New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 477 



The sandy loam, Soil 8, gave earlier, slightly heavier and much 

 better lettuce than the clay loam, Soil 7; but when manure was 

 added to each at the rate of 33 1-3 per cent quite different results 

 followed, the clay loam and manure, Soil 10, yielding much earlier, 

 healthier and heavier lettuce than the sandy loam and manure, 

 Soil 9. In fact Soil 10 proved to be the best mixture which was 

 tried with Crop IV, the lettuce which was grown on it being from 

 3 to 13 days earlier, as well as heavier and better than that which 

 was grown on the other soils. 



On comparing the records of the two soils which contained the 

 sandy loam, namely Soils 8 and 9, it is seen that in firmness, texture 

 and general appearance the crop on Soil 8 which had no stable 

 manure, ranked far above that on Soil 9, one-third of which was 

 composed of stable manure. Moreover, it was practically free 

 from tip-burn while the lettuce on Soil 9 suffered seriously from 

 this trouble. The mixing of partly rotted manure with the very 

 light sandy loam gave a soil so loose in texture that capillary action 

 was too much interfered with to get the best results in plant growth. 

 This is the only apparent explanation of the fact that Soil 9 did 

 not grow as good lettuce as Soil 8 although it was much richer in 

 plant food. 



That the clay loam should give better results in forcing head 

 lettuce than the sandy loam is especially significant, because in 

 many instances commercial growers seem to prefer a sandy soil 

 for forcing lettuce. Mr. F. L. Marsh, of the Michigan Fruit 

 Grower, has very kindly furnished for publication here a statement 

 of the way in which the forcing of lettuce 4 has become localized 

 in a certain section of Grand Rapids, Michigan, because of the 

 character of the soil which is found there. He says, "Lettuce 

 growers at Grand Rapids are agreed that sand, light but fine, is 

 the most suitable soil for culture "of that plant. Its porosity seems 



4 It should be remarked that the kind of lettuce grown at Grand Kapids is 

 not a head lettuce but an earlier maturing loose lettuce known by the name 

 " Grand Rapids," while in the experiments at this Station only varieties of 

 head lettuce were tried. 



