PROTECTION FROM DROUTH AND WINTER-KILLING. 381 

 PROTECTION FROM DROUTH AND WINTER-KILLING. 



G. D. TAYI.OR, FUtDA. 



What little I have to say on this subject will be confined to my 

 own experience in the arid region of southwest Minnesota, be- 

 lieving, as I do, that small fruits on our western prairies must 

 have more and different protection from those in timbered or shel- 

 tered parts. In the first place, I am of the opinion that drouth in 

 our section of the state is more a cause of failure than injury from 

 frost. I think thorough cultivation from spring to fall is the great 

 essential to retain moisture and keep up a good growth of wood 

 that will mature sound enough to withstand thirty or forty degrees 

 below zero, leaving the soil with a reasonable amount of moisture, 

 as well as the roots of the plants. Then when properly mulched 

 they are apt to come through quite a severe winter. 



Dififerent fruits require different protection for winter. With 

 strawberries I, at the beginning of winter, or when the ground is 

 frozen about one inch deep, cover with a mulch of slough hay, scat- 

 tering a few cornstalks over the hay. 



Some varieties of red raspberries require more protection than 

 others. I have several rows of Cuthbert which- 1 do not protect, 

 and others of the same variety which require protection. The dif- 

 ference, I presume, is owing to location and surroundings. The 

 ones that require protection I lay down, putting soil enough on to 

 hold them, and cover with slough grass. The Loudon I have laid 

 down and covered with soil, although said to be as hardy as any. I 

 thought too much of them to chance them coming through our win- 

 ters unprotected, even though they were in a favorable and well 

 sheltered place. 



I have only a few Columbians, which I serve the same as the 

 Loudon. I have not as yet found a variety of black cap that will 

 stand our climate unprotected, even in most favorable situations. 

 I lay all varieties of black caps down one way, covering with soil 

 and not leaving any part of them exposed. In case the soil settles 

 away I cover with old hay or straw. In some instances I have pro- 

 tected red raspberries by setting cornstalks over them, like a 

 shock, the whole length of the row. They came through the winter 

 very good, but it is too much work compared with laying down 

 and covering with earth. They can, however, be used to good ad- 

 vantage when one gets caught and the ground freezes before you 

 get to the work. The blackberry with me is the hardest to protect 

 sufficiently to withstand our winters. I cover with earth the same 

 as the black caps, and then, on an average, every other winter lose 



