Strawberries under Gi.ass. 265 



found that it produced only sufficient pollen for itself. This pol- 

 len was transferred upon every bright day by means of a brush. 

 A soft brush was rubbed over the anthers and the pollen thereby 

 taken off, and then the brush was rubbed over the pistils (or the 

 center of the flower). The operator always carried with him a 

 little spoon like implement, which is made by gluing a watch- 

 crystal upon the end of a small ladle, -'^ and whenever any flower 

 contained a superabundance of pollen, the dust was shaken into 

 this receptacle and used for those flowers in which the pollen was 

 deficient. A common spoon would answer this purpose very 

 well. It is necessar}^ to repeat the pollinating every pleasant day. 

 As in the case of tomatoes and other hot-house plants, the pollen 

 is discharged most freely when the sun is warm and bright and 

 when the house is dry. It is very essential that pains be taken 

 to completely pollinate every flower, for if one side of the head of 

 pistils is left unfertilized, that side of the berry will fail to develop 

 and a nubbin will be the result. 



Upon the 19th of February, when the berries were well set, 

 liquid manure was first given to the plants ; and the application 

 was repeated twice a week until the berries were about full grown. 



It is necessary to devise some means to hold the berries up 

 from the earth or the pot, otherwise they are likely to decay in 

 the humid atmosphere of the house, and they become soiled in 

 watering. Our first efiort was to cover the tops of the pots with 

 sphagnum moss, but two or three days of dull wet weather 

 brought on indications of the rot, and the moss was quickly 

 removed. Some of the pots were then covered with cork dust, 

 such as is used in the packing of foreign grapes, and this answered 

 the purpose most admirably ; but it is not always handy to get and 

 it is some trouble to apply it and to keep it clean. The next at- 

 tempt was the use of small pieces of fine wire screen, such as is 

 shown in the illustrations, and this was a most admirable success. 

 It kept the berries away from the earth and showed them off to the 

 very best advantage. Forked sticks are sometimes used for this 

 purpose. 



The second lot of plants was brought in from the frames upon 

 the 4th of February and placed upon a work-room floor where 



* Figured in " The Forcing Book," Fig. 53. 



