MANURING.--The importance of the application of manures to the orchard, as a part of the preparation of the soil, will depend entirely upon its strength and condition. Trees are great feeders; they need a reasonably fertile soil, for though their roots run wide and deep, in search of nourishment, if the necessary food be not in the soil, they will certainly fail to thrive as they should. The analysis of the ashes of our fruit trees, which contain the elements 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 manures. Lime, and the alkalies, are generally safe and useful 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, modified by the digestion of the plant, and by new chemical changes and combinations, rendered fit food for succeeding 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 manuring 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 brought into immediate contact or close proximity with the roots of the young tree. If the necessity for planting on such a piece of land impel immediate action, very thoroughly decomposed composts may be applied, mixed with the soil about the tree, but successive applications of manures will be needed over the entire surface, for the roots are destined to occupy the whole extent of soil between the trees.