138 



GARDENING. 



Jan. /J, 



FORCING STRAWBERRIES 



under protest, upon the order of the 

 gentleman whose death they afterwards 

 caused. The gentleman had requested 

 samples of a fungus that the countryman 

 described as growing near his farm and, 

 after examining the samples, had pro- 

 nounced them edible and ordered a bas- 

 ketful. 



FORCING STRAWBERRIES. 



The forcing of strawberries in green- 

 houses has not yet become of any great 

 commercial importance in this country, 

 and I doubt if it will ever attain the posi- 

 tion it holds in the list of indoor crops in 

 England. The bountiful supply of our 

 summer season far surpasses that of any 

 other country, the prices bringing them 

 within the reach of all; and we seem to 

 satisfy our desire for this fruit until the 

 next season rolls around. Then again 

 other things fill the market, especially in 

 large cities, where tropical fruits of many 

 kinds can be had throughout the winter 

 months. Still, I am confident that the 

 gardener who has a location near large 

 markets can successfully force straw- 

 berries through part of the winter. 



If it were possible to grow them for 

 Christmas as well as they can be had in 

 February or March, I think an expert 

 should ripen three crops at remuner- 

 ative prices, and two crops can surely 

 be grown in a house devoted to mid-sea- 

 son chrysanthemums. I have never suc- 

 cessfully forced plants lifted from beds 

 late in the season and planted on benches, 

 but it is said to be practiced with good 

 results. My plan is to plunge 3-inch 

 pots in a bed of virgin plants, hastening 

 the rooting of runners by the use of rich, 

 light soil in the pots, and shifting from 



these as soon as possible to 4 or 6-inch 

 pots, fruiting always in the latter. The 

 need of an intermediate shift isaquestion, 

 both methods being satisfactory, and 

 when help is expensive the large shift will 

 perhaps be the best. These pots are so 

 plunged in coal ashes, in the open, that a 

 cold-frame can be set over them as freez- 

 ing weather approaches. 



The plants are grown on with all pos- 

 sible vigor until late in October when by 

 gradually withholding water the crowns 

 are well ripened. A slight freeze will be 

 of benefit to them in several ways, the 

 destruction of insects being one of the 

 most important, especially the red spider, 

 which I have found quite numerous on 

 plants in the stage of ripening. On being 

 benched all old and diseased leaves should 

 be removed, and the plants treated to a 

 spray of some form of fungicide, prefer- 

 ably the ammoniacal solution, as this 

 leaves no stain on the foliage. Starting 

 them at thirty-five or forty degrees, the 

 temperature may be raised each week 

 until at the time of blooming the plants 

 are growing in sixty degrees. It is now 

 almost imperative that the days should 

 be clear, for no amount of fire heat will 

 cause the pollen to become active and 

 fertile. The house should be held dry 

 and the operation of pollenizing hurried 

 on as fast as possible to allow all the 

 fruits to be ripened off at or about the 

 same time. 



The operation of pollenization is simple, 

 and if the right conditions prevail does 

 not demand a large amount of labor. 

 The pollen may simply be brushed over 

 the cluster of open flowers with a soft 

 camel 's-hair brush, or, in cases where a 

 part of the crop is composed of pistilate 

 varieties, a spoon or shallow ladle can be 



held under the flowers as they are pollin- 

 ated, catching the pollen grains for fur- 

 ther use as they drop from the brush. 

 From the time the fruit sets until it begins 

 to color frequent applications of liquid 

 manure should be given, increasing the 

 heat to sixty and seventy degrees as the 

 berries swell. 



As to the method of holding the fruits 

 from the sides of the pots, nothing has 

 been found so satisfactory as small 

 squares of wire netting. These not only 

 hold the long-stemmed fruits irom the 

 pot, but keep those on short stems from 

 the water which is given the plant. A 

 well grown plant with from eight to ten 

 good sized, well colored fruits is no mean 

 plant for table decoration, and a fancy 

 market at Easter time will take a large 

 number of these at far better prices than 

 the fruits could be sold for if picked. Ten 

 large well shaped fruits are enough to 

 grow on plants in 6-inch pots which at 

 the prices usually quoted in February or 

 March will prove a paying crop if sold 

 bv the quart or by the plant. 



Ithaca, N. Y. C. E. Hunn. 



GREENHOUSE TOMATOES. 



The cultivation of tomatoes under 

 glass is yearly on the increase in America. 

 In some commercial places they are 

 almost exclusively grown, and where a 

 few years ago they were to be setn in but 

 a limited number of private gardens, 

 there is now hardly one which cannot lay 

 claim to at least a dozen plants in pots or 

 boxes. With the increased culture, prices, 

 of course, have had a downward tend- 

 ency. I remember to have seen tomatoes 

 fetch as high as $1.50 per pound at 

 wholesale in Boston six years ago. These 



