Does Mulching Rbtakd thb Maturity of Fruits? 265 



quit. The first venture, ten years ago, was to spread a thick mulch of 

 wheat straw over the strawberries during winter, but as there was some 

 timothy in it, next crop was badly damaged by the growing of grass 

 and weeds. Next I used coarse horse manure and that completely 

 ruined them as the horses had been fed hay and the seed all grew. 



Next I went into the swamps and cut the long, coarse, wide-bladed 

 grass. There is nothing in it that will Seed and grow on dry land. 

 Coarse corn-stalks are best of anything I have used, but I can not get 

 enough of them. I have used the swamp grass for five years, and cut 

 this year about five tons, I spread it on after the ground is frozen 

 hard in early fall. It is thick enough to completely cover the plants 

 from sight and cover the entire surface of the bed. In spring, the 

 plants come up through the mulching unaided, and the mulch is not 

 disturbed or removed until after harvest, excepting in such places as 

 prove too thick for the plants to break through. Such places are 

 stirred a little with a fork, or rather loosened without displacing the 

 mulch. I find spots which have become uncovered during winter, thaw 

 out and the plants begin growing about ten days quicker than those 

 covered. This time varies with the season. A steady, early, warm 

 spell with warm rain, will thaw the soil under the mulch quickly, while 

 cool, cloudy weather will thaw only exposed portions. After plants 

 have begun to grow a few days under the mulch, they must come to 

 the light or become white, I have kept plants back two weeks under 

 the mulch and when uncovered they were white but had full grown 

 leaves. Such plants do not blossom after turning green and are worth- 

 less, I should think from six to ten days is the limit of successful 

 retarding of bloom by my plan. Some of this difference in time dis- 

 appears by the time the fruit ripens, as the plants seem to make an 

 effort to be in season; but the heavier pickings come several days later. 



I have saved three crops from frost by having three days' delay in 

 blossoming, and get, always, better prices as my first fruit comes in just 

 behind Ithaca berries. The unmulched poitions have fewer and larger 

 berries but not so many quarts per acre as the mulched, and the latter 

 stand drough better. Usually our last picking for market is July 4th. 

 This season first sales were made June 24th and the last July 5th. 



1 use all the mulching I can get on all kinds of berries to save labor 

 in keeping down weeds and conserving moisture, but as their tops are 

 above the mulch I do not think that they are retarding much. 



C. E. Chapman. 



