19 
In this system runners are not used at all but are removed as 
soon as they appear, giving the plants a chance to produce earli- 
er and larger crops of big berries. 
When the first weeds appear, two or three weeks from planting, 
they are removed with a hoe. As soon as this is done, the entire 
area is covered with a layer of sawdust mulch one-inch thick. 
After the mulch is applied, if weeds should come up, they must 
be pulled and not hoed out because hoeing would mix the sawdust 
in with the soil and destroy its effectiveness as a mulch. 
Either hard- or soft-wood sawdust may be used. A temporary ni- 
trogen deficiency may develop but this can be remedied by the use 
of a nitrogen fertilizer. Nitrogen deficiency will not be a prob- 
lem unless the sawdust is mixed with the soil. And, sawdust does 
not make the soil acid as many persist in believing. 
About 2 cubic yards of fresh or weathered sawdust are needed 
to mulch a 15 by 40 foot patch. If sawdust is not available, peat- 
moss, ground corn cobs, fine shavings or chopped straw may be 
substituted. For purposes of winter protection, a full inch of 
mulch should be maintained. 
KK KKK KK OK KR KK KK 
NEW STRAWBERRY PYRAMID BED 
The new strawberry pyramid was designed especially for ever- 
bearing varieties !ike RED RICH. Mulched with sawdust, vermicu- 
lite, ground corn cobs or other mulch, they bear heavily when 
others are through. 
On newly set piants, blossoms should be removed as soon as 
they appear for the first two or three months or until the plants 
are well established, after which the blossoms may be allowed to 
develop, and you can expect to pick ripe berries until frost. 
IMPROVED STRAWBERRY 
tear eeGeA lislaOsNe-re Mok sl HOD 
from CALIFORNIA FARMER, May 19, 1951 
The irrigation problems of the strawberry grower have been 
light and haven’t been too hard to get along with. However, 
there is always room for improvement, and one of these seems to 
be overhead irrigation sprinklers. 
The application of overhead irrigation systems was never 
thought of as a good one for strawberries, but experiments have 
proven otherwise. The reasons given for the lack of faith in 
this system were that it was thought the plants would mildew, 
the berries split or get soft, weight of the water would push 
them into the dirt, control of insects would be harder, plants 
would be washed and residue sprays wouldn’t hold. 
