S3 GARDENING FOB PROFIT. 



fifth rotted cow dung, to which may be added a slight 

 sprinkling of pure bone dust say a handful to every 

 bushel of soil. 



When the strawberry plants have been shifted from the 

 pots in which they were layered, into the four-inch size, 

 they should be set in the open sunshine, standing the 

 pots close together, and carefully watered as occasion re- 

 quires, so as to induce the best possible growth. All 

 runners should be carefully pinched off as they appear, 

 so that the whole force of the roots may go to develop 

 the main plant, or fruiting crown, as it is sometimes 

 called. In four or five weeks the four-inch pots will be 

 filled with roots, and the plants must again be shifted 

 into six-inch pots and treated as before, which will give, 

 by the middle of October, the necessary strong plants 

 for forcing. As the season of growth stops about' this 

 date, water should be withheld to some extent, so that 

 the plants may get a season of rest. 



When they are placed in the forcing-house they may 

 either be planted out on the benches at six or eight inches 

 apart, in soil five or six inches deep, or they may be 

 forced in the pots, as may be desired, but, in any case, 

 twice as many plants should be prepared as will fill the 

 house, for, if desired, two crops can easily be raised in 

 succession. The first plants should be placed in the 

 forcing-house about November 1st; these will produce 

 marketable fruit by January or February. Plants put in 

 in February will be ready by March or April. Of course, 

 it will be necessary to keep the reserve plants of straw- 

 berries in a dormant state, which is best done in cold 

 frames or pits, the pots being plunged up to the rims in 

 dry leaves. 



The best rule to follow in forcing any plant, is to keep 

 as near as possible to its natural condition. We know 

 that as the Strawberry plant develops its leaves and flow- 

 ers throughout May in this latitude in the open ground, 



