A B C OF STRAWBERRY GUI/TURK. 79 



we could not work outdoors. It is hard to tell just how thick 

 we put it on, but probably something over an inch. Then after 

 that we put a light coat of long straw over all the land. We 

 put this on so that, when finished, we could just see through 

 and catch sight of strawberry leaves here and there ; not so as 

 to entirely hide them (they were pretty tall rank vines). The 

 cut straw was taken out in our big wagon, which, with side- 

 boards on, will hold probably 100 bushels. The boys brought 

 it to me from the wagon in bushel baskets, from which I scat- 

 tered it out by shaking from side to side. We tried to spread 

 both cut and long straw as evenly as possible. In the spring, 

 just as the plants were pushing up through the cut straw, we 

 raked the long straw into the paths and trod it down. This 

 was done on a wet day. In fact, we went over the piece three 

 times, when the straw was soaking wet, poking it into the path 

 with a fork or rake, and treading it down, before we got it all 

 to stay where it was wanted. The cut straw was left to mulch 

 the ground among the plants in the rows. They came up 

 through it without any trouble at all. Perhaps more could 

 have been put on safely and to advantage. It lies closer around 

 the plants than long straw, and hence must answer the purposes 

 better for which it was put there. Our short- stem varieties are 

 least hurt by frost, and probably are what we shall have to 

 raise largely. This fine mulch so entirely covers the surface of 

 the ground that it will keep the berries clean, even where they 

 lie right on it. The grower of choice berries, hoping to get 

 fancy prices, doesn't want any earth on his fruit. Many large 

 growers of market berries do not mulch at all. Our market 

 berries from Cleveland are usually very sandy after a rain. 



But when there is no rain this mulch will probably do the 

 most good by checking the evaporation of moisture from the 

 soil, and thus giving us a crop instead of a partial failure. 

 There is plenty of water in the subsoil and earth beneath, as a 

 rule, that will be brought up by capillary attraction, if a man 

 will only manage to prevent unnecessary evaporation. The 



