548 



ROSACEiE. X. Fragaria. 



so as to keep the ground moist without hardening the surface, the pots should be twenty-fours or thirty-twos; provide at the 



as is the case when the tops of the beds are watered with water- same time some fresh and good rich loam. Put some of the 



ing pots. earth, well broken with the spade and free from grubs or hurtful 



Mr. Knight (Hort. trans. 6. p. 103.) considers half the dis- worms, into each pot, to the depth of 3 or 4 inches. Then 



tance allowed by Mr. Keen to be sufficient space for strawberry take up the plants, with a ball of earth to the root of each; pare 



plants. His beds also are wholly expended at the end of 16 the ball with a knife till it is pretty round, and having cleared 



or 17 months after being formed, and the ground is then applied the stem of the plant from any withered or rotten leaves, place 



to other purposes. He has consequently the trouble of renew- it in a pot, which fill up to the surface of the ball with the pre- 



ing his beds every year ; but he finds his trouble much less 

 than properly managing old beds, and he is quite certain that 

 he obtains a much larger quantity of fruit, and of a very supe- 

 rior quality, than he ever did obtain by retaining the same 

 beds in bearing during 3 successive years, from the same extent 



pared earth. Water the plants as they are potted, and remove 

 them to a warm situation. On the approach of winter, all the 

 potted plants, whether established bearers or runners, should be 

 placed under a frame or other sufficient shelter, till the hot-bed 

 or forcini? house is ready to receive them." — Abercrombie. 



of ground. By employing heat to strawberry plants raised M'Phail says '* strawberry plants, intended for forcing, should 

 from seed in spring, he has obtained abundant crops from yearly be planted in pots eight or ten months before they are set into the 



plants of every species. 



Taking the crop. — The fruit ripens from June to August and 

 September, but the main crop is usually over in July. Gather 

 when the weather is dry, and the same day that the fruit is to 

 be sent to table, otherw^ise it will soon lose its flavour. Pinch 

 off the calyx and a quarter of an inch of the pedicel, along with 

 the fruit. 



forcing house, or strong plants may be taken up with balls^ of 

 earth about their roots, and be potted and set into the forcing 

 house immediately." Nicol says, *' some force old roots or stools, 

 and others the runners only. Those who force the old roots 

 generally lift and pot them about October or November, hfting 

 a bulk from the bed, nearly sufficient to fill a 9 or 10 inch pot 

 of plants 3 or more years old. Others plant runners of the 



Forcing the strawberry in hothouses^ pits, and hot beds, — This former year in April, 3 or 4 in a large pot, or 2 in a middle- 



fruit is forced in every description of forcing house, and also 

 in the pinery, though the heat of the latter often prevents the 

 setting of the blossoms. Where they are forced in large quan- 

 tities, it is a good method to apply a pit to their sole cultivation. 

 M'Phail says, " They wull occasionally do well in a hot-house 

 for growing the pine, but a heat sufficient to force peaches and 

 nectarines is more natural and likely to secure the obtaining of 

 good crops of fine fruit. A good way of forcing the straw- 

 berry,^* he adds, ** is to bring them forward in a gentle heat, 

 in melon frames, till the fruit be nearly about half swelled, and 

 then to give them a stronger heat to ripen them" (Card, re- 

 memb. 29.). Nicol thinks " the climate of the cherry-house 

 most suitable to the nature of the strawberry ; they will do w ell 

 in a hot-bed, but the best method is to force them in flued pits, 

 such as those for raising pines.*' 



Soil. — Strawberries, to be forced in pots, require a strong and 

 very rich loamy earth. NicoL 



Choice of sorts. — Abercrombie and Nicol recommend the 

 alpine and scarlet Virginia, to which Nicol adds the wood straw- 

 berry. William Morgan (Hort. trans. 2. p. 376.) begins with 

 the alpines, next he takes the Bath scarlets and common scarlets, 

 and after these the pines. But it is allowed by all that Keen's 

 seedling and the old pine are the best for forcing. 



Potting and preparing the plants. — Abercrombie says, " the 

 plants selected should be 2 years old, having attained a full 

 bearing state. It conduces to the perfection of the fruit to put 

 as many plants as are intended to be forced, into pots, that they 

 may be previously nursed for a longer or shorter time, accord- 

 ing to the age of the stool. — 1st New runners of the present 

 summer may be potted in July and August, and nursed in pots 

 for 2 seasons, having the blossoms pinched off in the second. This 

 course of preparation is attended with most trouble, but the crop 

 repays it. Three offsets may be planted in one large pot. 2d 

 Runners made last year may be potted in April, and then plunged 

 in the earth, to be nursed throughout the grow ing season, with a 

 view to forcing, having such blossoms as appear pinched off, 

 while the roots are carefully watered. — 3d Stools of 2 years old 

 standing, which have borne one crop, may be put into pots in 

 August, September, or October. They may also be put into 

 pots during any mild interval from the beginning of November 

 till the end of the year ; but they will not be so strong and well 

 Tooted. The method of potting established bearers is this: 



sized one, and plunge them in the earth all summer, giving 

 them occasional waterings, and taking proper care of theni. 

 These succeed better than old roots, treated as above. But 

 when I was in the practice of forcing strawberries, I used to 

 prepare my plants in the following manner : — In July or August 

 I planted runners of that season, 3 in a 9 or 10 inch pot, 

 watered them and placed them in the shade for a few days ; then 

 plunged them to the brim in a freely exposed situation. In Oc- 

 tober their leaves were dressed off and the plants trimmed, and 

 before winter they were covered with a little dry litter, in order to 

 preserve the pots from the effects of the frost. The following 

 spring any flowers that made their appearance were pinched oft, 

 and throughout the summer the plants were occasionally re- 

 freshed with water, and kept clear from weeds. In autumn uie 

 leaves were again dressed off as before ; and when taken up tor 

 forcing, the pots were dressed and fresh earthed at top, previous 

 to being placed in the forcing house. This method of prepanng 

 the plants is no doubt more troublesome than either of the above 

 mentioned, but the plants, by being completely established and 

 of a proper age, produce better crops. I have tried all the three 

 ways repeatedly, and prefer the last." 



Morgan raises his alpines from seed, sowing in January, i 

 frames or boxes, to be placed in a gentle heat ; he hardens them 

 after they are come up by removal to a colder situation ; pot m 

 May, in pots 6 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep. In Octo- 

 ber they are in flower, when he puts them under shelter, and m 

 the latter end of November he places them in the forcing house 

 or pinery, where they bear fruit through the winter. 

 scarlets he pots 3 plants in a pot, of the same size as those 

 used for the alpines ; in May or early in June, taking the runner 

 of the previous year, he picks off the blossoms as they appear, 

 and keeps them in a shady place till January, when he place 

 them in the forcing house on shelves, 1 8 inches from the glas ^ 

 each pot in a pan. The pine strawberry he pots in the sam 

 manner, and takes them into the forcing house in February 

 March. T. A. Knight (Hort. trans. 5. p. 433.) prepares nis 

 strawberry plants for early forcing as follows : — ^he manures ^^ 

 small piece of ground very highly but very superficially* ju 

 covering the manure with mould. The ground being preparea^ 

 the strongest and best rooted runners of the preceding 5'^^^^ 

 selected and planted in the beginning of March, in rows 1 too 

 apart and 8 inches between the plants in one half of the ro\ t 



