150 
Septembek, 1891. 
/ ORCHRR D 7hnd ORR DEN ^ 
Forcing Strawberries Under Glass. 
The first steps to success in forcing Straw- 
berries have already been described, and 
must be borne in mind. The object is to 
produce plants that shall be strong and well 
matured at the close of the growing season, 
and that will respond readily to the unus- 
ual strain that is to be put upon them under 
glass. Sunshine on the plants will be help- 
ful, but sunshine on the pots will just as 
surely be hurtfid. A simple way of pro- 
tecting the pots is to arrange them in rows 
and place boards against them on the sun- 
ny side. To keep out the worms, stand the 
plants on a layer of coal ashes. Knowing 
the object, the grower can accomplish it in 
any way most convenient for him. 
With good plants and other favorable 
conditions to start with, it sometimes hap- 
pens that only a moderate degree of success 
is attained, or what might properly be call 
ed a failure is the result. This is chiefly 
owing to the fact that the plants have not 
had a proper degree of rest after 
completing their growth; for a 
season of rest is quite necessary 
for the best results. The rule 
should be to keep the plants grow- 
ing without check in the open air 
as long as possible, always with- 
out crowding them too close to- 
gether. Care must be taken that 
the ball of earth does not get froz- 
en laird, for that would break the 
pots. 
Where Strawberries are to be 
grown in quantity, cold frames are 
quite as necessary as store-houses. 
In these the plants can take their 
needed rest, and be brought to 
the forcing house as wanted. A 
good plan is to put about eight 
inches of coal ashes in the cold 
frame, and plunge the pots to the 
rim in the ashes. The sashes should 
not be put on the frame till freez- 
ing weather conies, and even then 
the frames should be kept more or less open 
on sunny days to prevent exciting the plants. 
The object of the frame is simply to keep 
the plants in a low temperature without 
freezing the ball of earth. This being un- 
derstood, the management can be directed 
accordingly, keeping in view what has al- 
ready been said. 
Next in order comes the house for winter 
forcing. Where Strawberries are grown in 
a limited way for family use, a portion of 
almost any low-roofed green-house may be 
used for the purpose very well. Some of 
the propagating houses used by nurserymen 
and florists will also grow Strawberries with 
a good degree of success. When, however, 
you come to growing Strawberries for mar- 
ket or profit, the best results will be obtained 
from a house devoted entirely to that pur- 
pose, and designed for it. Nearly all but 
the roof should be under ground. Not 
more than fifteen to eighteen inches of side 
light will be needed, and some expense may 
be saved by having none at all. The roof 
should be low: say a pitch of twenty-eight 
to thirty degrees to the horizon. The roof 
may be fixed or formed of sashes, the fixed 
roof being very much the better. The glass 
may be 8x10 or 10x12, both laid the long 
way. There is no economy in using poor 
glass. The house may be anywhere from 
ten to twenty feet wide. A wide house can 
be built cheaper than a narrow one for the 
space inclos' d. The house should run 
north and south, or nearly so, with a double 
pitch, unless the house is built against a 
wall facing the south, when a single pitch 
is the proper form. The table or bench 
may be supported on wooden posts, (though 
brick piers would be better,) but the bot- 
tom is best formed of roofing slates laid on 
iron cross-bars. The slate should be cover- 
ed with two or three inches of clean sand. 
The house should be heated with water 
pipes, and ventilating sashes should be 
placed in the roof along the ridge pole. A 
cistern may be built inside or outside the 
C, fOttnd Plarv Scale X ' r \ t K to foot 
Strawberry Forcing House. Fig. 463. 
house to catch the water from the roof. 
The side walls may be built of brick or 
wood ; but for a permanent house brick is 
much to be preferred. 
The accompanying sketch of a small 
house, 10x17.6, inside measure, is not a 
mere “ shed” for temporary use, but a sub- 
stantial building that may be used as a 
general plant house when no longer wanted 
for growing Strawberries. It is made small 
for want of space. The scale is one-eighth 
of an inch to the foot. It is now of conve- 
nient width for a central walk, from which 
every plant in the house may be easily 
reached. It may be made as long as de- 
sired: but beyond a length of twenty-five 
feet or so it would be better to build a house 
twenty feet wide, with a table in the mid- 
dle. The depth below the ground line is 
two feet. A small amount of labor might 
be saved by sloping the ground from the 
water pipes to the walk: but the better way 
would be to remove all the earth inside to 
the level of the walk. The space under the 
table or bench would be very useful for 
storage and in other ways. The narrow 
upright sashes should be used as ventilators 
in a limited way. The top ventilators should 
alternate each other on both sides of the 
ridge pole. The ends of the house above 
the plate should be glazed. Sashes may be 
used or continuous rows of glass laid be- 
tween sash bars reaching from the end 
rafters to the plate. Sashes are to be pre- 
ferred. There should be a space of two or 
three inches between the side of the table 
and the side of the house, to allow for tha 
passage of the hot air against the glass of 
the side sashes. 
The sill of the door should preferably be 
stone in this case, as it is placed below the 
ground level to get head room. By adding 
two feet to the side sashes the door sill 
would be brought to the surface, and this is 
worth thinking of. The same end may be 
accomplished by adding two feet to the 
height of the wall. The location would have 
something to do with the choice. 
In some cases a small porch gives 
the outside steps ample protection 
from rain and snow. The boiler 
room may be placed on either side 
of the door, but on the outside of 
the house. The pipes should not 
cross the door. 
A house should, in fact, be de- 
signed for its specific purpose and 
position. While preserving the 
general features of the present 
plan, it may be enlarged in both 
directions, and one half of it could 
be placed against a wall for a sin- 
gle pitch. When a house much 
over twelve feet wide is built 
against a wall, it is better to make 
a three-quarter pitch of it. The 
rafters are 2x6; the purlins 1)4x3; 
the sash bars 1x1)4; the plate 3x6; 
the sill 3x8; the mullions 2x4; the 
ridge pole 2x7. For a small house 
these dimensions may be lessened 
a little. The house should run north aDd 
south, the sides facing east and west. 
A house for Strawberries is not a compli- 
cated affair. You want a suitable table or 
bench, an ample supply of water, sufficient 
pipe to heat the house without burning out 
the boiler, good ventilation, and little else 
in the way of fixtures. A good ventilating 
apparatus saves time and labor, and is very 
handy and desirable. 
In the house you want to create and main- 
tain a temperature such as we have outside 
in the middle of June. That is to say, a 
warm, moist heat, kept as nearly uniform as 
may be. Tiie plants on the table should 
not crowd each other. The soil in the pots 
should not be allowed to get dry, neither 
should it be soddened. Frequent light sy- 
ringing with a fine holed nozzle or rose will 
be helpful to the plants and keep down the 
red spider, which is sometimes very trouble- 
some. When starting the plants, increase 
the temperature gradually till the desired 
degree is reached, and then guard against 
