514 



FORCING THE STRAWBERRY. 



Sect. X. — Forcing the Strawhe7'ry, 



1090. Data on which the forcing of the strawherry is founded. — The straw- 

 berry (Fragaria, Z/.) is a genus of herbaceous perennials or biennials, of 

 which some species are natives of Europe, and others of North and South 

 America. They all grow in woods, and m soil more or less loamy and 

 moist ; but the kinds have been so changed by culture in British gardens, 

 and this culture has been so successful both in the open garden and under 

 glass, that we shall adopt it as a guide. Almost all the kinds of strawberry 

 in cultivation will bear forcing ; but the kinds preferred are chiefly the 

 Old Scarlet or Virginian, for its high flavour and colour in confectionary, 

 Keen's Seedling, and the Roseberry or Aberdeen Seedling, for their large 

 size and abundant crops, and occasionally the Alpine, because it can be 

 kept in a bearing state throughout great part of the winter. As the 

 flavour of the Scarlet and Keen's seedling strawberries is seldom good 

 when they are ripened before the middle or end of March, forcing is 

 seldom commenced till the middle of January, and those excited about 

 that time, and properly treated, will ripen fruit in about nine weeks. 

 The plants should be previously well established in pots ; though in 

 default of this they may be taken up with balls, and potted, and at once 

 placed in the forcing-house ; or the balls may be set close together on the 

 surface of a bed of fermenting material, or heated by a flue or hot- water pipes 

 underneath. The crown of the plants, whether in pots or on a bed, should 

 not be more than a foot from the glass. The temperature at first should 

 not exceed 45° or 50°, with fire heat, and abundance of air should be given, 

 even when the temperature is as low as 40°. After the fruit is set, the tem- 

 perature may be raised from 55° to 00°, with fire heat, and 65 or 70° with 

 sun heat, provided abundance of air is given. Strawberries may be forced 

 with great advantage in the peach-house, or in the cherry-house, in pits, or 

 in such houses as that shown in fig, 127, in p. 189. They may be also forced 

 in the open garden by having pipes of hot water laid a foot under the surface 

 of the soil, between the rows of the plants, and covering them with glass or 

 with canvas during nights, and in stormy weather. In short nothing can 

 be more easy than forcing this most delicious fruit. 



1091. Routine practice in forcing Keen s Seedling and the Old Scarlet or Vir- 

 ginian strawberries, — As soon as the runners are fit for the purpose, lay a quan- 

 tity, say two and three in a 82-pot, others one in a 60, in a good strong loam, 

 with a portion of well-decayed manure. Place a stone on each runner, for the 

 double purpose of keeping the plant in a fixed position and preserving moisture 

 to the roots. The first runners are preferable, the sort Keen's seedling. 

 As soon as the plants are well rooted, re-pot the sixties into thirty-twos, 

 and the thirty-twos into twenty-fours — still using the same strong soil ; 

 then place them in the hottest part of the garden, fully exposed to the direct 

 rays of the sun, but not under a wall. The best situation is the centre of a 

 vine-border, first placing there a quantity of half-decayed manure, generally 

 some old dung linings, to put round the pots, to prevent the sun acting too 

 powerfully on the roots. Here they should be left exposed to the elements 

 most conducive to bring them rapidly to a state of maturity : a free circulation 

 of air, abundance of moisture, which they should be liberally supplied with, 

 a,nd a full share of solar heat. In this situation the plants grow freely, 

 forming well-matured crowns, to send up fine stems of bloom in the forcing- 



