisture may be removed by surface and thorough drainage; other disqualifications, such as those of situation and climate, may not be so readily overcome; they have already been alluded to; and even in them we may hope for improvement with the advance of science. Different soils may be designated as porous and compact. Leaving out of view for the present, their chemical composition, let us look to their mechanical structure. Porous soils are composed of materials that always allow of the escape of superabundant moisture; they are generally underlaid by beds of diluvial gravels, or by rocks of a porous character. Such lands are peculiarly adapted to orchard planting. The compact soil, on the contrary, is made up of the finest materials, among which alumina largely predominates. Such are called clayey soils or clays, and are among the most valuable upon the surface of the earth, not because alumina is a component of vegetation, but because the elements associated with it, are all of them in a state of extreme comminution.