Febraaiy 18, 1875. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



135 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



STBAWBERKY FORCINa. 



rT the risk of repeating much I said on the 

 subject last year, I wish to recommend, in 

 preference to any other plan, that of layer- 

 ing the runners into tlie fruiting pots, which 

 in my case are 7-iaeh ones. Those who have 

 not so good a Strawberry soil at command 

 as I have, had perhaps better be content 

 with 6-inch pots, for the reason that it is of 

 the greatest possible importance that the 

 pots u.sed should ba filled with roots early 

 in autumn, in order to have the crowns of the plants 

 plump and ripe before winter. Bear in mind that the 

 crown of the Strawberry plant already contains the em- 

 bryo flower, which needs perfecting in autumn just as 

 much as the plump buds on the Vine or Peach tree. If 

 the materials for the flower are not there in autumn, the 

 best possible treatment in the spring would fail to pro- 

 duce 'them. The flower should be so far advanced as to 

 need only a continuation of warmth to expand it. With 

 properly-prepared Strawberry plants there is no more 

 difficulty in getting them to flower in December than 

 there is in February. Black Prince if layered early will 

 often commence floweiing outside in October, and the 

 fruit may be easily ripened in December, but it will be 

 deficient in flavour unless the weather happens to be 

 bright and mild while it is ripening. 



I am never requested and I never attempt to produce 

 Strawberries in winter, because I know it would only 

 bring discredit on me, as it takes something more than 

 appearance to satisfy those I have the honour of serving. 

 In September and October we have a plentiful supply of 

 Alpine Strawberries, which in my opinion are the most 

 delicious Strawberries grown so long as there is sufficient 

 BTin to bring out their proper flavour, and December would 

 be too soon for Black Prince to be tolerated, which at 

 best is only seoond-i-ate in quality, while the delicate 

 aroma of the raouutain Strawbeny still lingers on one's 

 palate ; but by the end of March good fruit of all sorts is 

 iDecoming exceedingly scarce. There may be Grapes of 

 the previous year's growth, but if so there has probably 

 been already a satiety of them ; or if the £ s. d. are not 

 looked into too strictly, there may bo new Grapes pro- 

 duced perhaps — taking account of fuel, labour, and ruined 

 Vines — for the modest sum of oO-s. a-pouud, and even then 

 they are not perfect in flavour ; but Strawberries — good- 

 flavoured fruits from three-quarters to an ounce weight — 

 are honestly worth a shilling each in the beginning of April, 

 and I believe they can be grown for less than that sum. 

 Black Prince will not grow to the above weight, but Keens* 

 Seedling will ; and if Strawberries are not required before 

 the let of April it is not necessary to force Black Prince at 

 all. Keens' Seedling in April with me is often better fla- 

 voured than the same variety is out of doors in .June. 

 After April it does not do so well indoors as British Queen. 

 April of all the months is the month for forced Straw- 

 berries, and, let me add, forced Roses. I believe an 

 amateur with plenty of spare time who mastered the 



No. 7'25.-VoL. XXVIII., New Seeieb. 



subject — and it is not a difficult one — would have more to 

 be proud of in a little house of Strawberries and Roses 

 than he could possibly have from any other indoor gar- 

 dening. The two can be grown perfectly well together. 

 I always grow them together, although I have the com- 

 mand of half an acre of glass. The Strawberries require 

 removing to a greenhouse after they have turned red, but 

 before they assume a dark red, to perfect their ripening, 

 and the Roses require removal to the same place to 

 prolong their beauty. They both like bottom heat to 

 start them, and an atmospheric temperature of 50° to 

 75°, with constant ventilation. Tlie bottom heat in my 

 house also supplies the atmospheric heat, excepting in very 

 severe weather ; this is a great advantage, for percolating 

 as it does through the plunging material, which is always 

 kept damp, it gives a moister and more genial atmo- 

 sphere than could be obtained from bare pipes. Shelves 

 I seldom use ; I wish there were none. Stuck up as they 

 generally are close to where the cold air is admitted, is 

 the worst possible place in the house for tender plants ; 

 but strange to say such a position always seems to pro- 

 duce insects with good constitutions. My plants are from 

 3 to 7 feet from the glass, but of course there is nothing 

 between them and it to obstruct the light. 



I find, in addition to the fruit being larger and of better 

 flavour from plants that have never received a check, it is 

 also of a handsomer shape. I believe that is principally 

 the result of perfect impregnation. I have an idea that 

 a distinct individual impregnation is required for every 

 perfect seed to be produced — and there are hundreds on 

 some fruits — and therefore where it is not perfect the 

 fruit does not swell. This accounts for the hard green 

 patches seen on some fruits which are afterwards par- 

 tially hid by other parts which have been impregnated, 

 and consequently swell faster. Most Strawberries, I be- 

 lieve, if the flower has been perfectly impregnated, will 

 have a regular surface, and generally round or conical, 

 and the flesh will all be good alike. If I am right in this 

 respect it shows that the Strawberry flower more than 

 any other needs a healthy circulation of air when it is 

 expanding. After the fruit once fairly commences to 

 swell it will bear a very higli temperature, and a close 

 atmosphere will not hurt it till such time as colouring 

 commences. 



I will now state some of the advantages which layering 

 into the fruiting pots in the first place has over the ordi- 

 nary method of layering and afterwards potting. It is 

 impossible during a hot summer to keep the small por- 

 tion of Foil contained in a 4-inch pot standing above 

 ground in the sun in a suitable condition as regards 

 moisture and temperature ; there is always a risk of the 

 pots getting dry in the middle of the daj', and the tempe- 

 rature of them at that time is much higher than most 

 people would dream of applying water, so that whether 

 they get watered or not they receive a check, and even 

 with the greatest care under the most skilful hands they 

 will suffer at times. Some I know recommend plunging 

 the pots as a remedy for this : it is partially so, but there 

 is then a risk of going to the other extreme and over. 



No. 1877.— Vol. LIU., OlD SzKlES. 



