252 greenhouse management. 



to color. In order to keep the fruit from the damp soil, 

 where it will be likely to rot, some support must be pro- 

 vided. Mr. Hunn, of the Cornell Experiment Station, 

 who has been quite successful in forcing strawberries, is 

 well pleased with cork chips, and with fine netting 

 placed upon the pots, as seen in Fig. 86. In about a 

 month from the time the fruit sets, the berries will be- 

 gin to ripen, and in ten days to two weeks the plants 

 may be thrown out and replaced with others, which will 

 need the same care, except that less attention need be 

 paid to pollinating the flowers. The red spider and aphis 

 may be troublesome, unless proper remedies are used. 



The variety selected will have much to do with the 

 results secured. For the best success, it should be an 

 early sort, with rather short petioles and small leaves, 

 that is little subject to disease. Unless other perfect 

 flowering plants are grown to provide pollen for them, 

 pistillate sorts should not be selected, although other- 

 wise many of the imperfect-flowered varieties are well 

 adapted for forcing. The Beder Wood, a perfect-flow- 

 ered variety, is one of the best, its principal fault being 

 the light color of the fruit. Among the later sorts 

 Sharpless and Parker Earle are well adapted for forcing. 

 Although the results will be less satisfactory, fruit may 

 be obtained four or five weeks earlier, by shortening the 

 period of rest. 



In a good market, well-grown fruit (Fig. 87) will 

 bring from two to four dollars per quart in February, 

 and not over a dozen plants, which in six-inch pots will 

 not occupy more than three or four square feet, will be 

 required to furnish them, and they will not occupy the 

 houses more than ten or twelve weeks. There is also a 

 call for the plants, while in fruit, at prices that will be 

 quite remunerative. A well-grown plant with a crop of 

 fine fruit, as seen in Fig. 88, is a handsome ornament 

 for a table. 



