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SUMMEE SALADINa. 



BY CALVEET CLAEKE (laTE OF WIMBLEDON). 



MONGST the cares of a Tvell-ordered garden there are but 

 few subjects that demand more attention and fore- 

 thought than to keep up successional supplies of salading 

 during summer. I would impress upon those whose 

 business it may be to supply these subjects, the import- 

 ance of constant thought and attention, as very frequently a remissness 

 in these apparently small matters leads to observations and conjectures 

 which it is not always pleasant to hear ; as, if salads are in favour with 

 those who have a right to expect them under favourable circum- 

 stances, we may be certain that if there is any lack of them the 

 gardener's shortcomings will be measured in the exact proportion to 

 their absence from the table. It must not be inferred from this that 

 it is always possible, under all circumstances, to secure a supply, 

 indeed no kitchen-garden crops are so precarious as these in some 

 light, dry, gravelly soils, where, to get a crisp, fine-hearted lettuce in 

 the month of August is simply impossible if the weather for a few 

 weeks previous has been hot and dry ; but, on the other hand, if we 

 are dealing with a loamy or clayey soil, the management must be 

 somewhere at fault if they are conspicuous by their absence from the 

 table. But so much depends upon management, that I have thought 

 it desirable just now to offer a few hints that may be useful at least 

 to amateur readers. Placing first on this short list the Lettuce, as the 

 most useful amongst them, I may remark that after the second week 

 in May all lettuce seeds should be sown where they are to stand. 

 They should be sown thinly in shallow drills eighteen inches apart, 

 and when well up thin them out to fifteen inches from plant to plant. 

 The ground should be rich, na}', heavily manured, and turned up 

 from the bottom at least eighteen inches deep. This is the best 

 preventi\e against " bolting," or running to seed before their time, 

 and the best of all methods to secure a crisp, tender-hearted lettuce. 

 It beats all the'watering that can be done ; and speaking about water- 

 ing, I would advise the reader never to give them a drop artificially 

 after they are well up, unless he can continue to give them copious 

 supplies every other day. In fact, I don't believe in watering them 

 at all, for it only creates a sort of reaction that has a tendency to 

 make them start for seeding. Give them a thick layer of good fat 

 dung twelve inches below the surface, and it will produce an effect 

 that will startle the senses of those who never tried it. As the sum- 

 mer advances choose the coolest position in the garden in which to 

 grow them — a north bank or under a shady wall are about the best 

 spots that can be had. Sow frequently ; that is to say, just a pinch 

 of seed every fortnight until the end of August, choosing more open 

 positions for the last two sowings. As to the sorts, there are no 

 better for summer use than the London Market and the Paris 

 White Cos. The last-named variety I grew in our loamy soil last 

 year to a high state of perfection. 



