December 12.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
161 
attached themselves to every art, in proportion to its 
want of a sound and scientific basis. Thus far then as 
to inferior plants, we will now say a few words about 
good plants, and bow to proceed in their first stages. 
Some say, put them in a cool vinery ; some in the 
greenhouse ; some in the peach house; and others in a 
frame or pit. Now, this mode of teaching young begin¬ 
ners is-not good. What boots it as to what structure 
they may be in, provided the main conditions as regards 
light, atmospheric moisture, air, and heat, in a due rela¬ 
tion to each other, be secured ? Young beginners will 
never learn principles by these means. It is a matter 
of perfect indifference to the strawberry, or indeed to 
any other fruit or plant, what the structure is, if it is 
such as to subserve those great principles. Let, there¬ 
fore, the inexperienced at once learn not only the in¬ 
dividual importance of any of these principles abstract¬ 
edly, but of the whole conjunctively. 
We come now to a most important consideration, as 
bearing on strawberry forcing, viz., whether it is more 
there turning light, or the warmth, of spring that first in¬ 
duces a development of the parts. To say that it is both, 
is to fly to a sort of truism of almost universal application 
in the vegetable world; nevertheless, it may not be the 
less true, that the one agent exercises greater influence 
than the other. Be this as it may, there is one fact 
connected with mere temperature which deserves atten¬ 
tive consideration : viz., the relation the ground heat 
bears to that of the atmosphere. There can be little 
doubt, that from the end of November until the end of 
January, the soil at a foot deep out of doors is on the 
average some eight or ten degrees in advance of the atmo¬ 
sphere. Now, if this be true, we may ask, what is the con¬ 
sequence of such a discrepancy ? and whether such is 
obtained on the shelves of any of the houses before- 
named ? As to the first, we will attempt a solution; 
to the second, we boldly answer— No! 
In considering this affair let us, in the first place, con¬ 
sider the strawberry as an herbaceous evergreen, and 
amenable in a great degree to the same influence through 
ground temperature, &c., as other hardy evergreens. 
Being, moreover, natives for the most part of temperate 
climes, they must be liable in their native habitats to the 
kind of discrepancy in temperature before alluded to; 
hence it becomes almost a necessary condition of their 
well being. 
Now, we do know that almost all hardy evergreens in 
our climate continue to increase in the volume of the 
root all the winter, if not an entire renewal of some 
portions. Such admitted, and no corresponding increase 
in the foliage, what becomes of the ascending juices, 
for ascend we presume they must ? 
Doctors differ—so do gardeners; but our version of the 
matter stands thus : from or about the period at which 
the strawberry ceases to grow, or rather to elongate in 
its parts (which will bo about the time, in general, that 
it ceases to produce runners), the whole system of the 
j>lant becomes almost entirely elaborative—that is to 
say, the natural enlargement of all the parts being com¬ 
pleted, nature directs all the energies of the plant 
towards digesting and storing up its materials for the 
present perfecting of its parts, a.nd for future growth, 
and the fruit in its day has the power of appropriating 
what is necessary. During these continuous processes, 
which involve, of course, a considerable amount of 
perspiration, much of the watery fluid by which the 
plant became charged dining the period of active vege¬ 
tation passes off, and leaves the tissues of the plants 
comparatively empty. Thus it is with most of our 
bulbous tribes; and, under such circumstances, it would 
seem to be necessary that many weeks of root action, 
without any excitement in the leaf or bud, becomes 
necessary, in order to create the first genuine impulse to 
the awakening bud. 
If tlris be anything like sound doctrine, does it not 
point to a discrepancy in temperature in the earlier 
stages of strawberry forcing as a necessary procedure ? 
Does it not throw light on the idea that has of late been 
a favourite one with most of our best gardeners—viz., 
that in most forcing cases the root should be in advance 
of the top ? Assuredly it will be found good practice 
with the strawberry; and we, therefore, strenuously 
advise that the early strawberries, at least, pass the first 
month of their forcing (if such it may be termed) in 
some structure where they may be plunged in a steady 
temperature of 60° as to ground heat, whilst the crown 
of the plant is in an atmosphere fluctuating between 
40° and 45°. 
Sixty degrees will, perhaps, appear as an almost imma¬ 
terial amount to some persons, but it is not so to plants 
which have for weeks been subjected to a temperature 
of 45° to 50°. Moreover, it is not far wide of the ground 
heat the strawberry receives dining the latter part of 
April—the very period at which the first spring develop¬ 
ments are taking place, and which of course corresponds 
with the period we are now prescribing for. This 
practice is, we know, backed by most good cultivators 
of the present day, in principle at least; in this, how¬ 
ever, as in many other things, mere expediency—that 
offspring of moral cowardice—or an undue pressure of col¬ 
lateral affairs, too often dictates the course to be pursued. 
Now, assuming those doctrines to he correct, for the 
sake of carrying out the argument, it follows that the 
earliest stage of forcing would be as well carried on out¬ 
doors as in, and then all the fuss about their situation 
in the houses set aside. And here we meet again the 
practice of our best cultivators, wbo say there is nothing 
like cold frames or pits, if you can spare them , for 
wintering in. 
Our advice, then, is, to those who would force very 
early strawberries, to sink a brick pit, or pits, below the 
ground level—say two feet. Let it be made half a 
yard wider all round than the frame intended to be set 
upon it. Introduce fermenting material in the middle 
of October, finishing with a coating of old tan. In 
this instantly plunge the pots to their rims ; and take 
care, by free ventilation, to keep the surface temperature 
down—say ranging from 40° to 45°. The frame being 
half a yard narrower than the pit, linings may be 
applied subsequently, so as to excite the bottom-heat, if 
necessary. Of course, if the bottom-heat became too 
strong, a little cold water introduced, by lifting out a 
pot here and there, would set all right. Let it be under¬ 
stood, however, that the pit wall terminates even with 
the ground, and that the frame is not put over the 
plunged pots until frost arrives. Those who can imitate 
the principles here laid down, by a bottom-heat of 
piping in a chamber, would do well; and were we gar¬ 
dener to some go-ahead millionaire, we would instantly 
establish some such a thing, never fearing the result. 
Indeed, this plan of exciting autumn or early winter 
things, by means of an out-door bottom-heat (if I may 
so term it), is a new idea of some import, in our opinion; 
or if not new, folks have hitherto been very shy in 
enunciating its principle. 
There can be little doubt but that most of our early ! 
winter flower-forcing should rest on this basis; for why 
introduce tilings to heat of a sudden, and at a given 
date, as though every gardening process had to be guided 
by an act of Parliament ? The doctrine of the necessity ! 
of a periodical rest—a wholesome doctrine in itself—has 
been too severely strained in many such cases ; and it | 
does appear to us that many things destined for mid¬ 
winter or late autumn work should never be allowed to 
sink into absolute repose through low temperature—the 
partial repose, or rather concentration of energies, in 
duced by well-matured elaborations, being, in all proba¬ 
bility, all that is required. R. Errington. 
