THE STRAWBERRY. 239 



STRAWBERRY- HOUSE. 



Having prepared strawberry-plants in pots for forc- 

 ing, the next chief consideration is a suitable place in 

 which to force them. The strawberry is in this re- 

 spect, except in comparatively few garden establish- 

 ments, left unprovided for in any special way, and 

 many thousand plants are forced without what may be 

 termed a strawberry-house. Indeed it is a subject so 

 accommodating that it can be forced in the pit, the 

 peach-house, the vinery, and the pinery, or by the aid 

 of all these combined. At the same time, where there 

 are many to be fruited annually, a house entirely de- 

 voted to themselves is not only better for them, but 

 for the other plants and fruits with which they liave 

 so frequently to be accommodated in the same struc- 

 ture. Moreover, a strawberry -house can be so ar- 

 ranged as to answer perfectly well for other things 

 after the season of strawberry-forcing is over. Fig. 

 21 is what I recommend as a very suitable and 

 efficient strawberry -house. The bed in front, sup- 

 plied with bottom-heat, is an excellent place for start- 

 ing early strawberries. The back stage is supposed 

 to be movable, if it should be considered necessary, so 

 that, after the strawberry season is over, cucumbers, 

 melons, and tomatoes, or young vines in fact, many 

 things can be grown in the back bed after the re- 

 moval of the stage. In the early part of the season, 

 the bed under the stage is available for rhubarb and 

 seakale if necessary, or the whole house may be de- 

 voted to plant-growing throughout the summer, and 

 until required again for strawberries. The command 

 of such a house for strawberries allows the gardener 

 to give them the exact treatment required. Where 



