| Show paper mulch increases yields about 15 years ago it occurred to the manager of a sugar plantation in hawaii that since the trash or crop refuse collecting on top of the sugar cane acted as a suppressor of meeds a cheap grade of paper would have the same effect and at the same time be much more durable in connection with the development of the use of this paper mulch it was noticed that areas mulched with paper produced more vigorous crop plants later the mulch was tried on pineapples with such rapid and marked success that today more than 90 per cent of hawaiian re apples are grown under mulch one company in the past year having spent for mulching paper these favorable results led the department of agriculture to carry on experiments covering the past four ears with paper mulch on various crops and while some factors in connection with its use are not yet well known it Is evident that the use of a paper mulch markedly stimulates growth at least under conditions in the eastern states an impervious paper mulch also tends to permit an increased water supply in the surface soil in the case of a light rain which without the paper would only moisten the top layer and be quickly lost the paper allows the water to penetrate to the plant roots in addition the use of the paper considerably lessens the labor of weeding the bulk of the weeding is confined to the early seasons growth and practically all the weeding and cultivation in hot weather Is eliminated at the present time the chief objection to the paper mulch is its expense |
