Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 166, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1912 — DO NOT MULCH WITH MANURE [ARTICLE]

DO NOT MULCH WITH MANURE

Common, But Wasteful Practice With Btrawberry Beds—Study Will Dissipate Erroneous Idea. ▲ common but very wasteful practice is that of winter mulching strawberry beds with manure, says the Fruit Belt. None of the large growers ever practice it, yet many general farmers who depend upon their strawberry bed for spring income cover the bed in late fail with horse manure, thinking to increase the crop the foblowing year. ▲ study of the strawberry plant would dissipate any such idea. During the growing season, spring and summer, the plant stores in its crown the plant food from which the following year’s crop of berries is produced. Of the plant food contained in the manure spread on the bed after the growth has stopped for the year, not one atom enters the following spring's crop. In fact, the most valuable element, nitrogen, is dissipated into the'air in the form of ammonia, while the potash and phosphoric acid, to be utilized must be plowed or cultivated into the soil.