PREPARING OUR STRAWBERRY PLANTS FOR THEIR WINTER SLEEP. 
OUR Thoroughbred plants not onlv receive the most careful attention durino- the growing season, but also are 
protected against any danger of bemg weakened by alternate freezing and thawing, by our thorough system 
of mulching, as shown in this picture. Mulching keeps the plants dormant and the roots remain calloused so 
they can be shipped to all parts of the country with perfect safety in the spring, and they will start growing 
([uicker and more vigorously than a green plant taken up on your own farm and set out the same day. A weU- 
winteredstrawberrv plant is like a well-wintered hor.;e It is full of vigor and strength and will start growing at once. 
Mulching 
IT is poor business p<)lic\' to spend a lot of 
money and hard work on a field of straw- 
berries and then neglect such an important 
part as mulching; yet hundreds of growers are 
doing this very thing in order to lower the cost 
of production. It is all right to cut expenses 
down, but in doing this judgment must be used 
lest the profits be endangered beyond the pros- 
pective saving. Quality and quantity should be 
the first consideration in every line of business. 
The best way to begin saving is by planning 
your work ahead so that every move will count. 
Do a little more figuring on profits and not quite 
so much fretting about expenses. 
We alwaj's have figured that mulching was 
one of our very best investments because it 
meets so many requirements. Like fire insur- 
ance, the satisfaction of having protection is 
worth all it costs. During all of our experiment- 
ing the early covering always has proved the 
most satisfactory. Nature is a splendid criterion 
to go by, and just as soon as we get two or three 
light freezes, and the leaves fall profusely from 
trees, we start the work and keep it going until 
every plant on the farm is protected. This early 
covering is especially valuable during a dry fall; 
freezing and thawing are much more injurious 
when soil is dry than where moisture is present. 
Even if a short, warm spell does come after the 
plants are covered, it will do no harm, provid- 
ing the work has been properly done. The 
right way is to mulch heaviest between the rows, 
covering the plants just enough to shade them; 
this will prevent bleaching. 
It isn't freezing that injures plants, but when 
it freezes hard at night and the sun shines bright 
the next day, it thaws. This alternate freezing 
and thawing causes contraction and expansion, 
which break the roots from the crown or body 
of the plant. If they are shaded with a light 
covering the ground will not thaw out on hot days 
but will remain frozen solid, and when a long 
warm spell does come, the frost dissolves on the 
under side first and the plants will settle grad- 
ually v/ith the soil and not be injured. 
Mulching has three distinct advantages be- 
sides protection against freezing and thawing. 
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