248 Strawberry-Growing 



are the best for the production of strawberries, it is essen- 

 tial that every possible care be taken to insure the life of the 

 plant during the summer months. Only two methods have 

 thus far proved anything like successful. The first is to 

 mulch the plants heavily with cotton seed hulls in spring, 

 immediately following the harvest. The plants are prac- 

 tically covered. They are irrigated eight times during 

 the summer. Under favorable conditions more than three- 

 fourths of the plants are saved in this way. The objection 

 to this method is the heavy expense. A mulch of straw 

 is not as effective. In the southern Rio Grande region 

 pop corn is planted in the bottom of furrows between rows 

 of strawberries, which are irrigated during the summer. 

 As the pop corn grows, the lower leaves are stripped off 

 so that the air circulates more freely about the strawberry 

 plants.'* Sugar-cane and cotton sometimes are planted 

 between rows of strawberries for shade, but are not con- 

 sidered as useful for this purpose as pop-corn. 



