Fruit Under Glass . 



By James Marlborough. 



It is not my intention to go into details such as insect 

 diseases, etc., for most of you have your own methods of 

 dealing with them. I wish only to give, in a general way, 

 the methods we practice and not take up your valuable 

 time with details that many of you know better than I. 



Perhaps the earliest and most appreciated fruits are 

 strawberries. Pot culture affords the best method of pro- 

 ducing them out of season. Where first-class fruits are 

 wanted, a planting should be made in the field, not with 

 the object of getting fruit from the plants, but of getting 

 plants for early forcing. The flowers are removed from 

 the plants and they are freely cultivated. Runners ob- 

 tained from plants thus treated will be earlier and will 

 make better pot plants than those taken from plants which 

 bear a crop of fruit first, and then a crop of runners. 



The runners are layered in 23%-inch pots, and when 

 well rooted are removed to a frame and shaded lightly for 

 a few days, until they recover from the shock of being 

 detached from the parent plant. When ready thev are 

 potted into 4-inch pots. Again when ready they are given 

 their final shift into 6-inch pots. 



We always use a good rose soil, and a good sprinkling 

 of bone meal at the last shift. Many growers do not think 

 it necessary to pot into 4's, but shift directly from 2i^'s 

 into 6's. I think to get the best results that they should 

 have the immediate potting. The tendency of the roots 

 is to pass through the soil until they reach the pot, and 

 there form a thick mat between the soil and pot. The 

 intermediate potting will eliminate this to a certain ex- 

 tent and form a better and more general root system with 

 greater ability to take up food when developing fruits. 



Once potted in their final pots, they should be ]ilaced 

 on a bed of coal ashes, and in charge of a man who will 

 do all he can to develop the plants until the natural rest- 

 ing season sets in, about October 1. Water should be 

 partly withheld, and in rainy weather the pots should be 

 laid on their sides. As the season advances they are 

 placed in a frame where they can be covered at night to 

 protect them from severe frosts. Finally they are stacked 

 up on their sides in a frost-proof pit to await forcing. 



To have strawberries continuously from March 15. it 

 is necessary to bring in the first batch December 15; the 

 next, January 10; and at intewals of two weeks until 

 March 15. This will reach the outdoor crop. 



I believe a melon house or a structure on that principle, 

 makes a good house for forcing strawberries. The much 

 advocated method of placing them on shelves up close to 

 the glass, has no advantage. It not only places them in 

 the coldest part of the house, but it also places them out of 

 the direct observation of the grower. Writers of twenty 

 years ago advocated the growing of many plants three 

 or four feet away from the glass. Those same plants 

 today are grown twenty or thirty feet from it, with better 

 results. The same may be said of strawberries, to a 

 certain extent. There is no need of using old-fashioned 

 methods in modern structures. 



The first batch of plants is placed in the house on the 

 date above stated. The temperature is kept at 45 to 50 

 degrees for the first two weeks, or until root action sets in. 

 Then the surface is scraped off and a good, rich top- 

 dressing added, and the temperature is raised to 50 to 55 

 degrees and continued at that point until the flower buds 

 a])i)ear on the crown. Then the temperature is increased 

 10 degrees for a week, or until the first flower opens. 

 This is to draw out the flower stems and is necessary only 

 for early forcing, say the first or second batch. When 

 the flowers liegin to appear tlic temperature is lowered to 



55 degrees, and the atmosphere is kept dry and airy until 

 the fruits are set. 



We go over each individual flower once or twice daily 

 with a camel's hair brush to do all we can to aid fertiliza- 

 tion. When a plant has set enough fruits for a crop, it is 

 at once taken from among the flowering ones, and placed 

 at the end of the bench, where it can be treated for de- 

 velopment. They are then thinned to ten or twelve fruits, 

 according to the strength of the plant. To insure the 

 best development, it is necessary to keep the fruit over the 

 foliage, so that it gets all the benefit of the light and air. 

 For tliis purpose we use what may be termed a miniature 

 carnation support with the circle 2 or 3 inches, and placed 

 so that it stands 3 or 4 inches above the pot. The fruits 

 are brought up into the circle and allowed to hang over 

 on the foliage. This done, the temperature is again 

 raised 10 degrees, and no time should be lost in supply- 

 ing liquid manure. In this way we get as good, if not 

 better, strawberries in March under glass, than we get in 

 June out-of-doors. 



After trying several varieties, "Marshall' is the only 

 one we now use for pot culture. 



It is not necessary to say how much appreciated these 

 fruits are, especially when produced out of season. 



The method most generally practiced is to' set the 

 plants about l^A feet apart, and allow each plant to bear 

 three fruits. This method has one objection, more 

 so in some localities than in others. It is subject 

 to canker. This is a disease that gives very little 

 warning, and appears just as the fruits are about 

 to ripen. It causes the whole plant to collapse, 

 leaving a gap that spoils the appearance of the house, and 

 cuts deeply into the pride of the grower or the man in 

 charge. Perhaps it was in trying to avoid this humiliation 

 that I started the method which we now practice. Instead 

 of setting the plants 2',j feet apart and growing three 

 fruits on a plant, we set the plants 12 inches apart, and 

 grow only one fruit on a plant. With the increased num- 

 ber of plants we do not lose many fruits, and what we do 

 lose is more than made up in the weight and quality of the 

 others. The fruits are larger and of a more equal size. 

 The foliage is stronger and the plants being set closer to- 

 gether in the bench, the roots take better care of the soil. 

 In all, we get healthier conditions and seldom or never 

 lose a plant by canker. 



Nothing is more appreciated at Christmas time than 

 a good house of melons, and it is not a difficult time to 

 liave them. With the idea of a crop for Christmas in 

 view, we sow our seed about August 10. The only trouble 

 with growing melons in this season of the year is that 

 diseases are harder to control, but with this in mind you 

 will use your cure as a preventive, and you will experi- 

 ence no trouble in maturing your crop. 



For a sj)ring crop we sow seed January 1. This crop 

 will be ready the end of May. We find that there is very 

 little gained b}- an earlier start. There is one critical 

 period in the development of the fruits, and that is when 

 they are netting. They are liable to crack. To avoid this, 

 keep a drier atmosphere. Avoid wetting the fruits. If 

 you have to syringe, keep a little more air on, and do not 

 dampen the floor \\ hen you shut up the house in the after- 

 noon. Follow up this treatment for a week, and the crop 

 is safe. 



We sow our seed in flats among pieces of chopped sod. 

 When large enough t(j handle, they are potted into 2j/4- 



