120 Strawherry-Grotuing 



enough to protect from winter-killing and yet light enough 

 to avoid smothering the plants." In most parts of the 

 North, however, a mulch three to four inches deep, after 

 settling, is sufficient. It should be somewhat deeper 

 between the rows than over the plants. On the upper 

 peninsula of Michigan, most growers do not mulch at all, 

 as snow covers the ground continuously throughout the 

 winter. On the Coastal Plain of British Columbia, Wash- 

 ington and Oregon, the winters are so mild and wet that 

 a mulch would rot the foliage. In the South, wherever 

 the ground freezes to a depth of one or two inches a big 

 handful of pine straw thrown over each plant furnishes 

 sufficient protection ; it is not necessary to cover the entire 

 surface. 



Tender, shallow-rooting varieties, like the Jucunda, 

 require more mulch than hardy sorts, like the Dunlap. 

 Plants grown in hills or hedge-rows require more than 

 plants in matted rows. The farther apart the plants are 

 the more mulch they require; when they are close to- 

 gether, as in a matted row, the tops protect each other 

 and the roots interlace and hold the soil, and prevent 

 it from heaving. In matted rows, the older the bed, the 

 less mulch it needs ; under hill training the reverse is true. 

 In the North, hill plants, grown under intensive culture, 

 require special care in mulching. The luxuriant foliage 

 is likely to damp off if mulched heavily ; the plants will 

 heave if mulched too lightly. The material should be 

 applied gradually. In the fall, fine manure, followed by 

 dry leaves or short straw, is placed around each plant — 

 not over it — by hand. Later, when the ground is frozen 

 slightly, the plants are covered lightly with long strawy 

 and more is added after the winter is well advanced. In 

 the spring the mulch is removed with equal caution. 



