Mulch

“ The Mulch.—In conserving the supply of water in the soil the mulch plays an important work. The dry air is constantly taking up the water from the surface of land, and when the surface is drier than the soil below, the moisture moves upward if there is no break in the structure of the surface soil. The mulch is a covering of material that does not readily permit the escape of water. ”

“ The chief advantage of the mulch, however, is in the preservation of moisture. When it is given freely, all the fruit perfects, and in a much longer succession. The weeds and suckers are kept down, and the patch has a neat appearance. Moreover, mulching prevents the foliage from burning, and enables the gardener to grow successfully the finer varieties further to the south and on light soils. In keeping down the weeds through the long summer, a mulch of leaves, straw, or any coarse litter, is often far less costly than would be the labor required. ”

“ Rake the mulch away from the plants that were given protection in fall as soon as the weather gets warm enough to start them to growing. Or it can be dug into the soil about them to act as a fertilizer. Get it out of sight, for it always gives the garden an untidy effect if left about the plants.
Go over the border plants and uproot all grass that has secured a foothold there. A space of a foot should be left about all shrubs and perennials in which nothing should be allowed to grow. ”

“ If the soil immediately about the plants is covered when dry, the mulch may keep it dry—to the great detriment of the forming berries. It is usually best to put on the mulch as soon as the early cultivation is over in April, and then the bed may be left till the fruit is picked. Of course it may be necessary to pull out some rank-growing weeds from time to time. If the hired man is left to do the mulching very late in the season, he will probably cover much of the green fruit and blossoms as well as the ground. ”

“ Where no mulch is used the cultivation may be carried a little closer to the plants, but should be very shallow, and at no time should deep cultivation be practiced, as the roots are to be found very near the surface of the soil. If a mulch is used no hand cultivation will be required, either along the side or between the plants in the row, except to pull any weeds that may spring up. Where no mulch is used it will be necessary lightly to stir the surface with a wheel hoe or iron rake, to prevent a crust being formed after each rain or watering. ”

“ The very top layer of soil directly under the mulch has a high organic matter content, retaining moisture, eliminating crusting, and consequently, enhancing the germination of seeds. Mulchers usually sow in well-separated rows. The gardener merely rakes back the mulch and exposes a few inches of bare soil, scratches a furrow, and covers the seed with humusy topsoil. As the seedlings grow taller and are thinned out, the mulch is gradually pushed back around them. ”

“ The removal of grass from the orchard as hay is poor practice and should be discouraged. The grass mulch may well be supplemented by the addition of other grass, straw, leaves, coarse manure, or other similar materials. Sometimes this mulch is put on to the depth of six inches or even a foot around the tree. Thus practiced it is very effective in conserving moisture and in adding the humus which is so necessary to the soil.
Sod and tillage have somewhat different effects on the tree and on the fruit. ”

“ The only available material for a mulch in most instances is the soil itself. Experience has taught that when the top layer of soil, to a depth of two or three inches, is made fine and loose, the water beneath it cannot escape readily. It is partly for this reason that the smoothing-harrow should follow the roller after land has been plowed. ”

“ Winter Mulch usually consists of leaves, straw, hay, rough manure, boughs of evergreens, or any coarse material that will protect the plants from severe freezing and the heaving caused by alternate freezing and thawing. This winter Mulch should be removed as spring advances, unless it is of such a character as to be worked into the soil to add fertility or to loosen heavy lands. Near the seacoast salt hay is considered to be an ideal Mulch. The winter Mulch must not contain too strong or heavy manures, or plants may be injured by the leaching. ”

“ Marsh hay makes an ideal mulch, but where it cannot be secured, straw will answer. Corn fodder makes a clean but rather coarse mulch, and where they can be held in place by some other material, forest leaves do well as a mulch between the rows. In the spring the straw should be removed from over the plants and allowed to remain between the rows as a mulch, or all of it may be removed and the soil worked with a cultivator. ”

“ They afford an excellent mulch, and in the autumn months the leaves on the lawn are among the most attractive features of the landscape. The leaves generally blow off after a time, and if the place has been constructed with an open center and heavily planted sides, the leaves will be caught in these masses of trees and shrubs and there afford an excellent mulch. The ideal landscape planting, therefore, takes care of itself to a very large extent. It is bad economy to burn the leaves, especially if one has herbaceous borders, roses, and other plants that need a mulch. ”

“ When the bushes are young, not covering the ground, other crops are grown between the rows, but as the bushes attain their full size, standing after trimming, waist to breast high, the ground between is usually thickly covered with straw, leaves or grass and weeds from the hill lands, which serve as a mulch, as a fertilizer, as a means of preventing washing on the hillsides, and to force the rain to enter the soil uniformly where it falls. ”

“ The surface soil should always be kept loose and open. The efficacy of the soil mulch depends on the thoroughness and frequency of the operation. It is particularly beneficial during long, dry periods. During such times it is not necessary to wait for a rain to compact the soil ”

“ When it is impossible to furnish water, it would be a good plan to mulch heavily with straw or some other substance. This mulch, if put on just after a heavy rain, will hold the moisture for a long time. When the heads begin to form the outside leaves may be brought together and tied above the head, excluding the direct sunshine and keeping the head white and tender. ”

“ As soon as rain comes to wet the earth thoroughly, we think it is better to remove the mulch. Nothing is then gained by permitting it to remain. Mellowing the surface soil about the trees, thus keeping it free from grass and weeds, is then the most that is needed. ”

