1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



237 



is uncertain and failure probable. Forcing must 

 be conducted slowly until the fruit is set, and 

 especially so when the flower buds are opening. 

 The young flower buds by degrees take on the 

 form of calyx, corolla, stamens and pistil. They 

 form successively in the order named. The 

 calyx and corolla grow the quickest and most 

 easily bear to be hastened. Stamens require 

 more time for growth, the pistil most of all. They 

 must all be fully developed to insure a set of hand- 

 some fruit. A steady temperature of from 50° to 

 55°, with a position well up to the glass and 

 plenty of air on all favorable occasions, is found 

 best suited to gain this end. When in bloom, if 

 plenty of air is admitted and all other conditiqns 

 satisfactory, there need be no recourse to fertilizing, 

 except a gentle shake of the blossoms for the 

 early batch. On the early batch from six to eight 

 berries will be sufficient, and from twelve to fif- 

 teen on the late ones. As soon as this quantity 

 can be obtained of good shaped fruit, all others 

 should be removed. The temperature can now 

 be increased until it reaches 65-. Copious sup- 

 plies of liquid manure should be given and the 

 syringe well applied to the under -side of the 

 foliage. When the fruit begins to color, no more 

 liquid manure should be given, but if a bracing 

 atmosphere is kept up, the syringe can still be 

 kept going, and never once allow them to get dry 

 at the roots. Mount Green, Petersburg, Va. 



FORCING STRAWBERRIES. 

 BY .\. G. LEWIS. 



On page 178 of Gardeners' Monthly for June. 

 1885, Mr. Thomas Foulds, Hoyt, Montgomery 

 County, Pa., desires to know how to care for, and 

 mature strawberries under glass. It is easy, with 

 the necessary means, to have strawberries ripe all 

 the year round. Of course, it is unnecessary to 

 apply any artificial means to procure strawberries 

 ripe in Pennsylvania, when her climate brings 

 them forth in all their fine qualities. In Europe, 

 as well as America, I have grown them success- 

 fully in the following way. I planted in boxes 6 

 in. by 4 ft., 6 in. deep, using two-year-old plants, 

 always keeping them dormant on an average of six 

 months in the year. This I did by the use of ice, 

 using generally the ice-house in summer, when the 

 ripe fruit is needed, .\bout sixteen weeks previous 

 the boxes may be brought out from their resting- 

 place and introduced to 50^ of heat, kept natur- 

 ally moist, and when leaves appear, the boxes 

 should be kept near the glass ; not more than 18 



in. off. This would be a proper distance to keep 

 the plants at all times through their growing, 

 fruiting and ripening seasons. The heat, after the 

 leaves appear, should be increased gradually until 

 the last or ripening season, when 65- would pro- 

 duce rich, nice-colored and well developed berries. 

 When dormant the boxes should be watched so as 

 to retain the clay in as natural state as if the 

 crowns were frozen out-doors ; the moisture of the 

 clay the same, but still avoidmg all the watering 

 possible while the clay is frozen. No one will 

 suffer any inconvenience by red spider on their 

 plants who will keep a proper moisture in the 

 house they grow strawberries in. 



When the crop is gathered the boxes should be 

 removed to some proper place to gain strength 

 for another season of bearing. If they are done 

 bearing, in winter they should be removed to a 

 cool house. If in any of the summer months, to 

 some open ground, of course. By strictly fol- 

 lowing the forcing process, any one can have ripe 

 strawberries any day on their table, who has the 

 glass to grow and fruit them under. 1 need not 

 say to any experienced person bring to your 

 house, a house full at once of plants. .-Xny one 

 should use judgment just as a lady who 

 grows hyacinths would do; pot every week to 

 keep up a constant succession of bloom in winter 

 — so in strawberry fruiting. As a dozen of boxes 

 are done fruiting, add to the house a dozen of 

 frozen boxes. With a small glass capacity, the 

 boxes can be kept out-doors until November and 

 then put in a cellar or shed and removed under 

 glass as above described. The same idea or use 

 will grow asparagus and rhubarb. Of course, 

 they must be kept farther from the glass. The 

 shorter time allowed for the strawberry in foliage, 

 the better and larger the berries and better 

 flavored. Youngstown, O., June 22d, iSS^. 



[The last sentence in this excellent paper re- 

 minds one of the discussions a quarter of a century 

 ago or more, as to the advantages of mowing off 

 the leaves of strawberries. It used to be the 

 fashion to grow the strawberry in three-feet beds, 

 and the good old gardener, who had only the 

 severe lessons of experience to go by, used to mow 

 off with a scythe the leaves of the plant as soon as 

 the fruit was gathered. He knew from actual ex- 

 perience that it resulted in a larger crop next year 

 than if the leaves were left on as long as possible. 



But there came along the man with his lessons 

 from Vegetable Physiology. He knew that leaves 

 were the lungs of the plant, and "cut off the 

 plants' lungs," how absurd ! The hard-headed 



