MULCHING 
Mulching may be done at any time when the 
ground is solid enough to work on after plant 
growth is completed in the autumn, and the 
SOONER AFTER THAT TIME THE BET- 
TER. The material to be used and how to ap- 
ply it can best be decided with the purposes 
of mulching in mind—(1) to prevent winter 
damage, from excessive cold when plants are 
unprotected, and from alternate freezing and 
thawing, (2) to conserve moisture in the bear- 
ing season and keep the soil in better condition, 
(3) to keep down weeds, (4) to keep fruit 
clean, (5) to retard growth somewhat in early 
spring, thereby lessening the danger from late 
frosts. 
We generally use wheat or rye straw. mulching to a depth 
of approximately three inches, requiring something less 
than three tons to the acre. Other good materials are 
shredded fodder, spoiled ensilage, cane pumice, especially 
since they contain no weed seed. Such material as clover 
buffins is bad because of weed, grass and clover seeds. For 
the same reason it is bad practice to top dress a berry field 
after the plants are grown, unless you are sure there are no 
grass and weed seeds present in the material used. 
Early in April it is necessary to go along the row and rake 
aside just enough of the mulching material to allow the new 
strawberry growth to show through. 
RENOVATING OLD FIELDS 
Renovating an old field of strawberries and preparing it 
for another year’s fruiting is often one of the toughest prob-. 
lems a grower has. Each field is distinctly its own indivi- 
dual problem, and certainly no hard and fast rules can be 
laid down as to how things are best done. 
The most satisfactory method we have ever used is about 
the simplest. It consists of simply going along each side of 
the row with a tool of the roto-tiller type, cutting down the 
width of the row to some six inches. This operation stirs 
up the space between the rows to such an extent that the 
weeds there are practically eliminated, and a good hoeing 
leaves the ground in a good friable condition, too. This cul- 
tivation should be done very soon after bearing is over. 
Two or three subsequent cultivations with the same tool 
are made, and the berry row again allowed to reach a width 
of twelve or fourteen inches as new plants form. 
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