New YorRK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. ey, 
ous materials, however, may be used for this purpose, such as 
straw or rough refuse, coarse stable manure, marsh hay, etc. A 
light coating is desired as it is only necessary to cover the plants 
out of sight, an inch or so being much better than three or four 
inches. 
Spring treatment.—The mulching should be left over the plants 
as long as possible in spring to retain the frost, thus retarding the 
starting of the plants. As warm weather approaches, however, it 
may be necessary to shake up the covering to prevent the plants 
from smothering. Some of this material may be removed from 
over the plants and placed between the rows. No further treat- 
ment is generally necessary except to hand pull the larger weeds. 
Under some conditions, however, it may be necessary to remove 
the mulch and give thorough cultivation, replacing it before the 
berries ripen to conserve moisture and to keep the berries clean. 
It is usually not considered a profitable undertaking to spray 
the foliage for fungus troubles, but where leaf blight is serious, 
it may be kept in check by applications of bordeaux mixture. 
The spraying should be made early in the season and should not 
be applied while the plants are in bloom, nor so late that the bor- 
deaux shows on the fruit. Good air and soil drainage are aids in 
reducing the amount of injury. 
Renewing old beds.—It is generally more satisfactory to set new 
beds each year than to continue the old ones. But if the plants are 
numerous, vigorous and healthy, and the ground not too weedy, 
they may he left for a second crop. Some successful growers har- 
vest two and even three profitable crops of fruit before making a 
change. ‘The berries ripen earlier on old beds than on one year 
beds. The ground which has become hard and compact from the 
tread of the pickers should be thoroughly broken up and the rows 
of plants cut back to narrow strips as soon as the fruiting season 
is over, giving thorough cultivation and fertilization as appears 
necessary. 
Conclusion.—It must be kept in mind that the suggestions given 
above are not specific directions. The actual details vary widely 
in different places. These must be worked out by each grower 
under his own particular set of conditions. The different subjects 
have been treated in a general way giving briefly some indication 
of the methods pursued by a large number of successful growers. 
