STRAWBERRIES 29 
the foliage to dry before dark. ‘The damping of stages 
and floors is necessary, but must be done with discretion. 
After the fruits have set, liberal dampings and syringings 
are essential to the steady development of the crop, but 
the latter must entirely cease and the former partially as 
soon as the berries commence to colour. Feeding must 
also cease at the same period of growth, and during the 
final ripening process clear water must only be afforded 
in sufficient quantities to prevent flagging. A still 
further change must be made when the most forward 
fruits are colouring, and it consists in reducing the 
temperature to from 70° to 75° by day and 60° to 65° by 
night, increasing the ventilation when the weather tends 
to raise the temperature above these figures. 
But I am proceeding a little too fast. If all the fruits 
that set were allowed to remain, there would be only a 
fair number of small ones, but as strawberries are forced 
solely for dessert use, it is desirable that every fruit shall 
be large enough for that purpose. Hence there is a 
necessity for thinning the crop, and no better advice can 
be given than to reduce the crop down to the six most 
promising and best placed fruits on each plant. Some 
support is also necessary or the spikes will be bent over 
by the weight of the fruit and the flow of sap be checked. 
Birch branches form admirable supports if shortened 
back to stubby twigs, and it is generally an easy matter 
to provide a suitable supply from the remains of a well 
used birch broom. 
In the foregoing remarks the idea of carrying out the 
whole process of forcing strawberries in one house has 
been followed, and while this is really the practice in 
some establishments, it by no means follows that it is 
essential to success. The various batches may, of course, 
be moved from one house to another as their stage of 
growth demands; but as the most suitable temperatures 
have been detailed as well as the best atmospheric con- 
