156 GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES 



of throwing out too much foliage. Consequently we 

 must check this habit by restricting each plant to one 

 stem and by pinching out the shoots which appear 

 between the main and the lateral stems. 



Artificial fertilization is another matter which takes 

 up the grower's time. As bees are excluded from our 

 conservatory we must (1) tap the stems gently at mid- 

 day, (2) paint each flower with the same camel-hair 

 brush to diffuse the pollen, or (3) dab each flower with a 

 pencil to which has been fixed a swab of cotton-wool. 



After the first truss of fruit has made its appearance 

 draughts of liquid manure should be given on alternate 

 days. This may well consist of half a pound of poultry 

 manure to a gallon of water. On occasions a little bone 

 meal, worked into the soil, will help to push on the fruit. 



Outdoor Cultivation. Where no conservatory is at 

 hand good supplies of fruit may be raised in the open 

 against a south wall or on a warm border. Cultivation 

 follows the lines laid down for indoor culture, but the 

 plants must be carefully hardened by being placed out of 

 doors during the day and taken in at night, for one week 

 prior to the final planting in the open. Also, with 

 outdoor cultivation, it is seldom that more than four 

 trusses of fruit ripen on one plant. Either pinch off the 

 top of the stems when the fourth has shown itself or 

 leave the fruit to form at will and use those that will not 

 ripen for chutney, etc. Specimens that have coloured 

 even slightly may be ripened indoors, on window ledges, 

 etc. 



Varieties. For indoors, Button's Best of All, Carters' 

 Sunrise, Carters' Duke of York, and Frogmore Selected 



