1010. 
THE RURAL, NEW-YORKER 
473 
THb MULCH SYSTEM ON SANDY SOIL. 
Having read with great interest the 
discussions and articles about mulching 
orchards, I would like to give you my 
slight experience in that line. I am 
living on the south shore of Long Isl¬ 
and, a metal worker by trade, but fot 
the last seven years I have forsaken that 
avocation and am, like most of the rest 
of The R. N.-Y. family, close to the 
ground. I came here, through accident, 
from Richmond County (Staten Island), 
saw that the soil produced magnificent 
carnations, and am following the florist 
line. The soil here is a very light sandy 
loam, anywhere from six to 18 inches 
deep. The soil department calls it sassa¬ 
fras gravelly loam. Underneath that is 
sand, pure sand, lots of it. The land is 
flat, or very slightly rolling, and every 
one or two miles slight depressions, 
through which brooks of the clearest 
and finest water flow'. At the same time, 
these brooks are all preempted by the 
city of Brooklyn. Five miles away in 
a straight line is the “big pond,” and 
very often when a nice little zephyr from 
south or southeast blows at the rate of 
50 or 60 miles an hour from some emi¬ 
nence can be plainly seen at the horizon 
a deep fringe of white, and the roar of 
old Neptune can be plainly heard. 
Coming here from the deep clay soils 
of Richmond County with its magnifi¬ 
cent timber growth, the first thing that 
strikes such a newcomer is the poor 
growth of trees. With the exception of 
locust and along the water courses 
White oak and YVhite cedar, the timber 
does not amount to much. Going 
through the woods you will find many 
and many a tree uprooted, but no tap 
roots, and if you examine the roots, 
you will find that most of them arc as 
near the surface as possible. On the 
few acres that I bought a small orchard 
had been planted, but had been com¬ 
pletely neglected. Dwarfed, full of scale, 
they were a sorry lot, and the largest 
part of the trees were immediately 
consigned to the brush heap. It seemed 
to me that boiling lime and sulphur for 
a couple of dozen trees would not pay. At 
the same time, I found that if I wanted 
fruit, I would have to pay the full con¬ 
sumer’s dollar, plus express charges 
from the big city. Before the trees 
were all rooted out the scale, for some 
reason or other, had nearly completely 
disappeared, “soluble oil” had been in¬ 
vented, and I set to work, under these 
circumstances, to see what could be 
done to -make the trees grow. In Rich¬ 
mond County the market gardeners 
spread the manure a foot deep on the 
soil. If new ground has been broken, 
they will have to wait a full year before 
the manure will fully respond. Natural¬ 
ly the first year I followed those lines. 
Right there I made a big mistake. There 
manure will respond almost immediate¬ 
ly', and the result of my mistake was 
that most of the stuff planted the first 
year went all to tops, with no fruit. 
This soil here, level, not a stone in 
sight for miles, easily worked, drought 
resistant to a high degree, most of the 
time of a texture that will crumble 
easily and a water level of 15 to 25 
feet, will produce fine crops if not over¬ 
fed. Ten tons of manure to the acre 
will give better results than 20 , and I 
am afraid that those good farmers who 
laud humus to the skies would be very 
much disappointed in the results if they 
would fill this soil full of humus. 
The slogan of the best farmers here is, 
feed lightly but often. What trees were 
left got also a good dressing of manure, 
with the result that they also jumped 
into new life. But after the Winter 
was over and Spring came, a different 
story was to be told. Sunscald, frozen 
tops, and out of a lot of seven peach 
trees nine years old three Winter-killed, 
not a very promising outlook. At about 
that time articles about mulching ap¬ 
peared. Knowing the root system of 
most of the timber trees here, close to 
the surface and in among the decaying 
leaves, the inference to follow nature 
lay close at hand. For the last few 
years the old carnation plants, weeds 
and trash of every description have been 
piled around the trees, and with the 
exception of small amounts of wood 
ashes, no feeding whatever, only the 
heap of slowly decaying vegetable mat¬ 
ter, and under this method the trees are 
making fine progress. It seems to me 
that the question, “To mulch or not to 
mulch,” depends entirely on condition 
of soil and environment. On the deep 
clay soils of Richmond County, where 
I have seen tap roots go down 25 feet, 
or in the valleys of New Jersey, clean 
culture would be best, while here and 
on the hillsides of Orange County the 
mulch system would be best. At any 
rate, I have come to the conclusion that 
in such cases anomaly occurs; to wit, 
what is sauce for the goose is not sauce 
for the gander. c. B. d. 
R. N.-Y.—The light, open soils are 
always “quick”—that is, manure gives 
rapid results. This is usually due to 
the fact that the air, being freely ad¬ 
mitted, the organic matter is quickly 
oxidized or “burned up.” In the colder 
clay soils air does not enter so freely 
and thus manure stays longer, and does 
not decay and give up plant food so 
fast. Some peach growers prefer light 
sandy soils from choice, for on such 
soils they can regulate the supply of 
plant food so as to give the tree what 
it needs and then stop feeding. As a 
rule, success with mulching has been 
found on the heavier moist soils which 
are natural grass lands. 
Growing Fine Strawberries. 
I have rend reports from the Hope Farm 
man, of his success in growing Marshall 
strawberry by the so-called “Kevin plan.” 
'I’lii 1 Marshall is all right, when the con¬ 
ditions are favorable, which is not always 
the case. Forty years ago we grew the 
Wilson, Charles Downing, Jucunda and 
Triomphc de (land in sections of three 
rows, 18 inches apart, with path for pick¬ 
ers 28 inches wide. The pickers picked 
one row and one side of the middle row. 
In those days the mulching was removed 
in the Spring and shallow cultivation given 
until the berries were half grown, when it 
was carefully replaced. A light applica¬ 
tion of fertilizer was scratched in round 
the plants as soon as uncovered. There 
were no weeds to rob the plants of food or 
moisture, and no drying up or plants. The 
round (Beecher) basket, quarts and pints, 
and the shallow round box, with cover, 
were most in use, the crates and baskets 
being returned, the consumer paying five 
cents for the basket, and receiving the 
same on returning it. In 1868 Putnam 
and Thurston, of Worcester, Mass., paid 
me $-10 for 80 quarts of berries, selling 
them for 60 cents a quart. 1 have been 
growing berries, more or less every year, 
since that date, and was awarded ir> prizes 
by tin 1 li. I. Horticultural Society at their 
exhibition last June. 
Kevitt’s plot: of five rows is too wide. 
The largest, firmest, highest colored and 
sweetest berries would be found on the 
edges, hanging over into the pickers’ path, 
where they would be trampled on by pick¬ 
ers. in trying to reach the middle row. A 
foot apart is also too close, as you have a 
complete mat of foliage, excluding sun, 
light, air, bees and light showers. A 
neighbor last season worked his plants 
strictly by the so-called “Kevltt plan.” At 
blooming time lie had a solid mat of foliage. 
As it was impossible to pick the middle 
row, he dug it tip. leaving the plants as a 
mulch. His best berries were picked from 
the edges of this new cut path, and the 
outsides, the rest being pale, soft and flat 
sour. A. W. CLARK. 
Rhode Island. 
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That’s what the New York Experiment Station 
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PRATT'S 
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Hudson Terminal Building 
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