STRAWBERRIES AS POT FRUIT 185 



CHAPTER XXIX 



SECRETS OF SUCCESS IN STRAWBERRY CULTURE 



Soil — Potting — Watering — Growing — The Crown — Freezing and Winter 

 Protection — Insects — Fungus — Varieties for Forcing 



STRAWBERRY growers of experience well know the importance of de- 

 voting their attention to bringing up the crowns to the highest state 

 of perfection, and the beginner should learn that herein lies the secret 

 of success to a certain extent. The desired results in fruit produced by the 

 forcing process are impossible unless the crowns are thoroughly ripened in the 

 Fall. De^•eiop as strong a crown as possible, but without overstepping the 

 mark with rich food to the extent of splitting the crown. The Strawberry 

 when forming the crown requires as much attention as when developing the 

 fruit. 



Soil is also an important matter to be considered. \\'hile Strawberries will 

 thrive splendidly in the field or garden in a light, sandy soil — medium and heavy 

 — they cannot be forced successfully in pots with such soil. A good rose soil 

 is the best for this purpose, adding one load of manure to three loads of soil, 

 in a more decayed state than for Roses. Most growers understand the term 

 rose soil to mean a friable loam, a bit iiea\y, but not clayey. 



POTTING 



There is a difference of opinion as to the best method of potting. Some 

 good growers advise to repot from two and one-half-inch pots to the fruiting 

 six-inch pots. I have done this too in the past; but for many years I have 

 repotted from two and one-half-inch to four-inch pots; then, when they are 

 rooted through — they should not under any circumstances be allowed to get 

 pot-bound — I repot into the fruiting six-inch size. By this method I get a 

 quick and substantial growth. If the plants are repotted from two and one-half- 

 inch into six-inch pots, with the necessary firming, the roots will take a long 

 time in penetrating, whereas a second shift from four-inch into six-inch pots 

 seems to stimulate the root action. My method calls for more labor, but the 

 difference in the crop more than repays. Moreover, it has the further advan- 

 tage that a stronger compost can be used in making the last shift, and the roots 

 will thus be in condition to assimilate more food. Where labor is no object, 



