Mulching 123 



soil moisture and keeping the berries clean. Varieties 

 with long, stiff fruit stalks, like the Clark, keep most of 

 the berries out of the dirt. When the plants stand 

 rather closely together in matted rows, they hold up one 

 another, and there is less need of a mulch than with hill 

 and hedge-row plants. A fruiting mulch is more likely 

 to pay with late sorts than with early varieties ; even a 

 light mulch retards ripening somewhat. Further ad- 

 vantages of the fruiting mulch that should not be over- 

 looked are that it provides a clean, dry place for the 

 pickers, and, to some extent, smothers weeds. 



Materials lised. 



Any of the materials used for the winter mulch may be 

 used in the spring also, provided they are short and fine 

 enough to be worked around and under the plants easily. 

 Throughout the South, pine needles, also called "pine 

 straw," "tags" or "shatters," are used almost exclusively 

 when available. This material is cheap, easy to apply, 

 keeps the fruit clean and does not blow away readily, but 

 is not a valuable source of humus. Where long-leaf pines 

 are abundant, the straw is commonly gathered with a 

 horse rake and is baled and shipped by the carload; 

 it costs ten to twelve dollars a ton. In 1913 the Farmers' 

 Association of Independence, Louisiana, secured 7000 

 acres of pine straw land in order to supply its members 

 with mulching material at a low price. After the crop 

 is harvested the pine straw is stacked for use another 

 season, or is composted. It is commonly applied when 

 the plants begin to bloom, occasionally earlier. If ap- 

 plied too early, it keeps the ground cold and makes the 

 crop later. It is spread directly on the plants, which 

 push through with little, if any, assistance. The amount 



