November 29, 1883. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
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COMING EVENTS 
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Royal Society at 4.30 P.M. 
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1st Sunday in Advent. 
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Sale of Bulbs at Mr. Stevens’ Rooms, Covent Garden. 
STRAWBERRY FORCING. 
tlie majority of places Strawberries are more or 
less extensively forced, the object, as a rule, 
being to have ripe fruit as early in the new year 
as possible, and to maintain the supply until 
the outdoor crops are ready for gathering. Yet, 
frequently the forcing of this delicious fruit has 
to be done upon what for want of a better name 
may be termed the “ makeshift ” principle—that 
is, grown in vineries, Pine stoves, Peach houses, 
or in any other structure where a shelf or two can be fixed. 
From the middle to the end of January is as early as ripe 
Strawberries, with the best accommodation for producing 
them, can be gathered from plants of Yicomtesse Hericart 
de Thury, which had been layered into the fruiting (6-inch) 
pots six months previously, and liberally and judiciously 
treated during the interval. A good batch of these plants, 
selecting those having the plumpest crowns, should forthwith 
be taken to the potting shed to have the bad leaves and a 
little of the surface soil removed, and some pulverised horse 
droppings and loam added as a top-dressing. The pots then, 
having had the drainage made efficient, should be plunged 
in a bed of new leaves within a few inches of the glass in a 
pit from which frost can be excluded. They should then 
have some water to settle the new soil, after which further 
applications will probably not be needed more than once or 
twice before their flower stems appear, which they will do in 
three or four weeks if the pit is kept close and the plants 
carefully tended. The pots should then be washed and 
placed on shelves near the glass in a forcing house. One 
suitable for this purpose would be a low span running east 
and west, having a pathway down the centre and a couple of 
shelves suspended on each side near the apex, the air being 
admitted through the front sashes (about 21 inches deep and 
4 feet wide), and a box 10 inches deep and the same width 
fixed in the ridge, the lid being raised and lowered by means 
of a crank and piece of sashline. Such is the outline of one 
of the houses recently erected here in three divisions for 
growing Strawberries and Melons, and for which purpose it 
answers admirably. We are thus provided with a good 
forcing house, and without which gardeners cannot reason¬ 
ably be expected to produce and maintain supplies of early 
Strawberries and other fruits. 
In order to prevent a blank occurring in the supply 
of ripe Strawberries from the time the first dish is sent 
to table until ready for picking out of doors, it will be 
necessary to start a batch of plants in the manner 
indicated at intervals of a week or ten days, so that there 
shall be always a good succession of plants in various stages 
of growth to fill the shelves as they are vacated by plants 
from which the ripe fruit has been gathered. 
Temperature.— In the process of forcing plants, fruits, or 
vegetables it is best for the cultivator to first consider the 
most favourable conditions under which the finest examples 
of such are naturally produced out of doors, noting the 
maximum and minimum temperature prevailing through the 
various stages of the plant’s growth. These temperatures 
should be the guide, varying them a little, if need be, to 
suit the other occupants of the house. Thus a night 
temperature of from 45° to 50° when the Strawberry plants 
are in flower, and 10° higher by day with fire, |will be 
sufficient, increasing 5° or 10° by sun; but during the 
interval from the setting to the ripening of the fruit the 
night temperature should be gradually increased to 60°, or 
higher if necessary, with a corresponding rise in the tempera¬ 
ture by sun. 
, Cropping the Plants. —As the flowers develope pass a 
small camel’s-hair brush over them about midday when dry 
to assist the work of fructification, repeating the operation 
daily until a fair crop of fruit is set. But with the advent 
of spring and an increase of light and sunshine the brush can 
be dispensed with, as a good “ set ” can be obtained without 
its aid—the hand passed lightly over the blossoms, which 
will then be plentiful and strong, or a gentle spray from the 
syringe, being sufficient to distribute the pollen. When the 
fruit is set select ten or twelve of the best (crown) berries of 
uniform size, so that they may all swell and ripen together, 
when the fruit can be gathered and the plants removed to a 
hardening-off pit or house. Having selected the best berries, 
a few, more or less, according to the strength of the plants, 
remove the superfluous parts and all flower spikes that show 
between this and the ripening of the crop should be kept 
pinched out, otherwise the result will be unsatisfactory. 
Atmospheric Moisture and Ventilation.— No hard-and- 
fast line can be laid down in the distribution of moisture 
in forcing houses, for, like the admission of air, it must be 
regulated in accordance with the character of the weather 
and time of year, temperature of the house, and stage of 
growth at which the plants and fruits may have arrived. 
However, we may say that Strawbeiry plants started under 
the influence of fire heat will require to be syringed once or 
twice on most days until they come into flower. A some¬ 
what dry and buoyant atmosphere must then be maintained 
until the fruit is set, when the syringe can again be brought 
into use, using it, however, with judgment and somewhat 
sparingly during the dull months of December, January, 
and February. After the fruits are set and until they com¬ 
mence colouring the plants may be syringed three or four 
times a day in bright weather, the last time just before dark. 
By so doing the foliage will remain damp all through the 
night, and in the morning have the appearance of having 
been exposed to a heavy dew, which is then their natural 
condition. "When the plants are in flower, and again when 
the fruit is approaching maturity, it will be necessary, espe¬ 
cially so in air-tight houses, to leave a little ventilation at 
night and to ventilate freely (weather permitting) during the 
day. 
AVatering the Plants.— Give no slight surface watering, 
but a thorough drenching to the roots when they require it, 
and from the time the plants throw up their flower scapes 
until the fruit commences colouring they should have weak 
liquid manure alternately with clear water. Peruvian guano, 
about a 3-inch potful to ten gallons of water, is an excel¬ 
lent fertiliser, the use of which imparts perhaps a higher 
colour to the fruit than any other liquid manure, but it 
should be used with caution and judgment. Care should be 
taken in watering the plants not to pour it indiscriminately 
over the fruit and crowns, but pour it in at the side of 
the pot. 
Varieties for Forcing. —A knowledge of the varieties of 
Strawberries most suitable for forcing being almost as 
necessary as that of their culture, I will give the names of 
the best and most reliable varieties for this purpose, which 
should be started in the order in which their names appear—• 
viz., Vicomtesse Hericart de Thury, La Grosse Sucree, 
Keens’ Seedling, President, Sir Joseph Paxton, and a few 
of James V eitch, the la ter variety more for the size than 
the quality of its fruit. 
Insects.— Red Spider and Green Fly. — In early forcing 
establishments red spider is the most troublesome and 
destructive insect (excepting the three plagues, phylloxera, 
