_ Lhe Strawberry Book. 39 
larger quantities than ever before, and yet afford the grower 
a better profit than he obtains from any other forced fruit. 
Indeed, one of the largest growers of forced strawberries 
in this part of the country tells us that they yield an income 
of a dollar per pot, and sometimes twice that amount. In’ 
addition to this fact, an equally important one should be 
kept in mind, viz., that the crop is all off in March, and 
the house is left vacant for other uses — a matter of no little 
moment to the market gardener. 
As, in cooking a hare, the hare must first be caught, so, 
in forcing strawberries, the vines must first be obtained, 
and grown the season previous to the very maximum of size, 
strength, and ripeness. The crowns must be full, plump, 
well ripened, and mature. Such varieties, too, must be 
selected as have been tested and found to force well; and 
these, generally speaking, are those that make a full, high 
crown, like the Triomphe de Gand, which is here held in 
high esteem for a forcing variety. Trollope’s Victoria has 
been commended for forcing, and I have seen very splen- 
did crops of La Constante ripe in March. The foreign 
catalogues give long lists of varieties that force well, very 
few of which, we presume, have ever been tested for that 
purpose in this country. Among the kinds thus ‘marked 
are the Eclipse, Gweniver, President, Princess of Wales, 
Eliza, Lucas (these last two, from my success with them 
out doors, I should think would do well in pots), Sir Harry, 
Louis Vilmorin, Oscar, and many others; but while the 
Triomphe de Gand gives so sure and certain a crop of 
high-priced berries, our growers will be slow to abandon 
it. I may add, that the Hooker and the Boston Pine have 
been tried, and found to do well in the forcing-house. I 
have forced a very few plants of the President Wilder 
(Wilder) in a hot-bed, and they did very well, although 
I let all the runners grow, and the plants had not been 
especially prepared for forcing. 
The variety having been fixed upon, the next step is to 
