THE STRAWBERRY JANUARY 1906 



ment, to still greater heights of excellence 

 in method and product. It is a growing 

 profession; that is, the man who makes it 

 his life-work grows in physical, mental 

 and moral stature under its kindly influ- 

 ences. We have said it is a great busi- 

 ness chance; it is more, it is a school for 

 the development of manhood in the high- 

 est and best sense of that word 



Mulches and Mulching 



WH EN shall I mulch? How shall 

 I mulch? With what materials 

 may I mulch? These are three 

 questions that come to us each autumn by 

 the hundreds in endless variety of form, and 



them and seriously check their growth and 

 fruiting power. Only the dormant plant 

 can retain life without air. Therefore, 

 in the South the mulch should be applied 

 only between the rows, leaving the plants 

 free to air and sun, so essential to their 

 health and vigor. 



In that lovely midland country, which 

 lies between the North and South; where 

 freezing occurs to a depth of from two to 

 three inches only, a light covering, both 

 over and between the rows should be 

 used. Shade the foliage just enough to 

 prevent thawing on bright winter days. 



In the cold North, where winter means 

 frosty days and nights for many weeks, 

 and where the soil is frozen from six 

 inches to a much greater depth, mulch 



PUTTING THE PLANTS UNDER THEIR WINTER COVERING— APPLYING COARSE STABLE MANURE 



the questioners represent every section of 

 this great continent of ours. They are 

 timely and important inquiries, and much 

 depends upon the way they are answered 

 in the actual e.xperience of strawberry 

 growers. 



As to the time of mulching, of course 

 one must be guided by his climate. Let 

 us first consider the South. There mulch- 

 ing is done only to hold the moisture in the 

 soil and to keep the fruit clean, and there 

 mulching should be done before the buds 

 open, the best results being secured where 

 tlie work is done about eight weeks before 

 picking time. And the way mulching 

 should be done is quite ditTerent in the 

 South from the methods which are fol- 

 lowed farther away from the equator. In 

 the South freezing and thawing, which is 

 so severe upon plant life in the North, is 

 unknown, therefore, the plant itself is bet- 

 ter left out in the open. Indeed, it 

 would be little short of fatal to cover up 

 the plant in the South, as its breathing or- 

 gans never are at rest, for in the South the 

 plants grow the year round, and to cover 

 them would be to smother and bleach 



ing should be done heavily both over 

 and between the rows. Under these 

 conditions plants will hibernate in com- 

 fort, free from the heaving caused by al- 

 ternating freeze and thaw, and they will 

 come out in the spring, strong and vigor- 

 ous, ready to put forth foliage and fruit 

 to the pleasure and profit of the husband- 

 man. Here the mulch should be applied 

 following the first light freezing. 



But we are reminded, even as we 

 write, that there is still another section 

 of our country to be considered in this 

 connection, for here comes a letter from 

 one of our women strawberry culturists 

 at Cestos, Oklahoma, and asks: "Would 

 it do to mulch the plants all the time to 

 keep them moist? Potatoes do well here 

 treated in that way.' \V'ell, what would 

 do for the potato might not be the thing 

 for the strawberry; for the latter propa- 

 gates and perpetuates the family life, as it 

 were, by runners, and these must have 

 room in which to develop. If the space 

 between the rows were completely filled 

 with mulch this could scarcely be done. 

 However, as the inquirer resides in a 



Page 7 



land where the moisture is so far below 

 the surface that culti\ation and the main- 

 tenance of a dust mulch would not serve 

 to hold sufficient moisture in the soil for 

 the sustenance of the plants, it may be well 

 to mulch as thoroughly as may be. Of 

 course, the mulch must not be put over 

 the plants themselves at al', but it might 

 be spread between the rows and, when 

 the runners start, clear away the straw 

 and set the new nodes down into the 

 earth so that they may take root. With 

 such attention as this, the strawberry may 

 do as well as the tuber under a perpetual 

 mulch. It is worth experimenting with 

 out in that land of sunshine and scant 

 rainfall, at any rate. 



The list of materials that may be used 

 with success in mulching is a long one 

 and they vary greatly with the locality. 

 In the South, where close protection from 

 the weather need not b^ considered, the 

 pine "straw", those long vnd shapely 

 needles found everywhere in the piney 

 woods of the region, make as fine a mulch 

 as one might wish for. They are sweet 

 and clean, and make an ideal resting 

 place for the ripening berry. Doubtless 

 the most satisfactorj' mulching material 

 is strawy coarse manure, for this serves 

 both as a mulch and a fertilizer. The plant 

 food contained in the manure washes 

 down and becomes a\ailable for the 

 plants, and in the spring little is 

 left save the dry litter which is raked into 

 the rows for the growing berries to lie 

 upon. Wheat straw is a prime fa\orite 

 because it so easily is parted over the 

 rows in the spring; oat straw is a close 

 second, but does not lend itself quite so 

 gracefully to the changing needs of the 

 strawberry plants. Corn stalks, sorghum 

 pomace, marsh hay or any coarse material 

 of that order may be used with excellent 

 results. One of our folks who grows 

 strawberries up in Nova Scotia wrote us 

 recently advising us that seaweed was 

 being used by some of his neighbors as a 

 mulch, and asked whether the salt it con- 

 tained would be injurious to the plant or 



Tree Protectors 



75 cents per 100. 

 $5.00 per 1,000. 



AS valu.ililf in suninicr against 

 stiii-st-ald, In it \\ iiuls. etc., as 

 llit'vare in winter against cold 

 and rabbits. Recomnit-nded by 

 all b-adin;? Orcliartlists and Hor- 

 ticultural societies. Send for 

 samples and testimonials, ho 

 not wait until rabbits and mice 

 ruin your trees. Wdfeus today. 



Wholesale Nursery Catalogue 



now ready'. Send fur copy. 



Agents wanted everywhere. 



HART PIONEER NURSERIES, 

 Box 103. Fort Scott, Kan. 



RAW FURS ""IIM". 



Am autlioHztd to pay fam-y prices to fill European 

 f)ril«"rs. Writi' for my special quotations. Address 



AC DIIDI^U A DDT Int'Tnational Piir Merchant 

 I Li DUnKnAnUI) itr>:i.(-in<-iuuuti.oiiio 



