KELLOGG THOROUGHBRED MOTHER PLANT IN FULL FRUIT 
Lower Foliage Removed to Show Fruit 
mulched a little later and much lighter — just 
enough over the plants to prevent thawing on 
bright winter days. In the South and through 
the Pacific coast coinitry no mulch whatever 
should be placed over the rows; simply fill the 
space between for tiie fruit to rest upon. 
IV^ULCH applied in the fall should be left 
undisturbed until growth starts in the 
spring. The grower can better tell when to 
uncover his berries than can we, as the plant 
will show a tendency to push up through the 
mulching, and it should be parted from over 
the row so that the plant 
Removing ^^^^^y (.Q,„g without hin- 
drance. In dcing this work 
take a common fork and 
work it back and forth over the row through 
the mulching, which will part the latter. Be 
sure and do this before the plants bleach, as 
bleaching will make plants both tender and 
weak. Do not make too wide a part in the 
mulching, as to do so would defeat one of the 
principal objects of mulching, namely, the 
creation of a clean floor for the growing berries 
to rest upon. 
TUST as soon as the fruit is all harvested the 
" vines should be mowed off close to the 
ground. For this work we use a two-horse 
Mulch 
Spring 
Prep&ring Bed 
for 
Second Crop 
mowing machine. Where the patch is very 
small a scythe may be used. After the vines 
become dead and dry, go to the side from which 
the wind is blowing, take a 
fork full of straw, set it on 
fire and walk along the en- 
tire side of the field, hold- 
ing the forkfull of burning straw close enough 
to the ground to set fire to the mulching. The 
wind will force the blaze across the field so 
quickly that it will consume all the old material 
as well as weed seeds, insects and fungous 
spores without injuring the crowns of the plants. 
If rain should fall after the mowing is done and 
the weather continue damp until new growth 
starts, then it will not be safe to burn. In such 
a case, rake up the mulch and haul it away. 
A FTER the field has been cleared of the 
refuse matter, take a breaking plow, throw 
a furrow from each side of the row into the 
center, leaving the plants about six inches wide 
in the rows. Now go along the rows with a 
hoe and thin the plants out until tlie hills stand 
from sixteen to twenty inches apart, leaving 
what appear to be the best and strongest plants. 
The ridge which the furrow has ma<le between 
the rows may be leveled back to place with 
five-tooth cultivators, being careful that soil is 
17 
