382 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 13, 1886. 
after May until September. A temperature of 50° is maintained by day in 
winter. Isolepis gracilis, Selaginella, and Tradescantias cover the bare 
ground as much as possible ; also the various plants remaia in bloom much 
longer when plunged than when their pots are exposed to the open air. 
The octagon contains large plants of Areca sapida, Pritchardia macro- 
earpa, Seaforthia elegans, Neottopteris nidus-avis, Araucaria excelsa, &c., 
and the following creepers planted out—Combretum purpureum, Passi- 
floras,Buonapartea quadrangularis,T)escaisneana, and Imp^ratrice Eugenie, 
Aristolochia gigas, Hibbertia dentata, and Rhodochiton volubile. 
The fernery, parallel with and adjoining the winter garden, contains 
two large Tree Ferns of note, Cyathea medullaris, Cibotium princeps and 
Scheidei, Dicksonia squarrosa, D. antarctica, and Todea arborea, Mon- 
stera deliciosa, Lasiandra macrantha, Stauntonia latifolia, Lapageria rosea 
superba and alba, and many other plants, contributing to the admirable 
appearance of the house. It is quite as enjoyable as the winter garden, and 
merits a fuller description than can now be accorded. One thing is clear— 
both Mr. Larking and his gardener are adepts at the tasteful and pic¬ 
turesque arrangement of plants. 
THE CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY IN POTS. 
In continuation of the social monthly meetings of the Lee, Lewisham, 
and Blackheath Horticultural Society, held in the Working Man’s Insti¬ 
tute, Old Road, Lee, the following brief, practical, and instructive paper 
on “ the Cultivation of the Strawberry in Pots ” was read by Mr. Fox, 
gardener to Mrs. Penn, The Cedars, Lee, before the members at the last 
meeting on the 26th ult. 
After a few preliminary remarks by Mr. Fox, in the course of which 
he stated that he did not propose to offer any novel ideas on the subject, 
but rather a few practical hints which might prove of service to those 
who had had less experience than himself, and which would if practised 
as he advised, enable them to attain success, he plunged into his subject. 
“ The first thing of importance,” said he, “ is the compost, and I 
know of nothing more suitable for the purpose than good loam with a 
liberal quantity of well-decayed cow or old hotbed manure, both loam 
and manure being thoroughly incorporated by frequent turnings. If the 
compost can be prepared some considerable time before it is required for 
use it will be all the better. This, however, is not absolutely necessary, 
indeed is frequently impossible to do, owing to pressure of work, until the 
moment it is required for use. Then we use 3-inch pots for layering and 
6-inch pots for growing and fruiting the plants in. I have tried larger 
sizes for the latter purpose, but my experience will not justify me in re 
commending a larger size than 6-inch, which size is in my opinion 
sufficient for all practical purposes. 
“ The pots and compost being in readiness, the next task is to secure the 
runners, which should be done as early as possible—say the last week in 
June, as the first will, as a general rule, form by far the strongest plants. 
The following is the simplest mode of layering the runners :—Have the 
3-inch pots filled with the compost and carried to the Strawberry bed, 
and with a pot in one hand and a trowel in the other plunge the former 
up to the rim by the means of the latter, afterwards placing the young 
plant on the surface of the soil in the centre of the pot and making it 
secure by means of a small stone or peg. Strict attention must be paid to 
keeping the soil moist in the pots during dry weather, so as to encourage 
the speedy formation of roots. As soon as the young plants are well 
rooted detach them from the parent plant and remove them to a con¬ 
venient place for watering. 
“ The final potting should be commenced as soon as possible after the 
young plants are removed from the bed, and continued as fast as circum¬ 
stances will permit until the whole are finished, which should, if possible, 
be accomplished by the first week in August. The plants will thus have 
a long season in which to make a good growth and ripen their 1 crowns.’ 
Without good plump and well-ripened crowns it is useless to expect to 
obtain a successful crop of fruit, a fact I would strongly impress upon 
the attention of those who have had little or no experience on the 
subject. As the plants are potted they should he stood on a bed of coal 
ashes in a good open position. Should the sun shine very powerfully on 
them they must be shaded for a few days until the roots have taken hold 
of the new soil, after which the shading must be discontinued. 
“ The plants should be carefully attended to as regards keeping the 
runners removed as fast as they appear, also weeds, and supplying them with 
water. The syringe must also be freely used, or that dreaded enemy the 
red spider will appear and will be found difficult to suppress, thus pre¬ 
venting the plants from making rapid and uninterrupted growth. 
“There is another enemy we have been troubled with during the last 
two years, and which I have never before seen on the Strawberry. It is 
a small bluish green caterpillar (presumably Phlanana Vanaria, the same 
insect which commits such havoc conjointly with the larva of the magpie 
moths on the Gooseberry), and attacks the young foliage, stripping it off 
if not at once got rid of by hand-picking or other means. Next to hand¬ 
picking the best remedy I know of is to sprinkle the foliage with white 
hellebore powder, or make a solution of it and then dip the plants in. I 
have tried both of the latter remedies, and where, as in our own case, over 
a thousand plants are grown annually, and time will not permit us to 
adopt the hand picking, the last-named methods are the most expeditious. 
“ The pots may be stood close together at first, but as the plants increase 
in growth and size more room will be required to enable the foliage to 
have the full benefit of light and air, and thus become stout and healthy 
instead of being drawn and sickly-lookiug, As the pots become full of 
roots the plants will be greatly ben fited by being watered with diluted 
liquid manure or an occasional sprinkling of Clay’s fertiliser. As the 
season advances, with its shortening days and less sun, less water will be 
required. 
