STRAWBERRIES WITH THE LEAST LABOR. 379 



frosts.and then we ^oover the beds — and we can do it so nicely — 

 we go through with the fork and throw the straw right on top 

 of the bed. My man said to me the other day, "I can protect 

 the strawberry bed about as quick as I can bed down old Jack." 

 When the cold period passes we take it off. 



Mr. Hartwell: What would you do with six acres? 



Mr. Gregg: I am talking as a farmer only. 



Mr. C. L. Smith: I have tried every method to prevent frost 

 I ever heard of, and this method Mr. Gregg speaks of is the 

 only practical method I have ever found or tried, and it has 

 never failed up to this time. I have tried all the other 

 methods, smoke, building fires around, burning tar and meth- 

 ods of that sort, but I never succeeded in keeping the frost off 

 except by the use of straw. If I had six acres I would hire 

 enough more help to put it on. If you have your straw piled 

 along the rows one man can cover a half acre before midnight, 

 consequently you would need a dozen men to do the work in 

 good shape. It will not hurt the plants to leave the covering 

 one or two days or until the cold spell has passed. 



Mr. Sargent: Is there any advantage in keeping the plants 

 back? Will not the early berries bring the most? 



Mr. Gregg: We do not consult the market at all. We only 

 have reference to our home market. 



Mr. C. L. Smith: As far as early berries bringing a good 

 price is concerned, we would like to avoid the early berries, 

 because at the season when we get early berries here we get 

 the dump from Wisconsin, and there is a decline in prices until 

 the 4th of July, and the further back we can keep them the 

 better prices we get. 



Mr. Sargent: Down at Red, Wing they get filled up and do 

 not want any more. 



Mr. Richardson: Our experience at Garden City is that the 

 last ones are the only ones that pay. 



Mr. Taylor: The last berries we pick are the most profita- 

 ble. In covering I use straw, but I get it from the stack on the 

 side most distant from the machine and in that way avoid get- 

 ting seed. I have my rows five feet apart, and I don't know 

 but what I will put them six feet. 



Mr. Hartwell: If the grain starts up I take a scythe and 

 mow it off. 



Mr. D. T. Wheaton: About how much hay or straw will 

 strawberries grow through? 



Mr. Gregg: They will grow through two inches at least. 



