Show ILM U BEST SOIL FOR strawberry slight deficiency of 1 moisture supply seriously affects size and quality of berries from brorn the united states department of 0 agriculture growers of the progressive and americus varieties of strawberries berries agree that a more fertile soil Is required for them than for the ordinary sorts the berries of both of these are rather small and a fertile soil Is needed to increase their size another reason far their need of a fertile soil is that all the ever eer bea bearers r ers require a larger supply of mois moisture ture than do the sorts which produce only plants after the early carly sum mer crop of fruit A slight deficiency in the moisture supply seriously af a facts the size and quality of the berries but does not noticeably affect plants producing runners only A soil classed as very fertile contains a large amount of humus and one important effect of a large humus supply Is to increase the moisture i hol holding ding capacity of the soil any soil therefore containing large amounts of humus or to mahich humus has been added by turning under green manure crops or by the application of stable manure will be better able to supply sufficient moisture and one especially well supplied with humus should be selected the superb and other varieties haying having similar similar characteristics however should be grown on a soil which is rather low in nitrogen in soils that are too rich varieties of the superb type bear a good crop in the early summer and then make a rank growth of leaves and runners throughout the rest of the growing groning season just as do the ordinary early summer sorts under such conditions little fruit will be secured in the summer and autumn |