“ We now pass on to the storing of the plants during winter. Although 
the Strawberry is a thoroughly hardy plant some protection is needed 
when it is grown in pots to save the latter from being damaged by frost. 
Moreover, we must not forget that the roots growing round the sides of 
the pot would also suffer greatly were the plants not to receive some 
slight protection. Of course opinions differ as to the best modes of storing 
them for the winter, but I give preference to cold pits or frames where 
available. As we cannot always command these 1 have ours plunged in a 
bed of ashes at the foot of the front wall (outside) of a long range of 
Peach houses. Lights and wooden shutters are placed over the plants, 
the lower parts of which rest on empty flower pots, and thus allow a free 
circulation of air among the plants. There is, it is true, a slight disad¬ 
vantage in this system, as during very severe weather the plants would be 
frozen ; but even this may be overcome by putting an ample covering of 
mats or litter on. 
“ As to the question of the most suitable structures adapted for forcing 
the Strawberry there can be no doubt as to the superiority of a special 
house for that purpose, but as my experience does not extend to a special 
structure I shall confine myself to describing my own practice in forcing 
on shelves in ordinary fruit houses. I usually take my first plants in 
when I close the first Peach house, which is generally done iu the early 
part of J anuary, and there they come on gradually with the Peach trees. 
Fresh supplies are brought in as required, and I always endeavour to get 
the first supply of fruit ripe by the first week in April, and to maintain 
thenceforward a constant supply daily. The plants are stood in saucers 
on the shelves, and until fruit is set are supplied with pure water only. 
After the fruit has begun to swell we commence to treat the plants 
liberally with liquid manure or Clay’s fertiliser, watering them twice 
a day to assist the fruit in swelling rapidly. Great care is now neces¬ 
sary in seeing that the plants do not suffer from want of water, other¬ 
wise the fruit will fail to attain a large size or a good flavour. As soon as 
the fruit has reached the ripening stage the plants are lifted out of the 
saucers, and no more water is given than is requisite to prevent the leaves 
from flagging. On hot sunny days it is sometimes necessary to give a 
little more water, because the fruit will become heated and lose much of 
its flavour if allowed to get too dry at the roots. This, however, is a 
question requiring the exercise of a little judgment. The flavour is a 
most important point, for no matter how large in size or rich in colour the 
forced fruits of Strawberries may be, if it lacks flavour it will not be 
appreciated. 
“ The varieties we grow are Yicomtesse Hdricart de Thury and British 
Queen. The first named is our principal one, and a very fine variety it is.” 
An interesting discussion followed the reading of the paper, each 
speaker taking up parts of the subject which had been left unsaid by the 
other. One member pointed out the value of placing thin turves on the 
shelves on which to rest the pots as being far superior to saucers. The 
roots would penetrate through the bottom of the pot into the turves, and 
thus receive an additional support in the shape of a cool moist medium for 
its roots, and not only this, the turves would receive the surplus manurial 
elements which often passed through the soil and out of the pot without 
losing much of its value, and consequently was wasted. 
The same speaker also advocated the employment of crushed bones in¬ 
stead of potsherds, except one piece over the hole for acting as drainage in 
the growing pots. This he had practised with great success, both plants 
and fruit being remarkably fine. His practice was to place about inch 
of the crushed bones in the 6-inch pot, and as a rule before many 
weeks a mass of roots had taken possession of the boxes. Reference 
were also made by him to the early history of Strawberry forcing 8 
stating on the authority of Switzer and other writers that Strawberries! 
were forced on dung beds as early as the sixteenth centuiy. Daiues 
Barrington, an old writer, states that King Charles II. had forced Straw¬ 
berries and ice creams at a grand dinner in the month of April. The mode 
of preparing and forcing the plants was, however, not a very simple one 
judging from the following ex ract taken from Hill’s “Eden,” published 
in the early part of the last century. 
“ There is one kind that succeeds better than the others. This is the 
scarlet Strawberry. It will be proper to mix three or four plants of the 
great Chili Strawberry among them. These with good management will 
succeed, and their fruit, which is as big as a pullet’s egg, will make a fine 
figure among the rest in the dessert. Let as many' middle-siz’d pots be pro¬ 
vided as will stand in a moderate hotbed, bring in some dry earth from the 
turf in a rich pasture, and shake in among it a little wood soot and some fat 
marie ; or, in want of that, a little soft chalk. With this, when well mixed, 
cover the bottom of the pots 3 inches deep. Let a hotbed be got ready, and 
let care be taken that it has an equal and moderate heat. Let the gardener 
take the opportunity of the first mild day, when the earth is loosened from 
the preceding frosts. To take up the plants in this manner he must mark 
the strongest roots in his scarht Strawberry beds, which he will easily dis¬ 
tinguish at this season if they have been manag’d as we directed. The 
pots must be brought to the place, and these plants taken up by cutting in 
all round them. If there be any mix’d roots let them be trimm’d off, and 
let the plant with its ball be plac’d upright in the pot ; then fill up with the 
compost and draw a little of it about the head of the plant.” This writer 
after advising the pots to be plunged up to the rim in mould on the hotbed, 
goes on to say, “ In tolerable weather let them have air, and let them be 
water’d often alit'leata time. This will bring them forward very fast, 
and the heat of the bed being kept up by fresh dung at the sides the fruit 
will ripen in quantity and be tolerably well tasted. The Chili pots will 
require more water than the others, and they should be plac’d at the 
corners of the bed.” 
The foregoing is copied verbatim from the January calendar in the 
