800 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Mr. T. T. Smith: Even with wild grass that has no seed,the ground 
is apt to become foul. 
The President: I have a patch of wild crab trees which I mulched 
to keep the weeds out, and this summerI had to mowit. I think 
the mulch is three feet thick. I made up my mind I did not want 
any mulching. 
There is a kind of mulching our friend Somerville employs that I 
believe in. He draws out coarse manure and turns the hogs in—but 
I do not call that mulching. I have tried mulching two or three feet 
thick, and I cannot keep the grass out. It seems almost like a false 
statement to make, but itis true, and unless you have the hogs to 
turn in you had better leave the mulching out. 
Dr. Frisselle: In mulching with straw, hay or clover it adds to 
the richness of the soil. Hay is valuable,and so is straw. Would 
there not be an advantage in that way? 
The President: If you want to fertilize your ground, I think you 
can find something better than straw. 
Dr. Frisselle: Straw would be better than nothing. 
The President: A little bit, not very much. Are there any other 
points you wish to bring out on this subject of raspberries? The 
matter of cutting back raspberry canes is something I am interested 
in. Doesit pay to head them back as recommended in years gone 
by ; that is, let them grow twelve to fourteen inches, then pinch 
them back to try to get a lateral growth—or let them grow right on? 
I should take the negative of that question. I do not think it pays. 
It has been advocated in the past, but if any one has any different 
idea, I should like to hear them. 
Mr. Murray: If you allow them to grow, does not the wind break 
them down? 
Mr. Jewett: We would have to take a step ladder to pick them. 
The President: We have not got such fertile ground as that. This 
is quite an important thing. I was told years ago when I got my 
instruction in this horticultural society that, after planting and 
cultivating fora year, to provide a trellis I should put up posts and 
wire. Then I was told to top them off and get laterals and all that, 
and my experience is, I do not want to follow either one of those 
methods, and I do not want to cut them off. It is quite an expense 
to put them upon a trellis, and it is quite an item of work to get this. 
lateral growth. As the discussion showed this morning, the differ- 
ence in the soil and location makes a difference in the fruit, so it 
makes a difference in the trimming, etc. I thought we had a pretty 
good soil—it is a loam with clay subsoil—and after all,with our best 
soil, I do not think it pays to top them orto put upa trellis. Ido 
not know what you are doing, but if you are building a trellis it is 
my judgment you ought to stop and think if you cannot get better 
results. 
Mr. Wright: Tell us your plan. Do you cut back at all before 
fruiting? . 
The President: A little in the spring. 
Mr. Wright: Don’t your bushes bend over? 
The President: I let them have the ground to bend on. 
