STRAWBERRY CULTURE FOR DECEMBER. 



WINTER PROTECIION. 



'INTER protection should, at 

 the North, be appHed about 

 the last of November ; in 

 this latitude about Decem- 

 ber loth or 15th. A good rule is to 

 apply it as soon as the ground freezes 

 hard enough for a wagon to drive over 

 fields without breaking through the 

 frozen crust. 



The chief object in winter protection 

 is to lessen the heaving of the soil and 

 the consequent breaking of the roots 

 and rootlets of the plants. The stiffer 

 the soil the worse the heaving, and the 

 greater the necessity of protection. 



The covering should not be thick 

 enough to entirely prevent the soil from 

 freezing, but to greatly lessen the freez- 

 ing in the severest weather. Pine straw, 

 a little less than an inch deep after it 

 settles, is the proper depth in this lati- 

 tude. It would have to be deeper in 

 proportion as you went North. 



In winter protection at the North the 

 whole ground should be covered, beds, 

 middles and all. 



The varieties of material that can be 

 used are almost endless. Where pine 

 straw, or pine needles, as it is often 

 called, can be obtained it is almost the 

 ideal covering. Of all similar material 

 it is the least likely to be blown off. 

 Wheat straw, oat straw, marsh grass and 

 other similar things are used. Corn- 

 stalks can also be used, but as they do 

 not lie close a much thicker layer will, 

 of course, be necessary. 



The great objection to oak and simi- 

 lar leaves is that they blow off so bad, 

 which is also the case with oat and 

 wheat straw unless they are cut up very 

 fine. Yet such leaves and straw are 

 often used and anchored in place by 



placing on them small stones or a little 

 earth at short intervals. 



All available stable or barnyard ma- 

 nure should be used for this purpose, 

 taking the place of other material. If 

 coarse it can be applied quite thick di- 

 rectly over the plants. If very fine it 

 will be best to use it mostly around and 

 between the plants and to put a coarser, 

 more open material just over the plants. 

 The effect of too close a material over 

 plants is to bleach and make them 

 tender. 



Whatever covering is used it must be 

 nearly all removed from immediately 

 over the plants about the time that 

 growth begins in the spring. The ma- 

 terial can be left around the plants and 

 between the rows, where it will serve 

 the double purpose of keeping the ber- 

 ries clean and of conserving moisture 

 then so essential to a good crop. 



Whether winter protection pays or is 

 even advisable south of the Mason and 

 Dixon line is uncertain. I have experi- 

 mented for many winters. Some win- 

 ters it did good ; some winters it seemed 

 to be rather harmful. It certainly would 

 not be advisable farther South where 

 crickets and harmful insects harbor un- 

 der it and feed on the plants. Besides, 

 the warmer the climate the more danger 

 of smothering and bleaching the plants. 



But stable or barn-yard manure is 

 e.vcellent in any climate if properly used. 

 I have never known any insect pests to 

 harbor under it. 



At the South it should be applied 

 around and between the plants. Used 

 in this way with a liberal dressing of 

 hard-wood ashes (fifty bushels to the 

 acre can be used), or 300 pounds of 

 kainit in place of the ashes, and 300 



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