Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-09-30
STRAWBERRY CULTURE
Valuable Suggestions BY One Who
Knows About 1t.
How to Plant. Grow and Nurture the vines
SO as to Get the Best Results -Advisa-
biIity of Protection with Cloth.
(By o. wv. Blacknall.l

Ihat In cold climates where the Their
mometer falls much below zero. the
strawberry plant needs winter protec-
ton Is well-established fact. There
1t is the custom to apply mulching
over the plants as soon as the ground
freezes hard enough to drive on with
out much breaking of the crust. The
date of application will depend on the
latitude and the earliness or lateness
With which winter sets in.
| An almost endless variety of mate
rial can be used for this purpose. Pine
straw. wheat, oat or rye straw, forest
leaves, marsh grass and stalks of many
Kinds. What is desired is to cover the
pants just deep enough to greatly les
sen, put not entirely prevent. freezing
The harm that freezing or rather alter
nate freezing and thawing does is chief
ly mechanical-the heaving of the soil
ana the attendant breaking of the roots
as the plants are raised upward with
the SOIL This can be attained by using
more or less OF the mulching material
IN proportion, as its nature is to lie
close or open and as the climate Is more
or less severe. Thus q much thicker
mulch of corn stalks than of straw will
be required to attain the desired re-
suits.
The objection to long light material
IKE the straw of small gram is that It
is liable to be blow off. Forest leaves
are also Objectionable for this reason.
rms difficulty is partially obviated in
the case of straw by cuttin- up the
material short. Probably the most eff
tectiVe prevention of this trouble with
both grain straw and forest leaves is
to anchor them down with earth or
small stones judiciously placed at in
tervals.
How far south 1t pays to use winter
muich Is mooted point. It is doubt
fui whether. as q rule. 1t pays south
OF the Mason and Dixon line. except in
the IN mountains; some winters 1t pays
in North Carolina. Often it does not
The objection to winter mulch at the
South is that it harbors crickets and
other insects harmful to the straw
berry plant.
But for one purpose winter mulch is
beneficial wherever the ground Is to
protect plants set in winter on wet,
stir soil. This soil is much given to
heaving, and plants set on it In the
depth of winter are apt to be lifted
out of the ground by the alternate
freezing and thawing. A handful of
pine straw thrown over each plant
prevents harm. On nearly all soil, or
in fact on any except wet, stiff fields
or parts OF fields this protection of
newly set plants is not necessary south
of the Mason and Dixon line. We do
| most of our planting in late Novem-
Der, December, January and Febru-
airy. and get n perfect stand without
this protection except on a few wet
spots. But at the North 1t renders
practicable planting at u much later
time in the fall than would be advis-
able without It,
The use of straw of various kinds
to protect blooms from late spring
frosts has now become pretty general.
The straw Is strewn along the middles
in advance and on the plants when
nd on -I,nr, 6u,,
ger passes.
The use of mulch to keep the ber-
ries clean Is imperative. We apply 1t
about blooming time.
For several years, beginning in 1887,
! I used cloth largely to protect straw
berry blooms from frost. The kind
used was a thin muslin. sold at the
South for use on tobacco plant beds,
where 1t is found equally valuable as
n protection from frost and from Il
destructive species of fly. l found that
the tarred or chemically treated cloth
was much the best.
My object in using this protection
was to protect the strawberry blooms
from frost ard also to promote earli-
ness in the ripening of the fruit. The
cloth was put on about a month be-
fore the blooming period and not re-
moved till the berries were ready to be
picked. Small. low stakes provided
with wire hooks were driven in the
ground at short intervals. These held
the cloth securely against the hardest
wind. Being low, they did not hold the
cloth high enough from the ground to
be torn from its fastenings by the
snow.
The effect of this mode of protection
was fully up to my expectation, both
as n safeguard against frost and as a
promoter of earlier ripening of the
berries. Berries under the cloth ripen-
ed about one week earlier than those
outside. On April IS. 1890, the ground
froze half an inch deep and frost killed
every exposed bloom. Not 1 per cent.
of those under the cloth was lost. AS a
consequence we melted nearly ST. 900 on
about six acres
The largest yield that ever made,
1000 quarts on one acre and q quarter,
was under cloth.
Moreover, there was another very
unexpected and surprising result from
this mode of protection. The berries
grew very much larger. giving a cor
responding increase in the yield per
acre. This last result is in accord with
the recent discovery by Mr.. A. L. Colds
borough and others that in the protec-
ton of mammoth berries the use OF the
cloth Is essential
Just then came the large increase
in the strawberry ACREAGE in the low
er region in Eastern Carolina. While
the strawberry does not grow as fine
there as here, 1t ripens from two to
four weeks earlier. Consequently the
week gained In the earliness of berries
here did not justif'- us in diverting
from our regular business the large
amount of time and energy necessary
to make berry growing under cloth pay
us. Had to devote my whole energies
to growing five or ten acres OF straw
berries I should as soon as my soil
was made rich enough 20 grow them
to perfection. protect every acre with
cloth. The cloth used must of course