HORTICULTURE. 243 



Ensilage, or the preservation of green fodder, A. C. McDonald {Cape Town: 

 11'. A. Richards <}'• Sons, 1898, pp. 34, fiqs. 4). 



Crop notes, 0. Cxute (Florida Sta. Rpt. 1896, })p. 7-12). — Notes on Irish potatoes, 

 sweet potatoes, corn, cassava, peanuts, ehut'as. taro, velvet Dean, tropical yam, 

 canaigre, prickly comfrey, arrowroot, sachaline, ramie, beggar weed, Hat pea, crim- 

 son clover, alfalfa, etc., grown at the station and the De Fnniak Springs Substation 

 .luring 1896. 



HORTICULTURE. 



Pot culture of lettuce, R. L. Watts {Tennessee Sta. Bui. Vol. X, 

 No. 2, pp. 21-30 ', Jif/s. 5). — This is the report of an experiment to deter- 

 mine the best method of culture and marketing of forced lettuce to secure 

 the highest price for the product. 



In the latter part of August, seed of Grand Rapids lettuce was sown 

 in shallow flats of fine rich sandy soil. The young plants were set in 

 similar soil in 2 and 3 in. pots, and the pots were plunged close together 

 in a bed of sand. In about a month they were transferred to permanent 

 beds containing 8 in. of soil, 1 part sand, 1 part well rotted manure, and 

 2 parts loam, to which was added a liberal amount of muriate of potash 

 and dissolved rock phosphate. The pots were set about a foot apart 

 each way and covered with 4 in. of soil. At intervals during growth 

 each plant received h lb. sodium nitrate solution, made by adding 30 

 oz. of nitrate to 25 gal. water. A month in this bed was sufficient to 

 mature the crop. 



The use of pots was found to decrease the yield about 15 per cent. 

 There was little difference in the yield of lettuce in 2-in. and .'Sin. pots; 

 2-in. pots are recommended both for economy and convenience. The 

 yield from subirrigated beds was no greater than from surface-irrigated 

 beds, and there was no apparent difference in the quality of the lettuce 

 grown by the 2 methods. The author favors the use of ground beds 

 rather than benches. The best varieties of lettuce for forcing are noted 

 and general hints on lettuce culture are given. 



In marketing, some of the plants were slipped out of the pots and 

 wrapped in oiled paper ; others were left in the pots. The latter was 

 the most successful method since the plants remained crisp longer. 



Pot culture has the advantages of making it possible to retain the 

 crisp condition of the lettuce for a considerable time, of increasing the 

 attractiveness of the plants, of enabling both salesman and consumer 

 to have a constant supply of fresh lettuce, of economizing space in tem- 

 porary beds and time in permanent ones, and the like. Potted lettuce 

 sells for fully one-third more than other lettuce on the Knoxville market. 

 The disadvantages of pot culture are the expense of the pots and a slight 

 increase of labor in marketing. If plants were sold by weight or meas- 

 ure, pot culture would also have the disadvantage of producing a smaller 

 yield. The author believes that the advantages overbalance the disad- 

 vantages. 



7292— No. 3 4 



