464 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
it was swampy, we found a stray bush now and then and a few rasp- 
berries, but the blackberries would not grow on swampy ground. 
Mr. Sherman (Iowa): There is one drawback that I have not 
heard mentioned here; that is, obtaining healthy stock. Many 
plantations are failing on account of root-killing. The plants are 
not doing well, and if you will examine the roots you find them 
covered with knobs as big as your thumb, and such plantations are 
worthless. In regard to soils, with us we regard a medium position 
the best. We think we have to have a moist soil, but we do not 
want a wet one. We can put them on hill tops or on side hills or 
on well drained swamp lands if we can depend on plenty of 
moisture, and we will make a success, but if we fail on getting that 
we are pretty sure to make a failure. 
Mr. Towner: I would like to ask Mr, Underwood when he 
puts his mulch on and what he uses. 
Mr. Underwood: Right now is a good time to put it on. 
Mr. Towner: Does it not bother you in cultivating? 
Mr. Underwood: As I said before, in the spring of the year 
we do not do anything with the ground until everything else is out 
of the way and taken care of. We raise the vines out of the ground 
and let them go, and then when we get time we rake the soil down 
on this mulch in the middle of the row the mulch has become more 
or less decayed by the winter snow and rains, and we never see 
anything of the mulch after that. We do not put on enough so it 
will bother. It helps to cover the ground and fertilizes it as well 
and keeps the ground moist, and it improves it in that way more 
than the ordinary way of mulching does. If covered up with dirt 
it decomposes by the time we want to cultivate and is out of our 
way entirely. It saves us much expense. We used to have an 
idea that we must take hooks and rakes and level the ground down, 
and some of our. men knew how to do the work so well that they 
made the ground look as some of those old gardens used to do; 
they thought the ground must be level to make a nice bed for weeds 
to grow—and in our case by the time we got to one end of the row 
the weeds would have to be pulled again at the other end, and I 
discovered it was time to use a different method. We get just as 
good results and save lots of labor. 
Mr. Widger: How long will it take two men to cover an acre? 
Mr. Underwood: We have that fact figured out at home, but I 
have forgotten. We start to cover very early, let the men work 
along, and it does not seem as though it took very long, but I 
could not answer the question without referring to our records at 
home, 
