The Frost Pocket and Fruit Cage
Don’t forget that constant cultivation, especially when carried out to the depth of a spade, definitely reduces the population of earthworms, and this means less main channels down below. A fruit grower keen on compost must realize that the structure of the soil is all important.
Furthermore, it may not be possible for the water to soak in and so it lies on the surface of the ground and inay, in fact, run off the surface, taking some of the sandy soil with it. This we call result erosion.
It must not be thought that the opinions given are those of the writer only. Dr. W. S. Rogers, D.Sc., M.A., the Head of the Pomology Department at the East Mailing Research Station, once said in a lecture to fruit growers : ‘Organic matter in the soil is important in many ways. It is a regulator of water-supply; it acts as a kind of chemical sponge; it is a reservoir of nutrients more or less ready balanced. It affects the biological condition of the soil.
The reason therefore top dressings of well-rotted compost, sedge peat or old farmyard manure, is that the worms play their part in breaking down organic matter, and if you are looking for a large and active population of worms, as you should be, then the top dressings which have been advised-and will be advised again and again-should be given year after year.
Sometimes it is absolutely necessary owing to a very high bird population to plant the soft fruits in a cage. Usually this applies particularly to redcurrants, raspberries and strawberries, but the writer has known cases where the birds have gone for blackcurrants and blackberries also. A cage is somewhat expensive to erect, but as it is reasonably permanent, it should last twenty years or so. Some people like to have a wire-netting surround and a fish-netting top. Then each winter the fish netting can be removed for drying before being stored away.
The advantage of this system is that you don’t get any ‘galvanized’ drip on to the bushes in the winter time. Furthermore, fish netting is far less expensive than fine wire netting.
