CIRCULAR No. 77 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
WASHINGTON,D.C. j 
MAY, 1929 
RECEIVES 
SUGGESTIONS FOR PAPER-MULGH TRIALS on. 
By L. H. Fuint, Associate Physiologist, Biophysi 4 Laboratory, Bw “eas, of 
Plant Industry U. 8, Bepestmert of Avriculomre 
CONTENTS 
Page Page 
ANGLO GR GELOMI A een a er nas Rees Eee 1 Application of mulching paper—Con 
Soil conditions in relation to paper MethodS 2225. tae ee ae 4 
Pe THO ne eee ee es Ses re eee 3 Costs = 252 Ss ee EG Ee 4 
Application of mulching paper______ 4 General precautions_—-—~—___=-_-2= ns 
PUD CES: © Setsmmert te) res b Ss Me 4 
INTRODUCTION 
The use of paper mulch in agriculture was originated in 1914 by 
CG. F. Eckart in connection with the culture of suugar-cane in the 
Hawaiian Islands. Following a period of experimental triai the 
process was extended to pineapple culture and in 1922 attained 
appreciable economic importance in that industry. This method 
consists essentiaily of extending black paper over “soil surfaces ad- 
jacent to crop plants, the paper serving to enhance growth chiefly 
through the suppression of weeds and through the increase of soil 
temperature and moisture. 
In 1924 the United States Department of Agriculture began small 
trials with various types of paper mulches. These experiments, were 
continued over a period of four years, during which various phases 
of the process received attention. The trials were reported in Tech- 
nical Bulletin No. 75.1. For the most part “ie paper used in these 
trials proved durable through several seasons and was of the type 
used extensively in the pineapple-growing industr y of the Hawaiian 
Islands. These trials led to the conclusion that under a wide variety 
of crops and conditions a definite and appreciable plant stimulation 
resulted from the use of the paper. This conclusion has been sub- 
stantiated by further experiments and by the results of a large nuim- 
ber of trials. by interested growers throughout the Un ited States 
and Canada during the past season (1928). 
Little is known, however, concerning the economic value of the 
process. The trials in 1928 were made with various types of paper 
of varying cost and durability. In most of these experiments there 
was no attempt to investigate the relations of the cost of the paper 
to the soil surface covered or to the di urability of the paper, or the 
relations of the durability of the paper to the requirements of the 
1FLIN?, L. H. CROP-PLANT STIMULATION WITH PAPER MULCH, -U. S. Dept. Agr. Teciu. 
Bul, 75, 20 p., illus. 1928. 
46330°—29 ft 
