184 



A certain remedy, however, would be found in covering the beds 

 with frames of muslin. I w^ould strongly advise this remedy where 

 " Shari)less" and the like are extensively grown. 



As to the method of covering, this is a matter which might, perhaps, 

 as well be left to the ingenuity of the grower. A good plan has been 

 devised by Mr. O. W. Blackiiall, an account of which will be found in 

 Garden and Forest for February 10, 1892 (p. 68). Mr. Blacknall's method 

 has been followed for a number of years, for forcing strawberries, and 

 is described as inexpensive and effective. By it he succeeds in obtain- 

 ing strawberries a week and even ten days earlier, of superior size and 

 quality, and in addition they are protected both from frost and, if pollen 

 bearers, from our Strawberry Weevil. 



The benefit derived from this plan is then, four-fold, viz., protection 

 from frost, and from insects, earlier, and stronger growth. Mr. Black- 

 nail also believes that the process of pollenization is aided, the cloth 

 covering serving to keep the pollen-laden currents of air nearer the 

 ground and among the plants. The material used is known as tobacco 

 cloth or plant-bed cloth and costs about 2 cents a yard. The follow- 

 ing is an abstract of his method : 



After many experiments in search of a cheap and effective way of holding the cloth 

 in place, I use small sticks of riven pine, known here as tobacco sticks, which are 

 about three-quarters of an inch square. These sticks are sawed up into stakes fif- 

 teen inches long, and sharpened at one end. The other end for about half-way is 

 smoothed with a drawing-knife and a wood rasp if necessary, so as to remove all 

 splinters and irregularities which could tear the cloth. A very small hole is then 

 bored about one inch from the .smooth end. Into this hole a section of small, soft 

 wire, say No. 17, about six inches long is run and bent around and wrapped on itself 

 so as to hold securely. The other end of the wire is bent either before or after put- 

 ting in the stake into a hook to hold the cloth. The hook should extend about three 

 inches clear of the stake. 



These stakes should now be driven into the ground for about half their length, 

 placing them three feet apart in rows thirty-four inches apart, as some allowance 

 must be made for the shrinking of the cloth, which is a yard wide. Turn the hooks 

 the way the rows run, and let them all point in the same direction. 



They are now ready for the cloth. If the hooks set to the east — and I set mine that 

 way as our hardest winds come from the west — begin at the western end of the row. 

 Run the hooks through the selvage of the cloth on each side and lock the outside row 

 of hooks as you go, by twisting the wire around on itself. Leave the inside row of 

 hooks open till you bring up the other width of cloth. Then when the selvage of 

 that is caught on them lock those hooks, leaving what is then the inside row unlocked 

 to hold the cloth on the next trip up. Always go back to the same end to start. 

 When the bed is covered lock the outside row of hooks Mso. 



Your bed is now covered solid with cloth except for the small gaps along the rows 

 of stakes, and if they are placed in straight rows and driven perpendicularly, the gaps 

 will be too small to do any harm. As the cloth is stretched only four inches from 

 the ground and is quite elastic, snow presses it down without tearing it. When the 

 danger from snow is past and the plants about ready to bloom, the covering can by 

 a few minutes' work be raised to quite eight inches from the ground, in this wise: 

 Begin at the end opposite to that on which you began to attach the cloth and bend 

 the soft wire hooks straight upward over the stakes and leave them there. The 

 cloth is so elastic that it can be walked on without injury except very near to a 

 -stake. 



