JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  28,  1901. 
\  182 
each  of  charcoal  and  wood  ashes,  bones  and  artificials  were  out  of  the 
question  ;  after  mixing  well  I  made  the  border,  only  3  feet  wide  the 
first  year,  and  2  feet  6  inches  deep.  I  purchased  the  necessary  Vines 
irom  a  well-known  firm,  demanding  well-ripened  yearlings  at  best 
prices.  These,  on  arrival,  I  pruned  to  about  3  feet,  and  placed  them 
in  a  cold  Peach  house.  In  the  beginning  of  April,  as  the  buds  showed 
slight  expansion,  I  turned  them  out  of  their  pots  into  a  large  tub  of 
tepid  water,  and  with  a  little  careful  manipulation  the  roots  were  soon 
divested  of  soil,  and  thereby  I  was  able  to  spread  them  out  evenly  in 
planting,  covering  the  roots  with  4  inches  of  fine  soil  previously 
prepared.  Doubtless  the  experienced  reader  will  think  it  inconsistent 
with  good  practice  to  leave  the  rods  so  long,  but  my  border  being 
entirely  outside  I  had  to  put  them  through  a  wall,  and  the  extra 
length  enabled  me  to  do  this,  and  also  bring  the  leading  buds  up  to  the 
light,  about  2  feet  from  the  roof  glass.  I  gave  very  little  fire  heat, 
and  they  made  good  progress  the 
first  season,  but  with  one  or  two 
exceptions  I  cut  all  back  to  the 
bottom  of  the  rafter.  Next  season 
they  made  fine  growth,  as  thick  as 
your  finger,  and  I  have  every  hope 
of  securing  exhibition  fruit  ;  those 
that  were  cropped  the  first  year 
bore  three  bunches  each.  The 
Grape  was  Madresfield  Court. 
I  will  now  return  to  those  I 
left  for  keeping  up  the  supply, 
commencing  with  border  and  roots. 
I  once  saw  a  good  gardener  “  who 
was  formerly  a  pupil  of  a  notable 
Grape  grower,”  do  something  which 
at  the  time  I  could  not  understand, 
and  which  now  I  think  a  useless 
waste  of  money — namely,  putting 
large  doses  of  artificial  manure  on 
an  outside  border,  when  the  roots 
were  not  within  2  feet  of  the  surface. 
Using  artificials  thus,  when  the 
feeding  roots  are  probably  20  yards 
away,  is  on  a  par  with  putting  a 
poultice  to  your  feet  for  toothache. 
Not  having  any  money  to  spare  I 
had  to  try  some  other  way.  Towards 
the  end  of  September  I  cleared 
away  all  the  soil  4  feet  from  the 
aperture  in  the  wall,  deep  eaough  to 
expose  a  few  roots.  These  I  notched 
in  several  places,  covered  them  with 
a  sprinkling  of  sand,  and  filled  in 
with  a  rich  compost  of  loam,  leaf 
soil,  and  old  horse  droppings.  In 
pruning  the  Vines,  also,  I  left  the 
beaten  track,  leaving  three  or  four 
buds  on  the  strongest  shoot  on  each 
spur,  this  on  the  lower  half,  the 
top  portion  being  cut  a  bit  closer. 
With  the  intention  of  leading  up  a 
young  cane  next  spring  I  selected 
a  well  placed  and  promising  shoot 
at  the  base  and  trained  it  up 
beside  the  spurs,  suppressing  all 
buds  on  the  latter  on  one  side  of 
the  cane  for  one-third  its  length  as 
soon  as  I  saw  that  the  shoot  was 
progressing.  The  young  cane  had 
an  abundance  of  room  for  the  first  5  feet,  and  I  gave  it  all  the 
light  possible  for  the  rest  of  the  way.  The  extension  given  and  the 
restriction  to  one  shoot  on  each  spur  improved  the  crop  considerably, 
and  now  I  get  Hamburghs  2  lbs.  in  weight.  Another  year  saw  5  feet 
more  of  spurs  cut  out,  this  time  on  both  sides  of  the  Vine,  and  the 
appearance  of  one  or  two  excellent  bunches  on  the  young  canes.  The 
work  is  not  yet  finished,  but  my  labour  is  repaid,  and  I  have  moreover 
succeeded  in  winning  the  confidence  of  my  sceptical  master. 
I  may  mention  that  1  was  rather  sceptical  about  the  results  of  the 
root-dressing,  but  on  making  an  examination  the  following  midsummer 
I  found  to  my  surprise  abundance  of  fine  roots  in  the  compost. 
Regarding  outside  borders,  I  think  that  giving  heavy  soakings  of 
water  to  them  where  the  drainage  is  defective,  as  it  generally  is  in  old 
borders,  may  be  advantageous  in  places  where  the  rainfall  is  small,  as 
in  the  south  and  eastern  counties  in  England,  but  in  the  north  and 
Scotland  I  question  it  very  much.  I  should,  however,  like  to  hear 
what  our  experienced  northern  champions  say  to  this.  In  conclusion, 
I  trust  all  young  gardeners  will  look  at  the  matter  seriously,  and 
remember  that  one  gains  even  by  one's  failures. — R.  M.  D. 
