. Success with small fruits . d become so hard that an ordinary shower couldmake but little impression. Moreover, even if kept moist by the mulch,land long shielded from sun and air tends to become sour, heavy, and Cultivation. 117 devoid of that life which gives vitality and vigor to the plant. The wintermulch need not be laboriously raked from the garden-bed or field, andthen carted back again. Begin on one side of a plantation and rake towardthe other, until three or four rows and the spaces between them are bare ;then fork the spaces or run the cultivator—often the subsoil plow —deeply thr
. Success with small fruits . d become so hard that an ordinary shower couldmake but little impression. Moreover, even if kept moist by the mulch,land long shielded from sun and air tends to become sour, heavy, and Cultivation. 117 devoid of that life which gives vitality and vigor to the plant. The wintermulch need not be laboriously raked from the garden-bed or field, andthen carted back again. Begin on one side of a plantation and rake towardthe other, until three or four rows and the spaces between them are bare ;then fork the spaces or run the cultivator—often the subsoil plow —deeply through them, and then immediately, before the moist, newlymade surface dries, rake the winter mulch back into its place as a summermulch. Then take another strip and treat it in like manner, until thegenerous impulse of spring air and sunshine has been given to the soil ofthe entire plantation. The cut, giving a section of my specimen-bed, shows one rowstill under its winter covering, one cultivated and ready for the summer. Three Rows, illustrating early Spring Work. mulch, and the third row with this applied, and the plants ready for liberal coat of fine compost was forked in also at the same time, and theresulting crop was enormous. This spring cultivation should be doneearly — as soon as possible after the ground is dry enough to work. Theroots of a plant or tree should never be seriously disturbed in the blos-soming or bearing period, and yet I would rather stir the surface, evenwhen my beds were in full bloom, than leave it hard, baked and dry ; for,heed this truth well — unless a plant, from the time it blossoms until thefruit matures, has an abundance of moisture, it will fail in almost theexact proportion that moisture fails. A liberal summer mulch under andaround the plants not only keeps the fruit clean, but renders a watering 118 Success with Suiall Fruits. much more lasting, by shielding the soil from the sun. Never sprinkle theplants a little in d
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