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Diseased plauts, or plants much infested with insects, cannot produce good healthy fruit,
is a most nernicious disease to all sorts of plants. On melons it generally makes its first a' , . 1 — A____!a!„^___r AU., ....... 1___A. rrii „rt ja ^ u„„iau — ;
The mildew
......___________ _ ___ . ^ ^ .t appearance on
th e oldest leaves, and on the extremities of th e young shoots. The cause of it is unhealthy nourishment,
taken in by the roots of the plants.
3293. Red spider. When melon-pl.ants have become diseased, or much infested with the red spider,
they should cither be destroyed, or elfectual means used to cure them. To destroy the plants is easy; to
cure them, the following method may be put in practice: — “ Procure fresh linings, and as soon as they
have cast a strong heat into the beds, scatter some flowers of sulphur all over th e plants, and keep as
strong a heat in the frame as tho plants can b ea r; a heat of 120° will not destroy them, if the steam o fth e
linings be prevented from getting in among the plants. Water the plants all over their leaves about
once a week with clean water 10(5° warm; and if the sun shine, keep the lights close shut down all day,
and cover them up in the evening, leaving a little air all night at each light, to prevent a stagnation of
air among the plants. Continue this process till the mildew and the insects disappear, and the plants
api>oar to grow freely, and afterwards manage them in the usual way, taking care to keep up a good
strong heat in the linings. This method sets the old stagnated bed in a fermentation, which makes the
moisture run out of it, and dries it so. that wator given to the plants has free liberty to pass off. If the
linings do not heat the air in the frames sufficiently, let some of the earth in the inside all round the sides
of the boards be removed, to let the heat from the linings rise freely in the frame.” (Abera-ombic.)
S e c t . V I U . Forcing the Strawberry in Hothouses, Pits, and Hotbeds.
3294. The strawberry is forced in every description of forcing-house, and also in the
pinery, thougli the heat of the latter often prevents the setting of the blossoms. Where
they arc forced in largo quantities, it is a good method to apjily a pit to thcir sole cultivation.
MT’hail says, “ they will occasionally do well in a hothouse for growing the
p in e ; but a heat sufficient to force peaches and nectarines is more natural, and more
likely to secure the obtaining of good crops of fine fruit. A good way of forcing the
strawberry,” he adds, “ is to bring them forward in a gentle heat in melon-framcs, till the
fruit be nearly about half swelled, and then to give them a stronger heat to ripen them.”
(Gard. liem., p. 29.) Nicol thinks, “ the climate o fth e cheiTy-honsc most suitable to the
nature of strawberries; they will do well in a hotbed ; but the best method is to force
them in flued pits, or pits heated by steam or hot water, such as those used for mu’sing
pines.”
3295. Soil. All agree th a t strawberries to be forced in pots require a strong and very rich loamy
earth.
3296. Choice o f sorts. Abercrombie and Nicol recommend the alpine ; to which Mr. Thompson adds
Keens’s seedling, the British Queen, th e Elton, the Princess Royal, and the Roseberry. Morgan {Uort.
Trans., vol. ii. p. 376.) begins with the alpines ; n ex t he takes the Bath scarlets and common scarlets ;
and after these the pines.
3297. Potting and preparation o f the plants. Abercrombie says, the plants selected should be two years
old, having attained a foil bearing s ta te ; but now the strongest runners are laid at once in small sixties,
and after they are well rooted, they are put into larger pots to be forced.
3298. New runners of the present summer may be potted in July and August, and forced in pots for
the same season. Two or three offsets may be planted in one large pot. Sometimes, when the plants
are very strong, they are forced a second year ; and if not, they may be planted in the open ground.
3299. Runners made last year may be potted in .April, and then plunged in the earth, to be nursed
throughout the growing season with a view to forcing, having such blossoms appear, pinched . . . off,-
while the roots are c efully Vrt
3300. Stools o f two years' standing, which have borne one crop, may be put into pots ... .A ugust,
September, or October Theymay also be put into pots during any mild interval from the beginning
of November till th e end of th e year; but they will not be so strong and well rooted. The method of
potting established bearers is this. The pots should be twenty-fours or thirty-twos; provide at the same
time some fresh and good rich loam. P u t some of the earth, well broken with the spade, and free from
grubs or hurtful worms, into each pot, to the depth of S in. or 4 in. Then take up the plants, with a ball
of earth to the root of each ; pare the ball with a knife till it be pretty ro u n d ; and having cleared the
stem of the plant from any withered or rotten leaves, place it in the pot, which fill up to the surface of
th e ball with the prepared earth. Water the plants as they are potted, and remove them to a warm
situation. On the approach of winter, all the potted plants, whether established bearers or runners,
should be placed under a frame, or other sufticient shelter, till the hotbed or forcing house is ready to
receive them.
