1^ R.M.Ke llogg's Ggg^ Cr ops of 
f 
4 
BLOSSOM OF THE MALE OR BISEXUAL 
BLOSSOM OF THE FEMALE OR PISTILLATE 
O t^fYf ""^'j. (bisexual) ,s larger m every way lhan the female (pislillale). Note the anthers on the 
burs. ,he Ll ..r''"'"".^'"^ (T' ^b^,^^"' 'P°",i" center are the stigmas. When the anthers 
I,,. ^ A r T ' °* the stigmas The germ of this pollen finds Us way down into the ovar.es of the 
Chi v. !, '"m .''""'yr"' J u"" ^T'- ^.^'-e-n" ««P'ive. If only a part of the stigmas are recep- 
tive the resuh w. I be a deformed berry; if none of the st.gmas are receptive a blank bloom Is the result. On the 
other hand .f a l the st.gmas are recept.ve to the pollen at the time the anthers burst, the berry will be fully de- 
veloped and perfectly smooth. The female bloom has no anthers and must receive its pollen from some near-by male 
or bisexual. Hence the necessity of proper mating. 
is ripening — the very period in which they most 
need an ample supply. 
5. To these practical advantages is to be 
added the relief the grower whose plants are well 
mulched feels from all anxiety concerning their 
appearance and condition in the spring; for 
well-mulched plants are certain to be in good 
shape then, no matter how severe the winter may 
have been. 
The time for applying mulch in northern lati- 
tudes is immediately after the first hard freezing 
in the fall. In the South mulching is done for 
two purposes only — to retain moisture in the 
soil and keep the fruit clean, and there the 
mulching should be applied before the buds 
open. 
And the methods of applying the mulching 
are altogether different as between the North and 
the South. In the former we must protect the 
vines from the cold weather, and so cover them 
over with the mulching, using about two and a 
half tons of good straw or its equivalent to the 
acre. In the South put the mulch along the 
rows close up to the plants, but do not cover the 
plants. Anything that will make a clean floor 
and hold the moisture in the soil will do, and a 
favorite mulch in that section is the pine needle, 
vast quantities of this material being used for 
that purpose. 
Where mulching has been put over the plants, 
it should be removed in the early spring; rather 
it should be parted from over the plants and the 
mulching so removed placed near the plants for 
the fruit to rest upon during the growing and 
ripening periods. However, if it is the purpose 
of the grower to cultivate his berries during the 
growing season, he should rake the mulching 
from the center of the space between the rows 
close to the plants and cultivate the bare space 
thus made. Experience has proved that culti- 
vating the fruiting bed at this time and in this 
way is of large advantage. 
The materials to use in mulching are many. 
All straw is excellent, wheat straw being pre- 
ferred. Marsh hay, swamp grass, sorghum 
pomace, sown corn — all these and many other 
thirigs are employed where conditions compel 
their use. On the Atlantic coast strawberry 
growers use seaweed, and they find it excellent. 
By all means mulch, and mulch well, if you 
would attain to the highest success in your work 
as a strawberry grower. 
14 
