GREENHOUSES FOR FORCING VEGETABLES. 81 



March. The variety for forcing which seems to be most 

 favorably received in our markets is "Selected Early White 

 Spine/' though, of late years, the beautiful long kinds, 

 such as " Telegraph " and " Rambler," which are almost 

 exclusively used in Europe, are beginning to be favorably 

 received. Forced Cucumbers from December to May 

 average, for best quality in the market of New York, 

 $6 per dozen, and, if the forcing is well done, this price 

 will be found to pay very well. Southern competition, 

 of course, seriously interferes with the forcing of cucum- 

 bers, as it does with nearly everything else in early vege- 

 tables and fruits ; but, like hot-house grapes, the bloom 

 and fine appearance, together with the more delicate 

 flavor, of the forced Cucumber, finds customers in all 

 large cities who are willing to pay for the finer quality. 



FORCING STRAWBERRIES. 



The wide greenhouses, already described as being suit- 

 able for forcing Lettuce and Radishes or Cucumbers, are 

 equally adapted, with slight modification, for the forcing 

 of Strawberries. This modification is in having the 

 benches or tables raised, so as to be as near the glass as it 

 is practicable to have them, as shown by the sketch, fig- 

 ure 13, of end section annexed. It is also necessary that 

 eight runs of four-inch pipe are used instead of six, as 

 are in use for Lettuce and Radishes, as Strawberries re- 

 quire a somewhat higher temperature. The proper 

 preparation of the plants for Strawberry forcing is indis- 

 pensable to success. This is best done by layering the 

 runners in small pots, as described under the head of 

 Strawberry Culture. The layers may be placed in the 

 pots at any time from the middle of July to September 

 1st. When the pot is filled with roots (which will be in 

 about two or three weeks from the time the Strawberry 

 runner is placed in it), it is then taken up and shifted 

 into a four-inch pot in soil four-fifths turfy loam to one- 



