CROWING STKAWIiKIiRIES WITHOUT IRRIGATION. 109 



frost, and I had a mixed crop. This year I waited until last 

 week — I have covered them now. 



Mr. Dewain Cook: I have not had a great deal experience 

 with strawberries, but the last two years I have covered them, 

 waiting until the ground was frozen. This year I covered mine 

 the last of October one and one-half inches deep. I looked 

 after them just before I left home, and they are in fine con- 

 dition. 



President Underwood: I have plowed the first day of Janu- 

 ary in Minnesota, and I think to say that you must not cover 

 berries until the ground is frozen is not safe advice. 



Mr. Harrison: I have had considerable experience in cover- 

 ing strawberries in Dakota. I have had more trouble in cover- 

 ing too early than too late. My friend's idea here is very good; 

 commence to cover lightly and then increase. 



Mr. Lord: If the ground freezes at night and thaws during 

 the day, I think it injures my vines a great deal more than it 

 does to have them freeze solid and stay frozen. 



President Underwood: No one likes to cover before freezing. 

 It is the alternate freezing and thawing that hurts the straw- 

 berries. I would rather have them covered. You must be 

 governed by your location; the same rule in all cases might not 

 work so well. 



Mr. Lord: I would have liked to have covered my plantation 

 earlier this fall, but it was located on a side hill, and I preferred 

 to let them take their chances. 



Mr. C. L. Smith: What these men have said here just ex- 

 actly corroborates what I said yesterday. You put on mulch- 

 ing sufficient for the winter at that early season, and you are 

 liable to smother your plants, so from what they said here lam 

 sure I am on the right track. Put on a light mulching first, and 

 then wait until November and put on more mulching for the 

 winter. 



Mr. Pearce: I tried mulching of different kinds. I think 

 threshed bean straw makes the finest kind of a mulch. I raise 

 some beans every year just for the purpose of using the straw 

 as a mulch. It makes the finest kind of mulching. I find some- 

 how or other it is the best thing I ever tried, and my berries are 

 all in good shape. 



Mr. Bunnell: I would like to know if begasse is not a good 

 thing? A man down in Worthington county is going to try 

 that. 



Dr. Prisselle: I think one of the best things to cover straw- 

 berries with are cornstalks laid along the length of the row. 

 They are heavy enough so as to afford protection; they gather 



