282 Strawberry-Growing 



A heavy winter mulch is pushed from over the plants into 

 the middles, where it is ready to be used for covering the 

 plants when frost is imminent. One man can cover one- 

 half to one acre before midnight. The straw can be left 

 on the plants three or four days if the weather con- 

 tinues cool, but should be removed as soon as possible. 

 Only enough straw should be used barely to cover the 

 plants. 



Throughout the South where no winter mulch is 

 used, the fruiting mulch serves the double purpose of 

 keeping the berries clean and affording frost protec- 

 tion. Weather Bureau predictions are relied on for 

 timely warning. A few hours before sunset the entire 

 force is put at work with hand rakes covering the plants 

 with the pine straw mulch. When no fruiting mulch is 

 used, two or three handfuls of pine straw are thrown 

 over each plant. 



Screens, 



Lath screens are effective in home gardens. Market- 

 gardeners use muslin hotbed sash; these will keep off 

 a frost of ten or twelve degrees. O. W. Blacknall, of 

 North Carolina, covered his field with the muslin cloth 

 used for tobacco plant-beds. Small stakes were driven 

 into the ground in straight rows as wide apart as the 

 strip of cloth. At the top of each stake was a wire hook to 

 hold the cloth in place. He reported : ^ " Berries under 

 the cloth ripened about one week earlier than those outside. 

 On April 16, 1890, the ground froze half an inch deep and 

 frost killed every exposed blossom. Not one per cent of 

 those under the cloth was lost." The shading of straw- 

 berries is discussed further on page 265. 



1 Rept. Mo. Hort. Soc, 1900, p. 349. 



