ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY IN POTS. 
179 
roofed, running north and south ; the walls above the ground should he 9 inches thick, 
the inside bricks being built on edge, and the outside flat in the ordinary way, thus 
forming a hollow wall with a cavity of inches. The space of a brick should be left open 
on a level with the ground under the centre of each light outside, and also immediately 
beneath the coping opposite the rafter on the inside, and one of these sets of holes should 
be secured with small gratings, to prevent the ingress of mice, with closing ventilators to 
exclude the cold in very severe weather. By means of these ventilators, and by drawing 
down or tilting the fronts of the sashes, a thorough and sufficient circulation of air will be 
always at command. 
The side walls should be about 2 feet high, and covered with a stone coping or curbing, 
to which the wall-plate and rafters of light cast-iron should be leaded down. A single line 
of 4-inch hot-water pipes should be conducted round the pit close to the wall, on a level 
(or nearly so) with the inside row of ventilators, and a line of 3-inch pipes should be laid 
along the bottom of the pit on a level with the ground outside or thereabouts ; but so 
arranged that the bottom or top pipes can be worked separately. The pit will contain 
11 shelves, which should be 20 inches from the glass; the central one being 18 inches 
wide, to contain two rows of plants, and five on each side 9 inches wide. The brackets 
for supporting the shelves and pipes should also be of cast-iron, and leaded into the stone 
coping. The pit should be parted off into divisions of about 3 lights in length. 
After the pit has been used for forcing Strawberries during the spring months, and 
the shelves are removed, it answers admirably for late Cucumbers or Melons, for the 
assistance of which the bottom-heat pipes are introduced ; and as both these crops are 
grown to so much greater perfection when trained near the glass, the lower angles of 
the brackets should be drilled to receive the longitudinal wires upon which to train the 
plants. 
The advantages of such a pit are its complete adaptability to useful purposes all the 
year round. After the cucurbitaceous crop is removed late in autumn, and the shelves 
reinstated, it will of course form a store pit for the strawberry plants during winter. 
From the position of the house the plants will derive the greatest possible amount of light 
during the morning and afternoon, and during the hottest part of the day the sun will fall 
most obliquely upon the glass, at which time also one plant will shade the pot of another, 
thereby preventing the bad effects of the sun upon the sides of the pots. 
During the winter the plants should be very moderately supplied with water, but when 
it is necessary to commence forcing, the allowance of heat and water must be gradually 
increased, and a moderate amount of moisture kept up. During the flowering, however, 
the atmosphere must be kept very dry, with a night temperature of 50° to 55° till the 
fruit is set, after which the temperature may be raised to 60° or 65°, during which time 
water should be abundantly supplied, giving liquid manure or guano water about twice a 
week. If splendid fruit are required, the shows should be thinned as soon as they are 
set, leaving only four to eight of the most promising to mature themselves. 
The principal enemies to be guarded against are aphides, red spider, mice, and slugs. 
The two first of these attack both fruit and leaves, but principally the leaves ; the two last 
attack the fruit only, and in a most annoying manner. The mice are particularly so, as 
they do not eat the fruit, but only pick off the seeds, and of course spoil its appearance. 
To prevent the damage done by these enemies, the plants must be vigilantly watched, and, 
on their first appearance, effectual measures must be taken for their destruction. As a 
precautionary measure against the red spider, the entire surface of the brick-work inside 
and the hot-water pipes should be washed over with a mixture of lime and sulphur. The 
aphides must of course be destroyed by tobacco, and the slugs must be carefully sought 
for by candle-light. 
