84 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



hence is certain to " set " fruit. It is of the largest size, 

 of beautiful form ; color, a rich shade of scarlet crimson, 

 the surface looking as if varnished. In flavor it is un- 

 surpassed by any known variety, besides having a rich 

 and powerful aroma ; these peculiarities make it specially 

 attractive a necessity for forced strawberries when re- 

 tailed at about fifty cents a berry, for in the winter 

 months, it must be remembered, they sell at wholesale 

 at $6 per quart, and it takes only eighteen to twenty large 

 berries to make a quart. 



To our rural readers this extraordinary price paid for 

 fruit may seem incredible, but all large cities contain 

 people who are rich enough to afford these prices, not 

 only for fruits but for flowers, for it is no unusual thing 

 for $1 and even $2 to be paid for single rosebuds of the 

 rarer or finer sorts. At the same date that forced Straw- 

 berries are selling in New York at $6 per quart, or forced 

 Cucumbers at '$6 per dozen, both Strawberries and Cu- 

 cumbers grown in the Southern States, are selling at one- 

 sixth these prices, but the quality, of course, bears no 

 comparison with the forced commodities. We have never 

 ourselves forced either Strawberries or Cucumbers for 

 market, but quite a number in the vicinity of large cities 

 make it a profitable business. In fact, there is compara- 

 tively little difference in the profits of forcing-houses, no 

 matter whether they are devoted to growing vegetables, 

 fruits or flowers ; they pay well for the investment in all 

 cases if the work is well done. 



HEATING BY FLUES. 



For beginners with small means, when personal atten- 

 tion can be given to the fires, by heating greenhouses 

 with flues a great saving in cost can be made in fact, 

 nearly half the cost of construction ; for we find that the 

 hot water heating apparatus is usually half the cost of 

 ordinary commercial greenhouses, while if heated by flues 



