338 CORN AND BEANS, ETC. 



ground can then be readily covered with grass, 

 leaves, or straw, at the time of blossoming. 

 Where the beds have been permitted to run to- 

 gether, or where they are cultivated in wide, 

 matted rows, it is next to impossible to mulch 

 them well, and they are very apt to suffer from 

 drouth This was the case with my beds in '71. 

 I could not bring myself to cut out the strong, 

 thrifty plants, so as to leave good spaces be- 

 tween the rows. The ground was rich, so I 

 concluded to let all fruit. If May had been cool 

 and moist (the weather that the strawberry de- 

 lights in), my crop would have been enormous. 

 But, from the middle of May till some time in 

 June, we had a very unusual drouth. I tried 

 watering, as before intimated, and perhaps 

 helped some of my beds very much, but others, 

 I think, were injured. It is well known to gar- 

 deners that if you once commence watering in a 

 dry time, you must continue, or the plants will 