Young  Gardeners’  Domain. 
Hints  on  Strawberry  Forcing. 
The  forcing  of  Strawberries  is  such  au  important  branch  of  a 
gardener’s  duties  that  a  few  notes  on  the  details  of  the  subject  may  be 
of  value.  Where  there  is  not  the  advantage  of  a  properly  equipped 
Strawberry  house,  shelves  in  vineries  or  Peach  houses  are  usually 
utilised  for  the  purpose.  If  a  range  of  successional  fruit  houses  is 
available,  and  the  shelves  be  filled  with  Strawberries  at  the  time  of 
starting  the  houses,  an  unbroken  supply  is  insured.  A  very  important 
point  in  Strawberry  forcing  is  to  start  the  plants  gently,  say  in  a 
temperature  of  50°,  gradually  increasing  the  temperature  as  growth 
advances. 
Remove  all  decaying  foliage  and  wash  the  pots  before  introducing  to 
the  house.  Water  should  be  care¬ 
fully  supplied  at  first,  but  as  growth 
becomes  vigorous  copious  supplies 
are  needed  ;  indeed  it  is  often 
advisable  during  bright  weather 
in  April  and  May  to  stand  the 
plants  in  pans  of  water  to  guard 
against  the  risk  of  dryness,  but  a 
sour  condition  of  the  soil  is  detri¬ 
mental  to  the  well-being  of  the 
plants.  As  soon  as  root  action  has 
become  vigorous,  feeding  must  be 
resorted  to  and  continued  until 
the  fruit  shows  signs  of  colouring. 
Either  animal  or  chemical  manures 
may  be  used,  preferably  in  liquid 
form. 
Green  fly  is  rather  troublesome 
on  the  young  foliage,  and  should 
be  destroyed  by  fumigation.  Red 
spider  may  be  kept  in  check  by 
syringing,  though  this  is  rarely 
troublesome.  Keep  the  atmosphere 
of  the  house  rather  drier  during  the 
flowering  period  and  endeavour  to 
secure  a  good  set ;  brushing  over 
the  flowers  with  a  rabbit’s  tail  will 
aid  fertilisation. 
It  may  be  interesting  to  notice 
here  that  the  so-called  fruit  of  the 
Strawberry  is  not  botanically  the 
fruit,  but  only  the  enlarged  and 
succulent  receptacle  of  the  flower 
bearing  the  apocarpous  one-seeded 
fruits  or  achenes  (popularly  called 
seeds)  on  its  surface.  This  is  an 
important  point,  as  most  gardeners 
will  have  noticed  that  their  fruit 
sometimes  refuses  to  swell  regu¬ 
larly,  becoming  mis  -  shapen  and 
deformed.  This  is  due  to  imper¬ 
fect  fertilisation,  and  it  will  be 
noticed  that  where  the  receptacle 
is  deformed  the  ovaries  have  not 
been  fertilised. 
Carefully  guard  against  cold 
draughts  from  the  ventilators,  or 
mildew  will  certainly  put  in  an 
appearance,  particularly  during  the 
flowering  period.  We  have  always 
found  it  advisable,  on  the  principle 
that  “  prevention  is  better  than 
cure,”  to  syringe  or  dip  the  plants 
in  water,  in  which  some  flowers  of  sulphur  has  been  dissolved,  on  the 
least  sign  of  the  pest.  Sulphur  is  not  readily  soluble  in  water,  but  if 
sufficient  water  be  first  added  to  make  the  sulphur  into  a  thick  paste 
no  difficulty  will  be  experienced  in  obtaining  a  solution.  Remove  the 
sulphur  by  syringing  directly  the  fruit  shows  signs  of  colouring. 
As  soon  as  possible  the  fruit  should  be  thinned,  leaving  from  three 
to  six  fruits  on  each  truss,  according  to  the  variety  and  the  strength  of 
the  plants,  but  always  the  leading  fruits.  The  trusses  of  fruit  should 
then  be  supported  with  stakes ;  twiggy  branches  from  old  birch  brooms 
are  admirable  for  the  purpose.  They  should  be  inserted  in  a  slanting 
direction  away  from  the  plants,  the  fruits  being  allowed  to  hang  from 
the  twigs,  no  tying  being  required  if  the  operation  is  properly  performed. 
An  old  Scottish  gardener  of  my  acquaintance  and  an  excellent  fruit 
grower  was  very  particular  over  this  detail,  saying,  “  A  shelf  of  Straw¬ 
berries  not  worth  staking  is  not  worth  having,”  and  rightly  so,  for  if 
not  properly  supported  the  weight  of  the  fruit  will  always  bend  the 
pedicels  or  stalks  of  the  fruit  and  loss  of  flavour  will  be  the  result. 
I  have  here  confined  my  attention  to  the  treatment  of  plants  while 
in  the  houses  ;  the  preparation  of  plants  for  forcing  may  well  form  the 
subject  of  another  article  if  the  Editor  desires. — E.  C. 
