1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
SPRING CARE OF STRAWBERRIES . 
Shall We Remove Mulch and Cultivate? 
I would like information regarding the care of strawberry 
plants, or a strawberry patch rather, in the Spring. The 
plants are mulched in late Fall. Is this mulch left on the 
ground between rows after raking off from rows, until after 
berries are harvested, and then cultivated and hoed? Or is 
the mulch raked off in early Spring, cultivated and hoed,' 
and then put back same between rows, to keep berries clean 
and weeds down? It seems natural that ground lying dor¬ 
mant all Winter should be cultivated and stirred up. This 
gives the crop a big start, enabling the sun and Spring 
rains to have quicker action. But does this apply to the 
raising of strawberries, and do you think one would have 
as good results by not cultivating until crop is harvested? 
Nutley, N. J. a. l. v. 
The natural condition for a strawberry plant is to 
have the plants well mulched, to obtain best results, 
BOILING THE LIME AND SULPHUR. Fig. 71. 
and a large crop of strawberries, plants are mulched 
or covered by manure at Fall and early 'Spring only; 
the coarse long straw should be raked off and placed 
between the rows in order to keep the fruit clean 
that grows on the outside of the bed. It seems natural 
that the soil for this cold-blooded plant should be kep: 
cool. When the heavy strain comes in the months of 
May and June the sun should never reach the soil 
where a strawberry plant grows if you wish to secure a 
large crop. If the bed is thoroughly clean and free 
from weeds in the Fall the soil should not be culti¬ 
vated or stirred up in Spring. tice c. kevitt. 
New Jersey. 
I have been experimenting for several years on this 
mulch question I believe in leaving the mulch on from 
the time it is put on in the Fall until the plants have 
fruited. In the Fall before the ground freezes I cover 
between the rows with about three inches of well-rotted 
horse manure. Put this on early enough to get the 
benefit of the Fall rains. I figure that this manure 
keeps the ground from freezing so early and this gives 
the plant a longer season of growth. When the ground 
is frozen I cover the whole bed with straw (about one 
or two inches). In the Spring rake the straw from the 
top of the plants and let it lie between the rows. This 
mulch checks evaporation of moisture from the ground, 
and keeps it cool, just the condition the plant likes. The 
strawberry is composed largely of water. If you want 
to grow some extra fine ones just soak the bed twice a 
SPRAYING SELF-BOILED LIME AND SULPHUR. Fig. 72 
week with water. If you have late frosts (I had the 
last one on my bed June 10,) take your fork and spread 
the straw over the plants. I saved my berries three 
times last Spring. I am a great believer in mulching 
all kinds of small fruits. I have some currant bushes 
that have never given me less than eight quarts per 
bush since the second year after setting out. They 
are now 10 years old. I raise English gooseberries with¬ 
out a sign of mildew. They have never been sprayed 
or cultivated. I put three inches of manure for a space 
of three feet around each bush in the Fall. Raspberries 
and blackberries are treated the same. F. p. b. 
Massachusetts. 
The Winter covering usually consists of swale or 
salt hay. I use the former at the rate of 4,000 pounds 
per acre, evenly distributed over the entire surface, as 
with our matted-row culture very little ground is unoc¬ 
cupied by plants. This hay is all removed in the Spring, 
enabling one to hand-pull any “Winter weeds,” such as 
sorrel, chickweed, grass, etc., and also to take up the 
plant in the pathway for setting out new beds. These 
paths are seldom wide enough for convenience in picking, 
and when plants are not wanted for setting we cut out 
the paths of uniform width with a sharp hand hoe. 
The ground is not disturbed with cultivator or other¬ 
wise except as a result of the work in the paths. I 
think there should be no gain from any method of cul¬ 
tivation, although in the garden with hill culture it 
would be an easy matter to use a land-tool for very 
shallow stirring of the surface early in the season, yet 
I hesitate to advise it. When weeding and path cut¬ 
ting are over (and we try to complete this work as 
soon as possible) a portion of the hay is put back into 
the paths. Even though no necessity of weeding, etc., 
exists, the amount of hay mentioned above would be 
much more than the pathway would accommodate, 
otherwise there would be no objection to raking the 
covering immediately into the paths. With hill culture 
the hay can also be used among the plants as well as in 
the paths, which is certainly ven r desirable, but is diffi-, 
cult to accomplish satisfactorily with matted-row cul¬ 
ture. If we have reason to think that the plants need a 
little pushing, about lfiO pounds per acre of nitrate of 
soda is used as soon as the hay is removed. 
Massachusetts. j. w. barton. 