“ Stout, who discovered mulch gardening in Connecticut where irregular summer rains were usually sufficient to water a widely-spaced garden, also mistakenly thought that mulched gardens lost less soil moisture because the earth was protected from the drying sun and thus did not need irrigation through occasional drought. I suspect that drought resistance under mulch has more to do with a plant's ability to feed vigorously, obtain nutrition, and continue growing because the surface inches where most of soil nutrients and biological activities are located, stayed moist. ”

“ Mulching.—While mulching with hay, straw, leaves, or other litter frequently increases the yield and is specially valuable in tiding over a season of drought, it is not generally practicable on farms where potatoes are grown on a large scale. Its place is in the garden rather than in the field. It is a substitute for cultivation, and it is generally cheaper to maintain a soil mulch by frequent cultivation than to apply litter. If a mulch is employed, it can be applied over the entire surface or in the furrow above the seed pieces, or between the rows. ”

“ This practice has been fully tried out over the larger part of the dry-farm territory and found satisfactory.
So vitally important is a permanent soil mulch for the conservation for plant use of the water stored in the soil that many attempts have been made to devise means for the effective cultivation of land on which small grains and grasses are growing. In many places plants have been grown in rows so far apart that a man with a hoe could pass between them. ”

“ A loose layer of earth spread over the surface of the soil acts in the same way, and a similarly effective mulch may be prepared by hoeing the soil, or stirring it to a depth of one or two inches with harrows or other implements. The hoe and harrow are therefore excellent tools for use in dry weather. Rolling the land is beneficial to young crops in dry weather, since it promotes capillary action by reducing the soil spaces. ”

“ A mulch 4 inches deep saved about 72 per cent of the evaporation; a mulch 8 inches deep saved about 88 per cent, and a mulch 10 inches deep stopped evaporation almost wholly. It is a most serious mistake for the dry-farmer, who attempts cultivation for soil-moisture conservation, to fail to get the best results simply to save a few cents per acre in added labor. ”

“ Naturally, dry-farm soils differ greatly in their power of forming such a mulch. A heavy clay or a light sandy soil appears to have less power of such automatic protection than a loamy soil. An admixture of limestone seems to favor the formation of such a natural protective mulch. Ordinarily, the farmer can further the formation of a dry topsoil layer by stirring the soil thoroughly. This assists the sunshine and the air to evaporate the water very quickly. Such cultivation is very desirable for other reasons also, as will soon be discussed. ”

“ Others form only a thin hard crust, below which lies an active evaporating surface of wet soil. Soils which dry out readily and crumble on top into a natural mulch should be cultivated deeply, for a shallow cultivation does not extend beyond the naturally formed mulch. In fact, on certain calcareous soils, the surfaces of which dry out quickly and form a good protection against evaporation, shallow cultivations often cause a greater evaporation by disturbing the almost perfect natural mulch. ”

“ The growth of the weeds is also hindered to a considerable extent. If sufficient attention is given to the presence of this mulch, the nature of the underlying soil is of less importance than otherwise. In the case of clay the thorough incorporation of a large amount of decayed vegetable matter tends to give lightness to the otherwise heavy soil, facilitating aeration and drainage. ”

“ I have seen well-mulched fields with their plants faltering and wilting, unable to mature the crop because the ground had become so hard that an ordinary shower could make but little impression. Moreover, even if kept moist by the mulch, land long shielded from sun and air tends to become sour, heavy, and devoid of that life which gives vitality and vigor to the plant. ”

“ When the whole planting of one variety of vegetable is completed go over them carefully, noting any wet spots that may appear on the surface and cover them with more dry earth. Remember that it is upon the integrity of the dry mulch that the success of the planting depends.52 Do not try to protect the plants in any way; if sufficient water has been placed in the hole, the earth firmed sufficiently and an efficient dry mulch provided the plant will be much better off than if protected in any way. Do not water after transplanting until the plants have become established and need it. ”

“ Stirring the surface soil with a fine rake as soon as it is partly dry after a rain, furnishes a mulch of dust which prevents the moisture in the lower earth escaping, because it checks the capillary process by which moisture travels to the surface and is carried into the air. The soil may be rich in the mineral and animal components which constitute plant-food, but unless moisture is present in sufficient quantities these are not available as sustenance for plants. ”

“ A mulch of manure, straw, or leaves forms a good protection, but care should be taken that the mulch does not contain seeds of any kind or serious trouble will attend the further cultivation of the crop. Plants are like animals in that they require air, and care should be exercised in putting on the winter covering not to smother them. ”

“ He who may have been induced, by the recommendations of high authority, to plant an orchard in a stiff blue-grass sod, or who may allow such sod to surround his trees, in the belief that this constitutes a good mulch, will be sadly disappointed; for, though the surface is shaded, the grass will absorb the moisture from the soil at the expense of the young trees. ”

“ The stake, a lath, is set in its old place in the hole to serve as a support for the growing vine and to mark it so that the cultivator does not pull up the young plant. The soil must be set firm about the roots of the plant, but zeal in tramping should diminish as the hole is filled, leaving the topsoil untramped, smooth, loose and pulverized, a dust mulch—the best of all mulches—to prevent evaporation. ”

“ It is a good practice to mulch the plantation each fall with light manure, leaf-mold or other material. Even though the Shrubs are perfectly hardy, this mulch greatly improves the land and promotes growth. ”

“ Later, ploughing or cultivating the surface lightly not only destroys the weeds, but it checks the loss of water by evaporation from the cracks that form in dry weather. Raking the garden once a day in dry weather does more good than watering it. The "dust mulch" acts as a cool sunguard over the roots. ”