The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1900-09-25
No. 33
strawberry cuLTuRE-PROzECT1ON.

That IN cold climates where the
thermometer falls much below zero,
the strawberry plant needs winter
protection is a well-established fact
There it is the custom to apply
mulching over the plants as soon as
the ground freezes hard enough to
drive on without much breaking of
the crust. The date of application
will depend on the latitude and the
earliness or lateness with which win
ter sets in.
An almost endless variety of ma
terial 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 plants just deep enough
to greatly lessen, but not entirely
prevent freezing. The harm that
freezing or rather alternate freezing
and thawing does is chiefly mechani-
cal-the heaving of the soil and the
attendant breaking of the roots as
the plant is raised upward with the
soil. This can be attained by using
more Or less of the mulching mate
rial in proportion as it's nature is to
lie close or open and as the climate
is more or less severe. Thus much
thicker mulch of corn stalks than of
straw will be required to attain the
desired results.
The objection to long light mate
rial like the straw of small grain is
that it is liable to be blown off
Forest leaves are also Objectionable
for this reason. This difficulty is
| partly Obviated in the case of straw
by cutting up the material short.
Probably the most effective preven-
ton of this trouble with both grain
straw and forest leaves is to anchor
them down with earth or small stones
judiciously placed at intervals.
How far south it pays to use win
ter mulch is a moOted point. 1t is
doubtful whether as a rule it pays
south of the Mason and Dixon line,
except in the mountains Some win
ters it 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 strawberry plant.
But for one purpose winter mulch
is beneficial wherever the ground
freezes as deep as two inches. That
is to protect plants set in winter on
wet, stiff 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 pro
lection of newly-set plants is not
necessary south of the Mason and
Dixon line. We do most of our plant
ing in late November, December,
January and February, and get a
perfect stand without this protection
except on a few wet spots. But at
the North it renders practicable
planting at a much later time in the
fall than would be advisable without
it.
The use of straw of various kinds
to protect blooms from late spring
frosts has now become pretty gen
eral. The straw is strewn along the
middIes in advance and on the plants
when frost threatens, and off when
the danger passes.
The use of mulch to keep the ber-
ries clean is imperative. We apply
it about blooming time.
For several years, beginning in
1887, used cloth largely to protect
strawberry blooms from frost. The
kind used was a thin muslin, sold at
the South for use on tobacco plant
beds, where it is found equally valu-
able as protection from frost and
from a destructive species of fly. I
found that the tarred or chemically
treated cloth was much the best.
Ny object in using this protection
was to protect the strawberry blooms
from frost and also to promote earli-
ness in the ripening of the fruit. The
cloth was put on about month be-
fore the blooming period and not re-
moved till the berries were ready to
be picked. Small, low stakes pro
vided with wire hooks were driven
in the ground at short intervals.