Book I. FORCING THE STRAWBERRY IN HOT-HOUSES, &c. 589 



of strawberries ; they will do well in a hot-bed ; but the best method is to force them in 

 flued pits, such as that for nursing pines." 



3334. Soil. All agree that strawberries to be forced in pots require a strong and a very 

 rich loamy earth. 



3335. Choice of sorts. Abercrombie and Nicol recommend the alpine and scarlet 

 Virginia; to which Nicol adds the wood strawberry. Morgan (Hurt. Trans, vol. ii. 

 p. 376.) begins with the alpines; next he takes the Bath scarlets and common scarlets; 

 and after these the pines. 



3336. Potting and preparation of the plants. Abercrombie says, the plants selected 

 should be two years old, having attained a full bearing state. It conduces to the per- 

 fection of the fruit, to put as many plants as are intended to be forced into pots, that 

 they may be previously nursed for a longer or shorter time, according to the age of the 

 stool. 



3337. New runners of the present summer may be potted in July and August and nursed in pots for 

 two seasons, having the blossoms pinched off in the second. This course of preparation is attended with 

 most trouble : but the crop repays it. Three offsets may be planted in one large pot. 



3338. Runners made last year may be potted in April, and then plunged in the earth, to be nursed 

 throughout the growing season with a view to forcing, having such blossoms as appear pinched off, while 

 the roots are carefully watered. 



3339. Stools of two years' standing, which have borne one crop, may be put into pots in August, Septem- 

 ber or October. They may also be put into pots during any mild interval from the beginning of Novem- 

 ber, till the end of the year ; but they will not be so strong and well rooted. The method of potting established 

 bearers is this. The pots should be twenty-fours or thirty-twos ; provide at the same time some fresh 

 and good rich loam. Put some of the earth, well broken with the spade, and free from grubs or hurtful 

 worms, into each pot, to the depth of three or four inches. Then take up the plants, with a ball of earth 

 to the root of* each ; pare the ball with a knife till it be pretty round ; and having cleared the stem of the 

 plant from any withered or rotten leaves, place it in the pot, which fill up to the surface of the ball with 

 the prepared earth. Water the plants as they are potted, and remove them to a warm situation. On the 

 approach of winter, all the potted plants, whether established bearers or runners, should be placed under 

 a frame, or other sufficient shelter, till the hot-bed or forcing-house is ready to receive them. 



3340. M'Phail says, " Strawberry-plants intended for forcing should be planted in pots eight or ten 

 months before they be set into the forcing-house ; or strong plants may be taken up with balls of earth 

 about their roots, and be potted and set into the forcing-house immediately." 



3341. Nicol says, " Some force old roots or stools, and others the runners only. Those who force the 

 old roots generally lift and pot them about October or November ; lifting a bulk from the bed or row, 

 nearly sufficient to fill a nine or ten inch pot, of plants three or more years old. Others plant runners of 

 the former year in April, three or four in a large pot, or two in a middle-sized one, and plunge them in 

 the earth all summer, giving them occasional waterings, and taking proper care of them. These succeed 

 better than old roots, treated as above. But when I was in the practice of forcing strawberries, I used 

 to prepare my plants in the following manner : In July or August, I planted runners of that season, three 

 in a nine or ten inch pot, watered them, and placed them in the shade for a few days ; then plunged 

 them to the brim, in a freely exposed situation. In October, their leaves were dressed oft', and the plants 

 trimmed ; and before winter, they were covered with a little dry litter, in order to preserve the pots from 

 the effects of frost. The following spring, any flowers that made their appearance were pinched off; and 

 throughout the summer, the plants were occasionally refreshed with water, and kept clear from weeds. 

 In autumn, the leaves were again dressed off as before ; and when taken up for forcing, the pots were 

 dressed, and fresh earthed at top, previous to being placed in the forcing-house. This method of pre- 

 paring the plants is no doubt more troublesome than either of the above-mentioned ; but the plants, by 

 being completely established, and of a proper age, produce better crops. I have tried all the three ways 

 repeatedly, and prefer the last." 



3342. Morgan raises his alpines from seed, sowing in January in frames or boxes, to be placed in a gentle 

 heat ; he hardens them after they come up by removal to a cooler situation ; pots in May in pots six inches 

 diameter and six inches deep. In October they are in flower, when he puts them under shelter, and in 

 the latter end of November he places them in the forcing-house or pinery, where they bear fruit through 

 the winter. The scarlets he pots, three plants in a pot, of the same size as those used for the alpines in 

 May, or early in June, taking the runners of the previous year ; he picks off the blossoms as they appear, 

 and keeps them in a shady place till January, when he places them in the forcing-house on shelves eighteen 

 inches from the glass, each pot in a pan. The pine-strawberries he pots in the same manner, and takes 

 them into the forcing-house in February or March. 



3343. Time of beginning to force. If the fruit be wanted very early, the plants are 

 put in hot-beds, or pits, in October ; but the crops from strawberries so forced, Nicol 

 thinks hardly worth the trouble. Abercrombie says, " Begin to force strawberries about 

 nine weeks before you want to gather fruit. Plants excited before the first of January 

 seldom repay the trouble ; and in proportion as the time of beginning to force approaches 

 the vernal equinox, the returns are more abundant. To have a succession, reserve sets 

 of potted plants for removal into a house, or frame, every three weeks, till the middle of 

 March." He adds, " Strawberries taken into the house in March, fruit in higher per- 

 fection than those forced earlier." 



3344. M'Phail and Nicol begin in January. ' The latter observes, " Those who force strawberries to a con- 

 siderable extent, perhaps a thousand pots, bring them in, in different successions, perhaps a hundred or 

 two at a time ; this is, in places where there are several forcing-houses." {Kal. p. 330.) M'Phail says, 

 " When the weather begins to get cold in September, strawberries of the alpine kind in pots may be set 

 in a forcing-house or brick frame ; and if they be in good health, they will produce fruit for a considerable 

 time. They require only a gentle heat of from 50 to 60 degrees ; give them water occasionally, but as 

 there is constantly blossom and fruit on them, they need not be watered all over broad-cast. Give them 

 great plenty of air : they only require protection from heavy rains and cold weather." 



3345. Morgan, as we have noticed above (3342.), begins to force alpines in November, the scarlets in 

 January, and the pines in February and March. Thus ensuring, as he says, a successional supply of fruit 

 from October till June. 



3346. Temperature. Abercrombie says, begin at 40°, and raise the heat as in the cherry-house. When 

 a pit is employed, Nicol directs the pots to be plunged in a mild bark-heat ; and the temperature, by the 

 aid of the flues, to be kept at 50°, and 55° or 66° in sunshine. Such treatment will make the plants thrive, 

 and the fruit set freely. Morgan prefers beginning with the heat of a frame on dung, or a pit, and the 