This question finds me as much perplexed as the in¬ 
quirer to know what to do with the mulch on an old 
strawberry patch. Until three or four years ago I left 
the mulch on until after fruiting, then hauled it off and 
DRAWING WATER FOR LIME AND SULPHUR. Fig. 73. 
cultivated the ground. Since then I have left it all on 
continuously and pulled out the weeds and cut runners 
with, a sickle, and added more mulch in early Winter, 
and sometimes during the Summer. This method, 
produced the best crops, with less cost for labor, in 
my experience. But last year 1 saw signs of what I 
took' to be shot-hole fungus and sprayed with Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture, both before and after picking, but the 
trouble increased. 1 then sent samples of the foliage 
to the station at New Brunswick, and learned that 
it was an insect causing the trouble. I then used ar¬ 
senate of lead with the Bordeaux and finally checked it. 
but not until it had entirely destroyed half of my plants, 
and weakened the remainder so they will not make 
half a crop. Now the question with me is, did the old 
mulch make a favorable breeding place for the insect, 
or would I have had the same trouble if the mulch 
had been removed and the ground cultivated? A few 
rows of late-set Fall plants (President) and 4,000 potted 
plants, thoroughly cultivated, adjoining a badly infested 
plot only a year old, were entirely destroyed and plowed 
under in July. A Spring-set plot a short distance from 
the above was but very little affected. I was unable to 
get any name for the insects, as I could not see them 
except in (light. Some years ago on dry gravelly land 
I removed the mulch and cultivated in the Spring, and 
considered it a great benefit, but the ground must dry 
off early so it can be done before much bloom appears. 
My land is mostly too heavy and wet in the Spring for 
it to do aim good. Perhaps in another year T can learn 
more about the insect that troubles me, and master it, 
and still leave the mulch on continuously. 
New Jersey. tiiomas r. hunt. 
i67 
FLORISTS AND THE EXPRESS COMPANIES 
Faulty transportation is a frequent cause of tribula¬ 
tion on the part of the florist, for both express and 
freight companies fall very much below the standard 
of perfection. The express companies are probably the 
greatest sinners in this respect, from the fact that one 
pays a higher rate to these companies with the especial 
object of having the goods forwarded promptly on fast 
trains, and at the same time given proper care in han¬ 
dling and delivery. It is not unreasonable to expect 
promptness and care in forwarding when we take into 
consideration that the express rate from Philadelphia 
to New York, for example, is 75' cents per hundred 
pounds, or $15 per ton. Perhaps the express agent will 
OUTFIT FOR MIXING CHEMICALS. Fig. 74. 
argue that three-quarters of a cent per pound for 90 
miles is a small sum, but in answer to that may be 
said that this rate only applies to 100 pounds or over, 
and that a package weighing 10 pounds will cost 40 
cents between the same points, or equal to a rate of 
$4 per hundred. A package weighing 100 pounds costs 
$2.25 in expressage in going from Philadelphia to Chi¬ 
cago, and a 10-pound package will cost 75 cents, or 
$7.50 per hundred. The rate to Kansas City, Mo., is 
$4.25 per hundred, but a 10-pound package will be taxed 
$1. or at the rate of $10 per hundred pounds. Verily, 
$200 per ton is a sufficient sum to ensure the profitable 
carriage of freight for about 1,500 miles, and should 
produce goodly dividends for sundry statesmen. 
Several years ago a committee of the Society of 
American Florists succeeded in getting all the leading 
express companies in the United States to promise 
a 20 per cent reduction from the general merchandise 
rate to all plants shipped by florists, provided that the 
plants were properly packed in accordance with certain 
rules. But now the express companies seem to be 
trying to back out of their bargain, and a recent ship¬ 
ment of plants from Philadelphia to New York, which 
weighed 2,600 pounds, was the cause of painful reflec¬ 
tion and forcible remarks on the part of the consignee 
when he had to pay a bill of $21 to the express com¬ 
pany. According to the rate book the gross cost of this 
shipment should have been $20.10, and with the 20 per 
cent discount the bill should have been $16.08. 
The running time of express trains between Philadel- 
M A KING SELF-BOILED LIME AND SULPHUR. FlG. 75. 
phia and Buffalo ranges from 11 to 12 hours, and allow¬ 
ing for possible delays at shipping point and also at 
destination. 24 hours would seem a reasonable time for 
the transmission of express matter between these points, 
but a case of plants shipped December 21 arrived in 
Buffalo on the 23d, was then carefully stored in an un¬ 
heated shed until the following morning, then loaded 
upon an open sleigh and taken on a trip “seeing Buf¬ 
falo” for seme four hours along with other packages. 
The temperature in Buffalo on that dat'c was down in 
the small figures, and yet the express people seemed 
quite shocked that the consignee refused to receive the 
plants on the ground that they were certainly frozen, 
and also were more shocked when the shipper subse¬ 
quently, but firmly, declined to accept the plants again. 
