166 FRUIT GARDEN. 



row channel is formed, into which water may be poured, 

 so as to percolate the sides. Along the sloping sides 

 bricks are placed like the steps of a stair, and in the 

 interstices, between the bricks, strawberry' plants are 

 inserted. In this way the plants have the fullest ad- 

 vantage of sunshine, the fruit is kept perfectly clean, 

 and its early maturity is promoted by the reflected heat 

 of the bricks. 



Strawberries are extensively forced. The Old Scar- 

 let, Old Pine, Roseberry, Grove End, and Keen's 

 Seedling, are found suitable for this purpose. The latter 

 has the advantage of being early, prolific, and yielding 

 large fruit ; but the Old Scarlet and the Old Pine have 

 the superiority in flavor. The plants must be in a 

 course of preparation for nearly a year before fruit can 

 be expected. They are potted in April with rich soil, 

 two or three young plants being put into a pot of eight 

 or ten inches in diameter. During summer they are 

 kept in a warm situation and encouraged to grow, flow- 

 ers and runners being carefully picked off". In the be- 

 ginning of winter they are sheltered in cold frames, and 

 they are afterwards successively placed into hotbeds or 

 forcing-houses, so as to keep up a succession of fruiting 

 plants. The air should be kept moist, and they must 

 be plentifully supplied with water. Where the means 

 are abundant, a moderate supply of ripe fruit may thus 

 be maintained during the late winter and the spring 

 months. Some cultivators provide new plants for forc- 

 ing every year. But the same plants may be forced 

 for several successive years, provided they be shifted in 

 August, and, at the time of repotting, the black torpid 

 roots be cut off', leaving only those of a paler color, and 

 which are connected with the new shoots or off'sets. 



