104 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



strawberry plant is, you might say, semi-dormant when the crop is off for a 

 short time, and burning at that time would not be good for the plants. I have 

 seen some of my neighbors burn strawberry beds and do considerable damage. 

 In fact, this past season I have noticed one bed where they have burned 

 it and destroyed nearly all their plants. There have been several instances 

 around me. So I think it should be done the right way and at the right 

 time. In burning it over, there should be very little fire, and it should be 

 done when the wind is very brisk so to just barely singe everything as it 

 passes over. I usually go on my land with a hay rake to clean up a good 

 share of the muss and take it off from the land. Then I mow the straw- 

 berries down, and as soon as it is as dry as it can be, watch my opportunity 

 and nni it over with fire. If I cannot do this immediately, I usually clean 

 off my beds by mowing it down and going in with the cultivator, getting 

 ready to mulch, and cleaning it up that way. I find I will really come out 

 better than I will to attempt to burn it later. 



A Member: I had quite an experience in burning strawberries. But 

 I met an experience this last season I never had met with before. Through 

 the pruning season we had exceedingly dry weather. Some varieties, 

 especially the Warfield, were affected b}^ this dry w^eather more than some 

 of the others; and after the wop was matured and taken off, vines were 

 mowed dowoi and part of the mulch was taken off, and the rest burned; 

 and after the time came for them to show signs of growth, I noticed the 

 kinds that suffered most from the drought, suffered most from the burning; 

 the kinds that survived the drought, showed little, if any, effects from the 

 burning. So I concluded after this, in case of a severe drought, without 

 we had rain before the time came to burn, I should not burn them. I may 

 say, however, with regard to taking off the mulch, I have burned berries 

 in all kinds of %¥ays conceivable, have stirred up the mulch and laid it on 

 the rows in case there was not sufficient vines to make enough to burn over 

 the rows, and had good results, although I would not recommend the idea 

 of covering the row with straw to burn; but where your vines are vigorous 

 and healthy, and there is a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil, it is not 

 necessary to take off the straw with the idea of saving the plants ; if you burn 

 soon enough and not wait until the second growth of trees you can burn 

 safely by leaving the mulch on. Some varieties are more susceptible to 

 injury by fire than others. Any variety of berries that are hardy and of 

 good growth, and can get moisture, will survive the burning if it is not too 

 much. But where one mistake is made in burning a strawberry patch is 

 in failing to loosen up and liven up 3'our mulch so it burns quickly. If it 

 has been loosened or your ground is moist, the under side of your mulch 

 bed is damp, and if the mulch is close to your berries when the fire comes 

 it gets in there and the fire and heat makes a sort of steam and will generate 

 a heat in there that will very often injure your plant; while if that same 

 mulch had been loosened up and livened up and thoroughly dried, it would 

 have burned very quickly; therefore the plants would survive. So it is 

 advisable in all cases to loosen and liven your straw before you burn. 



Question No. 4: Is it a paying practice to mulch young peach trees over 

 winter? 



Mr. Farrand: Possibly it would be all right if you keep the mulch away 

 from the trees; but otherwise put a protector ai'ound it. You must either 

 have one or the other, or the mice are going to do a great deal of damage. 

 Any sort of mulch makes a place for mice to harbor, and they will live upon 



