8 The Bulletin. 



DRAINAGE. 



Soils for lettuce-growing should be well drained. A wet soil is 

 always cold and slow in plant growth. Lettuce, being normally a 

 rapidly growing crop, does not do well on such a soil. When grown 

 slowly, lettuce is bluish in color, fibrous in texture and bitter in 

 flavor. There are some good lettuce soils which, owing to naturally 

 favorable locations, do not require artificial drainage. Most truck- 

 ing soils, however, are benefited by draining. The simplest method 

 is by open ditches deep enough to lower the water table below the 

 root range of the plants. If ditches do not need to be large, they 

 may be cheaply qnd conveniently "blinded" by the use of poles, pine- 

 tops and straw. Blind ditches, if properly made, will work well for 

 many years. Undoubtedly the most efficient drains are those made 

 of porous tile. Laterals should be 3 inches in diameter, 40 feet to 

 80 feet apart and 3 feet to 4 feet in depth, according to the nature 

 of the land. To quickly carry off heavy showers, it is usual to have 

 shallow furrows between beds. In the open. field the ground is laid 

 off in narrow lands. 



HUMUS A NECESSITY IN LETTUCE CULTURE. 



• 



In common with all quick-growing crops, lettuce requires a large 

 amount of humus in the soil. Experiments in this line during the 

 past two seasons have proved conclusively that lettuce cannot be 

 grown successfully on land deficient in humus. On two beds of old, " 

 worn soil included in the experiment, very few good heads were 

 obtained. The plants grew slowly, showed a bluish color and were 

 tough and bitter. Other beds on the same worn soil, with large addi- 

 tions of manure and vegetable matter, gave most excellent results. 

 Barn-yard manure is one of the best and surest means of adding 

 humus to soils, but lyifortunately in our trucking regions it is too 

 scarce and high-priced. The cheapest means of adding organic mat- 

 ter to soils is by the use of cover crops. Any quick-growing plant 

 that produces a considerable amount of vegetable tissue may be used 

 as a cover or green manuring crop, but of all the plants used for this 

 purpose there are none equal to the legTimes or pod-bearers. All 

 legumes, besides adding to the soil the organic matter in their tis- 

 sues, have the power of bearing upon their roots the nodules in which 

 bacteria store up nitrogen from the atmosphere. The nitrogen pro- 

 cured in this way is clear gain. Peas, beans, vetches, clover and cow- 

 peas may all be used for this purpose. For soil improvement in east- 

 ern North Carolina there is nothing equal to the cowpea. Lettuce- 

 growers should see to it that whenever their lettuce soils are not under 

 crop they should be storing humus and nitrogen from a crop of cow- 

 peas. 



