98 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 



4. Many strawberry -growers are able to delay the 

 ripening of fruit by mulching from two days to 

 two weeks ; but a week's delay is usually about the 

 limit of profitable results. 



5. Whilst mulching the ground may not retard 

 the period of bloom, and thus enable the plant to 

 escape frost, it is, nevertheless, often useful in pro- 

 tection from frost because it holds moisture, and, 

 therefore, tends to raise the dew-point, as explained 

 farther on. 



Covering plants for protection .The discussion of 

 the mulching of strawberries in order to protect 

 them from cold and from frost, as already described, 

 really belongs here. It is, of course, well known 

 that plants may be covered to protect them not 

 only from the winter's cold, but from the incidental 

 frosts of spring. It is not necessary to discuss the 

 various means of covering them, but to enter into 

 only sufficient detail to enable the reader to grasp 

 the capabilities of the operation. 



Many low -growing plants can be covered with 

 earth for protection. Thus it is a practice in some 

 places to plow a furrow or two over the strawberry 

 rows when a frost is anticipated, Fig trees, and 

 other low or flexible -stemmed plants, are often 

 planted on sloping land, so that they may be bent 

 to the surface and covered when occasion requires. 

 In parts of Russia, and other cold countries, the 

 trees of orchard fruits are often pegged down in a 

 similar manner. 



Blackberries and raspberries are extensively laid 



