As has been intimated before, the strawberry bed may often be so located on the Home Acre as to permit of irrigation.  This does not mean sprinkling and splattering with water, but the continuous maintenance of abundant moisture during the critical period from the time the fruit begins to form until it ripens.  Partial watering during a drought is very injurious; so also would be too frequent watering.  If the ground could be soaked twice a week in the evening, and then left to the hardening and maturing influence of the sun and wind, the finest results would be secured.  I am satisfied that in most localities the size of the berries and the number of quarts produced might be doubled by judicious irrigation.

The system given above applies not only to sandy loam, but also to all varieties of clay, even the most stubborn.  In the latter instance it would be well to employ stable-manure in the initial enriching, for this would tend to lighten and warm the soil.  Care must also be exercised in not working clay when it is too wet or too dry.  Mulch also plays an important part on heavy clay, for it prevents the soil from baking and cracking.  One of the best methods of preventing this is to top-dress the ground with stable-manure, and hoe it in from time to time when fighting the weeds.  This keeps the surface open and mellow—­a vital necessity for vigorous growth.  Few plants will thrive when the surface is hard and baked.  Nevertheless, if I had to choose between heavy clay and light sand for strawberries, I should much prefer the clay.  On the last-named soil an abundant winter protection is absolutely necessary, or else the plants will freeze entirely out of the ground.

The native strain of cultivated strawberries has so much vigor and power of adaptation that plenty of excellent varieties can be grown on the lightest soil.  In this instance, however, we would suggest important modifications in preparation and culture.  The soil, as has been already shown, must be treated like a spendthrift.  Deep plowing or spading should be avoided, as the subsoil is too loose and leachy already.  The initial enriching of the bed should be generous, but not lavish.  You cannot deposit fertilizers for long-continued use.  I should prefer to harrow or rake in the manure, leaving it near the surface.  The rains will carry it down fast enough.  One of the very best methods is to open furrows, three feet apart, with a light corn-plow, half fill them with decayed compost, again run the plow through to mix the fertilizer with the soil, then level the ground, and set out the plants immediately over the manure.  They thus get the benefit of it before it can leach away.  The accomplished horticulturist Mr. P. T. Quinn, of Newark, N. J., has achieved remarkable success by this plan.