The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-02-05
Advantages Of Mulching.

IHE advantages OF mulchlng are not
so well understood as they should be.
The mulch, if applied after the ground
is worked, while it is yet moist, will be
grand help in time of drought by re-
tanning whatever moisture there may
be. Watering the bare ground, which
is the manner in which irrigation is
usually practiced, is harmful, while
where there is a mulch a little water
goes great way, as the mulch prevents
evaporation by guarding against the
excessive heat of the sun. Many differ
ent materials are used-sawdust, leaf
mold, leaves themselves, muck or peat,
chaff and straw. These vegetable SUBJ
stances hold water well, and furnish
plant food as they decay. Afterward
they may be worked into the ground,
which they will loosen. and where they
still retain their capacity for water.
The land is thus MANFRED and the soil
mechanically improved. Swamp cut
tings or weeds applied green are good.
They form good protection and decay
rapidly. Several coats may be applied
and worked in during the season, keep
ing the ground constantly fed and put
ting harsh soil in the finest condition.
Where the land is quite poor a manure
mulch should be given. This early in
the season SO as to favor the growth at
the start. Stable cleaning or any long
manure will do. Partly rotten straw
will make good mulch. Apply liber-
ally, that is, give thick coat, and let it
extend well out, as the roots of
plants and shrubs, and especially of
trees, reach far. A limited mulch,
as one so often sees. affords but little
benefit, hence follows disappoint-
ment. The mulch may be extended
with benefit to our hoed crops. With
potatoes this is practiced to some ex-
tent, and when properly done with the
best of success. The moisture and cool
ness which it secures are the elements
demanded by the tuber. Cultivate as
long as the haulm will allow, and then
Immediately after the last stirring of
the ground, when the surface is yet
moist, apply the mulch. The task will
be less difficult than we are apt to sup
pose. Straw partly rotted makes an
excellent mulch; and so will cut weeds
and coarse grass applied green. Weeds
seldom make their appearance through
a good mulch. The few that do may be
pulled up, thus leaving the land clean.
a thing that seldom occurs in potato
patch under the ordinary culture; there
is rather an increase of weeds, particu-
larly in size. This is prevented by the
mulch, and the substance of the weeds
retained in the soil or taken up by the
tuber. There is also the fertility result
ing from the decay of the mulch, and
the increased mellowness of the soil,
most admirably fitting the ground for
the succeeding crop. Then there is
winter mulching, also highly important
and underestimated. 1t affords protec-
ton against the frost, especially in shall
low and exposed soil where the roots
lie near the surface. Much harm to the
roots in such case results from expos
ure. A thick, porous coat is a sure
remedy. Leaf mold, obtained in the
woods, is one of the very best cover
ings. If the soil lacks fertility, coarse
or long manure may be substituted with
advantage. These vegetable coverings,
worked in the spring, are partiularly
good on clay soil, making q mellow
surface, which serves in great part as a
mulch, with its vegetable material
Y Herald.