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570 



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fruit to near the close of the year." — ' must be immediately pinched out; they 

 Gard. Chron. \ should have their balls carefully re- 



Forcing. — On this point we have the iduced, and be repotted in larger pots 

 following directions from one of the I early in August, protecting them from 

 most eminent of modern horticulturists, I the late autumnal rains, and from frost." 



Mr. Paxton : — 



" Select for this purpose, in the mid- 

 dle of August, a sufficient number of the 

 best runners from approved kinds to 

 have choice from, and plant them six 

 inches apart, in beds, upon a strong 

 border in a dry and sheltered situation. 

 As soon as the leaves have withered,' 



— Gnrd. Chron. 



" For succession," Mr. Paxton says, 

 " strong runners are taken up in Sep- 

 tember, and planted about six inches 

 apart, in manured and well-prepared 

 beds, four feet wide, in a somewhat 

 sheltered situation ; there they are al- 

 lowed to remain until the following 



mulch them lightly with well-rotted ma- July, during which perinrt they must be 

 nure, and if very severe weather occur, kept very clean from weeds, have the 

 protect them for the time with fern or flowers and runners regularly pinched 

 litter. They must be kept the follow- off, and be watered whenever likely to 

 ing spring free from weeds and runners, suffer from drought. About the middle 

 removing also any flowers as they ap- I of July they are potted in small thirty- 

 pear. Towards the latter end of May ! two-sized pots, two plants in a pot, 

 or beginning of June, whenever dull or : taking the greatest care that neither 

 rainy weather may occur, remove them i roots nor leaves are damaged in the 

 carefully into forty-eight-sized pots. It ' operation, and an important part of it 

 is optional with the grower, whether j is to press the earth firmly about them ; 

 one, two, or three plants are put in one ' the soil used is two parts loam to one 

 pot, accordingto his object being quality I of well-rotted dung. Beds which will 

 or quantity; but we, desiring fine fruit; hold five or six rows of pots are then 

 in preference to number, only place one formed in the following manner : — level 

 of the strongest or two of the weaker the surface of the ground, and spread 

 in one pot, using enriched melon soil upon it a layer of coal ashes; above 

 or turfy loam. Place them, when pot- which must be nailed firmly slabs, or 

 ted, in a situation where they can be any rough boards, as wide as the-depth 

 readily shaded for a short time, and ' of the pots, which are then to be plunged 

 receive regular supplies of water if | to the rim in spent bark or ashes. All 

 necessary. About the latter end of i that they will here require is attention to 



July, or early in August, these pots 

 will be filled with roots, when the 

 plants must be repotted into flat thirty- 

 two-sized pots, usually termed straw- i 

 berry pots, and at this time plunged in | 

 old tan or coal ashes. The best man- ! 



watering when necessary, and a slight 

 protection with fern, or other light cover- 

 ing, during severe frosty weather. I al- 

 ways preserve from 300 to 400 of the 

 latest forced plants of the above descrip- 

 tion, and after having carefully reduced 



ner of plunging them we find to be, ! their balls, repot them in large thirty- 



forming beds wide enough to contain 

 five rows of pots, when plunged, upon 

 a hard or gravelly surface, to prevent 

 them rooting through, the sides sup- 

 ported by slabs of the same width as the 

 depth of the pots, and filling them up 

 with old tan or ashes; the plants re- 

 main here until wanted to take in, and 

 are easily protected from severe frosts. 

 It will be found an excellent plan to 

 preserve the latest forced plants, which 

 are not much exhausted, for forcing the 

 first the next season ; these, from their 

 long period of rest, and well-ripened 

 buds, are predisposed to break earlier 

 and stronger than the others ; some of 

 them, if the autumn is moist, will be 

 excited, and produce flowers, which 



two-sized pots in July, treating them 

 afterwards precisely as the others. I 

 find these by having their buds formed 

 early (through the slight forcing they 

 have received), and becoming very 

 strong, are admirably adapted for the 

 first crop, and always repay me for the 

 extra trouble. Begin forcing with a 

 temperature of 40*^, increasing to 50° 

 when in bloom, and to 55^ when ripen- 

 ing." — Gard. Chron. 



Mr. Brown, gardener to Lord South- 

 ampton, at Whittlebury Lodge, near 

 Towcester, says, that " Mr. Paxton's 

 method of preparing strawberry plants 

 for forcing is a good one where time 

 and trouble are of no consequence ; but 

 for the last fifteen years he has adopted 



