FERTILIZING STRAWBERRIES 



otherwise remove the top leaf growth, cutting the stems one 

 or two inches above the crowns to avoid injury to the body 

 of the plant. In the late fall or early winter, a mulch of two 

 or three inches of rather fine material such as cut straw, 

 marsh hay, lawn grass, or other material free from weed seed, 

 and which is not too expensive to procure and apply, should 

 be spread in a blanket over the strawberry field. This 

 mulch will furnish an excellent protection against injury to 

 the plants from alternate freezing and thawing. If the area to 

 be covered is considerable, the use of a manure spreader will 

 be found to be the most economical way to apply this mulch. 

 If the spring is late, it is often desirable to retard the 

 blooming of the plants to avoid frost injury, by leaving the 

 mulch undisturbed until all danger of killing frosts are past. 

 After the danger of frost has passed rake the mulch to one 

 side and let it accumulate in the middle of the rows; other- 

 wise the tendency will be to smother the plants and retard 

 normal growth. Remember to fertilize as indicated on pages 

 13-14. After cultivating the fertilizer in, the mulch may be 

 replaced and left undisturbed during the fruiting season. 

 Additional cultivations will not be necessary or advisable 

 until after the gathering of the crop, except that all weeds 

 should be held in check by hand hoeing or weeding. A 

 light mulch left on during the fruiting season helps to con- 

 serve the moisture at a time when cultivation is not advisable 

 and smothers out most of the weeds. With the mulch, 

 clean attractive berries can be produced. 



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