The Garden Under Glass

FORCING STRAWBERRIES IN POTS 177 from the old plants, and it would then be most convenient to get the pots off the beds and put them on a piece of ground with a cool ashed bottom. Yet another method, and one which I always adopt myself, is to layer the plants directly into their fruiting pots, which may be six inches in diameter. The great danger which accompanies this process is that the plants may be over-watered before the roots are able to well take hold of the soil. Although this method of layering into fruiting pots is known to produce good crops, it has also been fruitful in failures, and I cannot recommend it to amateurs generally, until they have themselves tried its merits with a few plants. The old way is the safer, the newer one far better, but the latter is only for experienced growers. Potting the Plants When the plants are layered in 3-inch pots they will by the end of August need to be transferred to 6-inch pots. Let clean, dry pots be used, and for a compost use good turfy loam, leaf-soil, mushroom manure, mortar nibble and. a slight admixture of Peruvian guano or Le Fruitier, also a scattering of soot. Stand the plants either on an ashed bottom, or preferably on boards, after they have been potted quite firmly. The pots will quickly be filled with roots and will then bear with liquid manure. This should not be very strong, but frequent, for as the winter approaches very little water will be needed. A sprinkling of some good Chemical manure may be given before the autumn is very far advanced. Treatment during Forcing Before forcing the plants are plunged in ashes or leaves to preserve the pots from frost, and if lights can be put over M