3301. M'Phail s&ys, “ strawberry plants intended for forcing should be planted in pots eight or ten
months before they be set into the forcing-house ; or strong plants may be taken up with th e balls of
earth about their roots, and be potted and set into the forcing-house immediately.”
3302. Nicol says, “ some force old roots or stools, and others the runners only. Those who force the
old roots generally take them up and pot them about October or November; raising a bulk from the bed
or row, nearly sufficient to fill a 9 or 10 inch pot, of plants three or more years old. Others plant
runners o fth e former year in April, three or four in a large pot, or two in a middle-sized one, and plunge
them in the earth all summer, giving them occasional waterings, and taking proper care of them. These
succeed better than old roots, treated as above. When I was in the practice of forcing strawberries, I
used to prepare my plants in the following m;inner: — In July or August, 1 planted runners of th at season,
throe in a 9 or 10 inch pot, watered them, and placed them in the shade for a few days; then plunged
them to the brim, in a ireely exposed situation. In October, their leaves were dressed off, and the plants
trimmed; and before winter, they were covered with a little dry litter, in order to preserve the pots from
th e effects of frost. The following spring, any flowers that made their appearance were pinched off; and
throughout the summer, the plants were occasionally refreshed with water, and kept clear from weeds.
In autumn, the leaves were again dressed off as before; and when taken up for forcing, the pots were
dressed, and fresh earthed a t top, previous to being placed in th e forcing-house. This method of preparing
the plants is no doubt more troublesome than either of the above-mentioned; but the plants, by
being completely established, and of a proper age, produce better crops. I have tried all the three ways
repeatedly, and prefer the last.”
3303. Morgan raises his alpines from seed, sowing in January in frames or boxes to be placed in a gentle
h e a t; he hardens them after they come up by removal to a cooler situa tion; pots in May in pots 6 in.
diameter and 6 in. deep. In October they are in flower, when he puts thorn under shelter, and in the
latter end of November he places them in the forcing-house or pinery, where they bear fruit through
th e winter. The scarlets he pots, three plants in a pot, of the same size as those used for tho alpines in
May, or early in June, taking the runners ofthe previous y ea r; he picks off the blossoms as they appear,
807
and keeps them in a shady place till January, when he places them in the forcing-house on shelves 18in.
from the glass, each pot in a pan. The pine-strawberries he pots in th e same manner, and takes them
into the forcing-housc in February or March.
3304. Tima ofheginning to force. If the fruit be wanted very early, the plants are put in hotbeds, or
pits, in October; but the crops from strawberries so forced, Nicol thinks hardly worth the trouble. Abercrombie
says, “ Begin to force strawberries about nine weeks before you w'ant to gather fruit. Plants
excited before the 1st of January seldom repay the trouble ; and in proportion as the time of beginning
to force approaches the vernal equinox, the returns are more abundant. To have a succession, reserve
sets of potted plants for removal into a house, or frame, every three weeks, till the middle of M arch.” He
adds, “ strawberries taken into the house in March, fruit in higher perfection than those forced earlier.”
M'Phail and Nicol begin in January. The latter observes, “ those who force strawberrie.s to a considerable
extent, perhaps a thousand pots, bring them in, in different successions, perhaps a hundred or two at a
time ; this is, in places where there are several forcing-houses.” {Kal., p. 330.) M'Phail says, “ when
the weather begins to get cold in September, strawberries of the alpine kind in pots may be set in aforcing-
house or brick frame; and if theybe in good health, they will produce fruit for a considerable time. They
require only a gentle heat of from .50° to 60° ; give them water occasionally, but as there is constantly
blossom and fruit on them, they need not be watered all over broad cast. Give them great plenty of a i r :
they only require protection from heavy rains and cold weather.”
3305. Temperature. Abercrombie says, begin at 40°, and raise the heat as in the cherry-house. H’hcn
a pit IS employed, Nicol directs the pots to be plunged in a mild b a rk -h c a t; and the temperature, by the
aid of the flues, to bo kept at 50°, and 5.5° or 60° in sunshine. Such treatment will make the plants thrive,
and the fruit set freely. Morgan prefers beginning with the heat of a frame on dung, or a pit, and then
moves to the peach-house ; and, after the fruit is set, removes his plants to ripen in the vinery or stove.
Scarlets, he finds, bear more heat than the other sorts.
330(1. A ir and water. The former is to be freely admitted in good we ather; and the latter plentifully
/ip p lie d at all times, until the fruit begins to ripen off. Then it is to be withheld, lest the flavour become
insipid. Morgan prefers supplying it from pans, in order not to ro t the hearts of the plants. He gives
as little water as possible when the plants are nearly ripe, this being essential in order to have sood-
flavourod fruit.
