28 Strawberry Culture 



drained. lyevel, clayey land that was plowed to a good depth, 

 must be well mulched in order to prevent ' ' heaving. ' ' A mulch 

 acts in this way: It prevents the surface from freezing until the 

 water has had some time to get down, and it prevents the sun 

 from thawing the ground on bright days. So long as the ground 

 remains frozen no damage is done, as a rule. If, however, the 

 frost penetrates the soil as far as the roots extend, and the surface 

 is free from snow or mulch, the plants will soon have the sap 

 dried out of them. We sometimes forget that every tree and 

 plant that has any live parts above ground is giving off moist- 

 ure in winter even on a freezing day. Were it not so, clothes 

 would never dry in a freezing atmosphere. I have seen straw- 

 berry beds on gravelly or sandy knolls, where the snow was 

 blown off, nearly killed although not a plant was lifted out. If 

 plants stand so thick as to shade the entire surface they act as 

 a mulch and protect each other. If they are so far apart that a 

 considerable bare ground appears between them, the danger 

 from alternate freezing and thawing is increased. When to put 

 on the winter covering is important. We are often advised to 

 wait until the ground freezes hard enough to hold up a loaded 

 wagon; but there is danger that repeated freezing of the surface 

 may do injury before the frozen ground will bear a heavily 

 laden wagon. The ideal method is to cover the ground at the 

 first freezing weather, leaving the foliage exposed. Then at the 

 end of the growing season, cover the foliage out of sight. It is 

 not a good plan to cover the foliage before the end of the grow- 

 ing season. There is no danger in putting on too much cover- 

 ing if it is removed early enough in the spring before the plants 

 begin to grow. If the covering is of such a character that the 

 plants can grow through it in the spring, and that is the iuten- 



