Special Methods of Culture 257 



private greenhouses of the wealthy and to a few com- 

 mercial greenhouses near the larger cities. The price 

 that it is necessary to charge for forced strawberries puts 

 them beyond the reach of any but the affluent. There 

 always will be a few who will pay S2.00 a pint for forced 

 berries, even when Florida or California berries can be 

 bought for fifty cents a quart ; or who will pay $2.50 each 

 for strawberry plants in six-inch pots, each plant bearing 

 five to ten ripe berries, in order to set one plant before 

 each guest at a dinner party. This market, however, is 

 extremely limited and is confined to the largest cities. 



Strawberries are forced in greenhouses, and are either 

 planted directly in benches or grown in pots. Bench 

 forcing is preferred by those who wish to produce a fair 

 grade of berries cheaply ; pot forcing, by those who wish 

 to secure the highest grade of berries, regardless of ex- 

 pense. Pot forcing requires more care, but it is more 

 convenient, and gives the gardener more perfect control 

 over his plants. 



The type of house commonly used for forcing berries 

 in benches is a low, even span, made of hotbed sash 

 (Plate XXI) . It is seven to eight feet high, eight feet wide, 

 with two side benches four or five feet high. After the 

 Easter crop is harvested the house may be stripped of 

 sash, which are used for coldframes and hotbeds. Plants 

 for a crop to ripen for the Christmas trade are layered into 

 three-inch pots that are plunged in the field beside virgin 

 plants, and are transplanted to the greenhouse bench as 

 soon as they have filled the pots with roots. They are 

 set five to nine inches apart in rich compost, made of 

 three parts light sandy loam to one of rotted manure. 

 The roof of the greenhouse is stripped of sash until frost, 

 and the plants are watered, syringed and sprayed like 



