116 Strawberry-Growing 



been protected with an earth mulch; Patrick Barry 

 suggested this in 1850. About one inch of soil is plowed 

 over the plants in November; the following spring it is 

 scraped off with a hoe. This method cannot be used ex- 

 cept where there is not likely to be any growing weather 

 during the winter. Where strong winds prevail during 

 the winter, light mulching material, especially leaves, is 

 liable to be blown away. This is one of the difficulties 

 in the North Central prairies. Brush, corn stalks, a 

 thin covering of manure, or a wire stretched tightly over 

 the row, are used to hold the mulch in place. 



GROWING A MULCH IN THE STRAWBERRY FIELD 



Usually, the mulch crop is secured from outside the 

 strawberry field. About 1870, when clean tillage between 

 rows had become quite general, the idea was conceived of 

 utilizing the tilled middles for growing a mulch of the 

 small grains. More recently a number of northern 

 growers have laid by their hedge-row plants in barley, 

 seeded about September first at the rate of two bushels 

 to the acre, and worked in with a twelve-toothed cultiva- 

 tor. The barley should grow one and a half to two feet 

 high before it is killed by frost; this mulch is supple- 

 mented by a light covering of straw. Buckwheat, Kaffir 

 corn and millet are used also for this purpose. 



The main objection to growing a mulch crop in the 

 strawberry field is that it exhausts the soil of moisture 

 at the time when the plants are growing most rapidly 

 and need it most. In Missouri and other sections having 

 a mild winter, some years the mulch crop is killed by 

 frost before it has made enough growth to afford protec- 

 tion; other years it lives over the winter and starts to 



