February 12, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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NOTES ON FORCING STRAWBERRIES. 
is not a very difficult matter to have Straw¬ 
berries all the year round, but this should not 
be attempted where house room is limited, or 
where there are no available shelves in forcing 
houses or pits. If employers insist upon having 
a good supply of early Strawberries, say from 
March onwards, they must afford their gardeners 
reasonable facilities for their culture. In too 
many places they have to be grown in positions 
unfavourable to good culture, and where also the Straw¬ 
berries may prove a source of danger to other more im¬ 
portant crops. No plants appear to be more liable to attacks 
of mildew, green fly, and red spider, and it is almost 
needless to add that these pests are very liable to spread 
to other congenial quarters. We grow a great variety of 
plants in our vineries, but we draw the line at Strawberries, 
being of opinion that they ought not to be admitted. Some 
growers may succeed in keeping them clean, but I must 
confess we are unable to do so, and for this reason would 
also keep them out of the Peach houses if it could be 
managed. We have never received any complaint of Straw¬ 
berries being ripened too early, but if we pick them late in 
March or by the first week in April everybody seems to be 
satisfied, especially seeing that at this time they are yet 
far from being generally plentiful. Besides, there is only 
one variety that I am acquainted with—viz., Yicomtesse 
Hericart de Thury, which is really good at that date. 
The greater portion of our plants are started into active 
growth on a continuous suspended shelf running through 
the early and second early Peach house, fifty plants forming 
a batch in each house. The earliest house is closed for 
forcing early in December, and the second house about a 
month later. As we maintain a rather low temperature at 
the commencement, or, say, from 45° to 50°, the progress 
of the plants is slow, but at the same time is very satisfactory, 
as the roots are in active growth long before the trusses of 
flowers are expanded. In the case of plants started in a 
much stronger heat the foliage is apt to be in advance of 
both the flowers and roots, the result not unfrequently being 
many blind plants or weakly trusses, and an early attack 
of green fly. Strawberries to be profitable must have fre¬ 
quent supplies of liquid manure, and the more active the 
roots are the better will they assimilate the food thus given 
them, nor will they perfect heavy crops of fruit if the foliage 
is flimsy and dirty. Hence the necessity for moderate forcing, 
and also for keeping them away from the hot-water pipes, 
especially in the earlier stages of growth. A high tempera¬ 
ture and a moist atmosphere when the plants are in bloom 
are also calculated to cause the formation of weakly flowers, 
and the setting of these, or even strong blooms, under 
such conditions is by no means easily accomplished. The 
larger the blooms the better the chance of securing fine fruit, 
and in all cases we prefer to have a good set even if this 
necessitates much thinning. When once the crop is set 
they may be subjected to a much higher temperature, the 
No. 242.—Vol. X., Third Series. 
shelves in a Pine stove or Cucumber and Melon house being 
then suitable places for the fruits to swell to their full size. 
I do not say that the fruits ripened in a high temperature 
will be of good flavour, but according to my experience size 
is of greater importance than quality. Employers have no 
objection to small fruits being sent to the kitchen, but they, 
as a rule, do not like to see small ones on the table. Our 
plan of starting the plants in the Peach houses answers our 
purpose very well, but we rarely ripen any fruit in these 
positions. Directly a batch has set a crop of fruits these are 
thinned out to twelve or a few more fruits, according to the 
vigour of the plant or the habit of the variety, and the plants 
are transferred to the back shelves of forcing houses, their 
place in the Peach house being at once occupied with 
another batch of plants. In this manner the supply if 
rather small is yet very regular, and that with us is the 
primary object. 
In the case of the earliest batches of plants, or say when 
but little air is given and the atmosphere is naturally heavily 
charged with moisture, it is very frequently difficult to 
obtain a good set of fruit. I have tried syringing with clear 
water, but on the whole prefer the plan of impregnating 
with a camel’s-hair brush, this being carefully done about 
mid-day, or as early as the pollen is found sufficiently dry 
to be readily distributed. From the first the plants are 
never allowed to suffer by want of water, and any that are 
very strongly rooted receive an occasional supply of liquid 
manure to assist the formation of stout trusses of blooms. 
When the set is effected and the plants are in stronger heat 
they require much more moisture at the roots, ours being 
frequently watered twice in a day, and receive fairly strong 
liquid manure from the farmyard about three times a week. 
In addition to this a slight sprinkling of some kind of 
artificial manure is also very beneficial, and Beeson’s manure 
with us proved particularly good for this purpose. The 
only variety that may be said to ripen perfectly in a strong 
heat is the Yicomtesse, all others that I have yet grown 
requiring to be transferred to a shelf in a cool house for the 
fruit, after being first coloured, to attain a certain amount 
of sweetness. Unfortunately this variety cannot be grown 
large enough to please some persons, and in our case, much 
against my own inclination, we are obliged to discard it in 
favour of La Grosse Suer tie. We are trying a variety that 
Mr. Austen had at Ashton Court under the name of Princess 
of Prussia, but which probably would be more correctly 
named Princess Frederic William. It is a very early heavj- 
cropping sort, and produces a second crop in the autumn, 
but I am afraid neither the colour nor flavour will be quite 
satisfactory. For the later crops I prefer President to any 
other, while for superior quality British Queen is the best. 
Although I trust the Toregoing may prove instructive 
to some readers, I may as well state my principal motive 
for commencing this paper was to discuss the advantages 
attending the use of turves for standing the pots of Straw¬ 
berries on during the time they are being forced. Many 
advocate the use of troughs to stand the pots in, these 
rendering the use of the watering pot of much less frequent 
occurrence. According to my experience these troughs do 
more harm than good, and although we have a number here 
which were made expressly for the purpose they are not 
used. It is quite true the plants when standing in them 
require much less water, and it is equally true that these 
same plants are liable to become much too wet, and to pro¬ 
duce fruits that are remarkably sour and uneatable. At ihe 
same time where the plants, as in our case, have only 
dry shelves to stand on, something should be done to 
prevent them drying at the roots too rapidly, and for this 
purpose turves are the best. Each pot should be stood on 
a little square of turf, grass downwards, and this they should 
not leave until the crop is perfected. Not only will these 
turves serve to keep the plants from drying so quickly, but 
they will in most cases soon become occupied with the roots 
No. 1898.— Vol. LXXII., Old Series. 
