Show TIME TO MULCH strawberry covering ro verIng should be put on after first severe frosts and left until late in spring in our northern latitudes the mulch should be put on after after the first severe frosts and left on until the ground Is well warmed in the spring where no form of mulch la Is used the fibrous roots are subjected to periods of alternate freezing and thawing with the result that many ore are destroyed the th most desirable mulch is one that contains no DO weed seeds and does docs not bury the plant to the exclusion of air circulation wheat and oat straw swale hay coarse horse manure brush and seaweed have been used more or less but the first four named are the most satisfactory the mulch should be applied carefully else it may do more harm than good it too thick the plants are smothered and if too thin there is little or no protection so about an inch Is sufficient clent covering for the plant with anith three or four inches applied between the rows varying somewhat according to material and conditions in the spring the mulch should be carefully removed from the top of the plants and banked beside them it if entirely removed the berries are spattered with dirt during rainy periods and lose much of their attractiveness and sale value the mulch beside the tha plants tends to retard the growth of we weeds eus as well as to keep the fruit clean maine department of agriculture |