184 SUCCESS WITH SMALL FRUITS. 



tected somewhat from excessive heat and drenching storms ; 

 while others, still, sink the pots in the open ground, where 

 it is convenient to care for and water them. It is obvious 

 that moisture must be steadily and continuously maintained, 

 and the plants be made to do their best until about the first 

 of October. After this, they should be watered very spar- 

 ingly, — barely kept moist, — since it is now our aim to 

 ripen the foliage and roots and induce a season of rest. 

 At the same time, they should not be permitted to dry 

 out. About the first of November, an old hot-bed pit can 

 be filled with dry leaves and the pots plunged in them, 

 close together, up to their rims, and, as the season grows 

 colder, the tops can be covered, so as to prevent the earth 

 in the pots from freezing. The top of the pit can be cov- 

 ered with boards to keep out the wet, but not so tightly as 

 to exclude the air. Our aim is to keep the plants dormant, 

 and yet a little above freezing, and barely moist enough to 

 prevent the slightest shrivelling. Since it requires from ten 

 to fourteen weeks to mature the fruit under glass, it would 

 be well to subject some of the plants to heat early in Octo- 

 ber, so as to have ripe berries at the holidays. They can 

 thereafter be taken from the storage place every two or 

 three weeks, so as to secure a succession. By this course, 

 also, if a mishap befalls one lot of plants, there still remain 

 several chances for winter fruit. 



In the forcing process, follow nature. The plants do not 

 start suddenly in spring, but gradually awaken into life. The 

 weather, also, is comparatively cool when they are blossom- 

 ing. If these hints are not taken in the green-house, there 

 may be much promise but little fruit. If the heat is turned 

 on too rapidly when the plants begins to bloom, the calyx 

 and corolla will probably develop properly, but the stamens 

 will be destitute of pollen, while the pistils, the most compli- 



