Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 January 1880 — Advantages of Mulching. [ARTICLE]

Advantages of Mulching.

The advantages of mulching are not so well understood as they should be. The mulch, if applied after the ground is worked, while it is yet moist, will be a grand help in time of drought by retaining whatever moisture there may be. Watering the bare ground, which is the manner in which irrigation is usually practiced, is harmful, while where there is a mulch a little water goes a great way, as the mulch prevents evaporation by guarding against the excessive heat of the sun. Many different materials are used—sawdust, leaf mold, leaves themselves, muck or peat, chaff and straw. These vegetable substances hold water well, and furnish plant food as they decay. Afterward they may be worked into the ground, which they will loosen, and where they still retain their capacity for water. The land is thus manured and the soil mechanically improved. Swamp cuttings or weeds applied green are good. They form a good protection and decay rapidly. Several coats may be applied and worked in during the season, keeping the ground constantly fed and putting a harsh soil in the finest condition. Where the land is quite poor a manure mulch should be given. This early in the season so as to favor the growth at the start. Stable cleaning or any long manure will do. Partly rotten straw will make a good mulch. Apply liberally, that is, give a thick coat, and let it extend well out, as the roots of plants and shrubs, and especially of trees, reach far. A limited mulch, as one so often sees, affords but little benefit, hence follows disappointment. The mulch may be extended with benefit to our hoed crops. With potatoes this is practiced to some extent, and when properly done with the best of success. The moisture and coolness which it secures are the elements demanded by the tuber. Cultivate as long as the haulm will allow, and then immediately after the last stirring of the ground, when the surface is yet moist, apply the mulch. The task will >be less difficult than we are apt to suppose. Straw partly rotted makes an excellent mulch; and so will cut weeds and coarse grass applied green. Weeds seldom make their appearance through a good mulch. The few that do maybe pulled up, thus leaving the land clean, a thing that seldom occurs in a potato patch under the ordinary culture; there is rather an increase of weeds, particularly in size. This is prevented by the mulch, and the substance of the weeds retained in the soil or taken up by the tuber. There is also the fertility resulting from the decay of the mulch, and the increased mellowness of the soil, most admirably fitting the ground for the succeeding crop. Then there is winter mulching, also highly important and underestimated. It affords protection against the frost, especially in shallow and exposed soil where the roots lie near the surface. Much harm to the roots in such case results from exposure. A thick, porous coat is a sure remedy. Leaf mold, obtained in the woods, is one of the very best coverings. If the soil lacks fertility, coarse or long manure may be substituted with advantage. These vegetable coverings, worked in the spring, are partiularly good on clay soil, making a mellow surface, which serves in great part as a mulch, with its vegetable material.— N. Y. Herald.