Vol. LYI. No. 2453. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 30, 1897. 
*1.00 PER YEAR. 
RIPE STRAWBERRIES IN JANUARY. 
HOW THE FRUIT IS GROWN UNDER GLASS. 
A Fragrant Business That Demands Sunshine. 
Strawberry growing under glass, like vegetable 
forcing, now suffers from southern competition ; but 
the choicest berries sent into New York in winter are 
still the northern greenhouse product. About 20 
years ago, Mr. Bonhomme, a French fruit grower of 
Hackensack, N. J., began to grow strawberries under 
glass, and the business is still carried on by his son, 
though conditions have materially changed. At first, 
the berries were grown in small houses heated by 
flues, but the present structures are supplied with 
modern steam pipes. 
The houses at this place cover about half an acre of 
ground. One block of even-span houses runs north 
and south ; other isolated three-quarter span struc¬ 
tures run east and west, with long span to the south. 
They are all sash roofs, ventilation being provided by 
raising the sash, 
as was formerly 
done in rose 
and carnation 
houses. In the 
three-q u a r t e r 
span houses, 
further ventila¬ 
tion is provided 
on the north side 
by means of a 
series of round 
holes about four 
inches in diame¬ 
ter, closed by 
wooden slides. 
The houses are 
seven or eight 
feet high, and 
the strawberries 
are planted out 
on wooden 
benches or 
tables about 
four feet high, 
bringing the 
plants quite 
near the glass. 
The varieties 
grown, said Mr. 
John Ise, in 
charge in Mr. 
Bonhomme’s ab- 
sence, are 
Green’s Prolific 
and Sharpless. 
They do not 
grow any of the foreign forcing berries, of whose size 
and flavor we hear such remarkable accounts, prefer¬ 
ring to continue growing varieties they know, and 
whose qualities fully meet the demands of the mar¬ 
ket. The beds are emptied each season, new plants 
and new soil being provided. The soil is a mellow 
loam, which would appear to a florist ideal for carna¬ 
tions. It is thoroughly well-rotted, having been 
stacked up in a compost heap for two years. The 
preparation is the same as for roses or carnations ; the 
soil, preferably from the surface of new land, is 
stacked up in alternate layers with manure, later to 
be chopped down, turned over, and stacked again, 
that the weather may have a good chance to act upon 
it. It is well pulverized when put into the beds, the 
depth of soil being five inches. No commercial fer¬ 
tilizers are used. 
The plants are young runners, grown outside, and 
planted in the benches early in September, five or six 
inches apart. Firing usually begins early in Novem¬ 
ber, but some of the houses are kept cool to produce 
a succession. The houses encouraged to come into 
bearing are kept at a high temperature, 60 degrees at 
night, and in the day they may run up to 90 degrees 
with sun heat. On warm, sunny days, free ventila¬ 
tion is used to give a warm, buoyant atmosphere. 
Watering is managed with great care. An ordinary 
hose is used, with pressure from city water-works, 
without sprinkler attachment, the stream being 
altered or divided by the operator’s fingers. It is 
managed with such skill that the earth is never 
washed out, nor splashed up upon plants or berries. 
During the winter, the beds do not dry out very 
rapidly, yet a daily sprinkling must be given, or red 
spider, the inevitable result of a dry, hot atmosphere, 
will surely appear. On the other hand, an excess of 
moisture invariably results in mildew, a source of 
very serious damage. A few days of dark, damp or 
foggy weather are always followed by mildew, and, 
when such weather continues for any length of time, 
the loss of an entire crop may result. As Mr. Ise says, 
over-watering is always followed by mildew, and over¬ 
dryness by red spider ; yet either of these troubles 
may follow some sudden climatic change, which could 
not be foreseen by the grower. 
No mulch is used on the bed, and the surface is fre¬ 
quently gently stirred, to prevent the growth of the 
green moss often seen on undisturbed earth, a con¬ 
dition which would also invite mildew. As soon as 
the flower opens, a little crotched twig, stuck upright 
into the earth, is put under it; this supports both 
flower and fruit. If the flower is not supported, it is 
very likely to mildew without setting fruit, and it is 
equally necessary to support the fruit, both to keep 
it clean, and to ripen it properly. 
The first ripe berries are usually sent in each year a 
few days before Christmas. This season the first ber¬ 
ries, sent in about December 20, sold for $2 a cup 
wholesale. The berries are perfect in color and finish, 
and the houses in which they are ripening are heavy 
with the characteristic strawberry fragrance. The 
price paid for them drops very rapidly after the first 
pickings, for the southern berries come in earlier 
every year. This year, in addition to the regular 
shipments from Florida, which came very early, 
strawberries from California made their appearance. 
It really seems impossible that these fruits could have 
any flavor, for nothing is more evanescent than the 
delicate strawberry fragrance ; but they would un¬ 
doubtedly lower the market for the hothouse product. 
Insect enemies are comparatively few, but much 
damage is otten done by a small black cutworm, which 
nips off the stem of the young fruit. This marauder 
must be searched for close around the stem of the 
plant, and destroyed ; he remains invisible during 
the day. 
The plants are kept bearing in succession until 
spring. No successional crop is grown to follow the 
strawberries ; lettuce had been tried after the earliest 
crop of berries, but was discarded. Mr. Ise was asked 
whether they 
had experiment¬ 
ed with toma¬ 
toes in these 
houses, but he 
said that they 
considered it 
better to let 
them lie idle 
when not oceu- 
pied by the 
strawberries, be¬ 
lieving that they 
got better re¬ 
sults from de¬ 
voting all their 
attention to this 
specialty. 
The berries, 
when gathered, 
are allowed to 
become a shade 
riper than in 
field picking, 
and are handled 
very carefully, 
the stem being 
cleanly nipped 
through, with 
care to preserve 
the perfect hull 
or calyx, which 
adds much to the 
beauty of the 
fruit. The ber¬ 
ries are sold in 
small,pyramidal 
baskets or “cups”, holding about one-third of a 
quart. These are packed in baskets, about three in a 
basket, and delivered to the commission house by 
messenger, never shipped by express. 
Continued dark weather soon affects the crop, and 
this cannot be guarded against. Without sun, it is 
impossible properly to color the fruit, no matter how 
carefully the temperature is regulated. Last winter, 
Mr. Ise says, continued fogs caused very great dam¬ 
age ; in such weather, there is not only the constant 
risk of mildew, but the fruit does not set well. It 
will be seen that there is no very large margin for 
profit, even when apparently high prices are obtained ; 
but these berries must appeal to the most critical and 
exacting buyers, in spite of the keen competition from 
the South. Abroad, forced strawberries are very fre¬ 
quently giown in pots, placed very near the glass. A 
great advantage of pot culture is that the plant may 
be moved about to any position most favorable to the 
fruit. e. t. R. 
IT HAS SERVED ITS PURPOSE FOR AN OLDER GENERATION. See Editorial Page. Fig. 35 . 
