12 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



amount of coarse, strawy manure at my command. I had heard 

 and read so much about mulching' that I believed it would be just 

 the thing, and had calculated that it did not matter how dry it was, 

 .that a good thick mulching would secure them from all suffering 

 from lack of moisture; but how great was my surprise when my fruit 

 began to grow and ripen to find it pinched and small, and that it 

 finally about dried up. The plants that I set out to supply failures 

 made but very feeble growth, while many of them died altogether 

 after making quite a growth; none of them made more than about 

 one foot in growth, while the plants in an acre set right alongside 

 of them, which were thoroughlj' cultivated all summer, made from 

 two to five feet. lam thoroughly convinced that stirring the ground 

 often is far better than mulching, and especially such land as my 

 strawberries are on — a black sandy loam with gravelly subsoil. If 

 I apply anj^ more manure, I shall use well rotted manure that I can 

 work in with the shovel plow. 



I also planted in the spring of '92 an acre of strawberries with 

 eight different kinds. I set them in rows six feet apart. All the 

 kinds, except the Parker Earle, would have covered the ground had 

 I allowed them to do so. They were planted on land sloping to the 

 northeast, the northwest corner running up quite high on the slope. 

 After the ground froze in the fall, I covered them with quite a thick 

 coat of straw, and in the spring raked a very small part of the straw 

 from them and left it between the rows. I think a mulch for stra-w- 

 berries is very nice, not only for a protection for the plants but 

 also to keep the fruit clean and hold the moisture. I think, with 

 plenty of rain, I, might have fairly good success with strawberries. 

 Of the different kinds I have tried, I like the Parker Earle ver}- mvich, 

 but the Bederwood is ahead of any other for this reason: they 

 commence to ripen earlier than any other and hold on longer. 



Pres. J. M. Underwood: Any remarks on this paper of Mr. 

 Robinson's in regard to mulching? That" seems to be the 

 principal thought. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. C. Wedge: I will say, Mr. President, I never could raise 

 raspberries or any kind of berries on clay soil without mulch- 

 ing; it seems to be a necessity. 



Mr. S. D. Richardson: My experience has been the reverse 

 every time, and I cannot carry my fruit through without culti- 

 vation; with mulching it would all dry out. 



Mr. J. S. Harris: I believe in mulching, but I believe you 

 want to cultivate and mulch, too. 



