82 A B C OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 



risk it to put the cut straw on a little thicker this fall. Mr. 

 Crawford says he never had any berries m olched too heavily. 

 And right here I think comes in a point that is at least of as 

 much importance as getting early and late varieties ; namely, 

 mulching heavily to keep the berries (a few of them so as to 

 prolong the season) from starting at the usual time in the 

 spring. It had better be done with a perfect-flowering kind, 

 as, if an imperfect one were kept back ten days, there might 

 be a scarcity of pollen to do the fertilizing. I know of no bet- 

 ter berry to try this with than the Gandy. The extra mulch 

 should be put on when the ground is frozen solid in mid-win- 

 ter, or toward spring, and not at the usual time of mulching. 

 It might smother the plants to give them a double dose in No- 

 vember ; but you will, I think, run no risk after the ground is 

 frozen deep. The effect then will be to keep it frozen, or cold, 

 and the vines from starting as soon as they otherwise would. 

 I find that they will partly catch up afterward, however. It 

 seems to be their nature to try to be on time ; but still, I have 

 made probably a week's difference in the time of ripening of 

 the same variety, side by side. But, of course, this kind of 

 work must be done with great care. The extra mulch must be 

 removed (I would make it of long straw) just in time when 

 the ground has got warm enough so the plants will grow any 

 way. This work should be done (the extra mulch removed and 

 the other partly) just before a rain, or on a cloudy day. 



Mulching, like every other good thing, has its drawbacks. 

 The soil is colder, and there will be quite a frost on our mulch- 

 ed berries when there isn't any on the rest of the field. I have 

 been out nights and watched, and the berry leaves surrounded 

 by straw were the first vegetation on the place to freeze. But 

 still we can not get along without the mulch, take it all around, 

 although once in a while it may be a damage. Our berries are 

 probably a week later, on an average, from being mulched, so 

 the mulching may sometimes keep them back so they just es- 