3307. Treatment after gatho'ing the fr u it. The strawberry, it is generally considered, will not force
th e year after like fruit trees ; but must be rested by plunging in the open ground for one or two years,
pinching off all blossoms as they appear. Williams, however, states that “ the scarlet strawberry, after
allbrding a crop of fruit in the hothouse early in the spring, if carefully removed out of (he pots or boxes,
and placed in the open ground, will yield another crop of fruit in September. The second crop is very
abundant, the warm rains of July an(3 August proving highly favourable to the growth o fth e fru it; ancl,
as there is no othcv strawberry to be had a t this season of the year, except the alpine, the addition of the
scarlet makes a pleasing variety in the dessert.” {Uort. Tr., vol. ii. p. 93.) Morgan observes, without
limiting his observation to any one sort, that “ after the fruit has been gathered from the plants, the pots
should be plunged into a shady border, giving them a good watering, and a t the same time cutting off
th e leaves: when thus treated, they will, in th e year following, produce as good crops in forcing as fresh-
potted p lan ts; if not wanted for this purpose, they may be turned out into the natural ground, and will
then bear a crop in the autumn of the same year, as described by Williams above.”
S e c t . IX. Forcing Asparagus in Pits and Hotbeds.
3308. Asparagus is forced with equal or with greater success, ancl with less trouble,
in ilued pits, or in pits heated by steam or hot water, than in dung liotbeds. M'Phail
recommends his brick-bed for this purpose. The roots, Nicol states, may either bo
forced on bark, or on dung, or on dung and b a rk ; but old half-rotten bark, in wiiich
there is not much heat, is to be prefen-ed. Next to this he uses well fermented dung
underneath, and oid bark to the thickness of 1 ft. or 15 in. at top. “ I f dung alone, or
a mixture of dung and leaves, be nsed, it should be cai-efully fermented, and should be
in a state past heating violently before it is put into the pit. In this case, obseri'c to
finisli the bed with tlie smallest and driest pai-t of the materials.” Ross (Hort. Tram.,
vol. ii. p. 361.), instead of a warm stratum of dung or tan, places his roots on a coltl
bed of the latter, on which nursing-pines or melons have been gi'own, but which has
ceased to ferment. He then applies wai-m linings to the sides, and thus produces the
requisite degi-ee of heat.
3309. Choice o f plants. M'Phail says, take roots of any age th a t bear fine grass. Nicol says they
should not be under four years old, nor above eight. Abercrombie takes plants of two or three years’
standing.
3310. Planting. M'Phail says, “ lay on the surface of the bark-bed from 6 in. to 8 in. of vegetable
mould, or any other sort of light earth, that the heat may easily ascend through, and of such a texture
as does not retain water. Take up plants, no matter what age they are, which produce fine asparagus,
trim their roots, and place them in rows on th e b e d s ; ivhen one row is laid, strew a little fine mould
among the ro o ts ; then proceed in the same way with one row after another, keeping them on a level,
as the surface of the bed a t first lay, till you have finished planting them ; then lay among the buds
and roots some fine vegetable, or other light rich mould, working it in among them with your fingers,
and cover th e buds over about 1 in. thick, and above that lay 3 in. in depth of vegetable mould not very
rotten, but such as th e water will run quickly through. If you have not got vegetable mould of this
description, old tan, not very fine, will answer the purpose equally well. If there is a strong heat in
the bed, let the glasses remain off till it begin to decline.” Nicol directs, that the roots in the beds in
th e open air, which are to be taken up and forced, should be kept covered with litter, so as to be easy to
come a t in time of frost.
3311. Time q f beginning to force. Abercrombie says, if in mid-winter, begin six weeks before you
propose to have a crop ; when the days are longer, five weeks, or but a calendar month before. Nicol
says, those who wish to have the asparagus on the table a t Christmas, should prepare for forcing it in
November, to have a continual succession.
3312. Temperature. The temperature a t night should never be under 50°. In the daytime keep the
maximum heat down to 62°. “ If by the heat of the bark or dung, and the use of mats or canvas covers
at night, the thermometer stand as high as 50°,fire-heat will be unnecessary; but otherwise recourse
must be had to the flues. A very moderate degree of fire-heat, however, will be sufficient; and a small
fire made in the envening will generally answer the purpose. Sometimes, iu dull hazy weather, a fire
may be necessary in the morning, in order to enable you to admit air more freely, and to dry off damp.”
{Abercrombie and Nicol.)
3313. Air must be freely admitted every day, in some cases, to allow any steam to pass o ff; and for the
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