106 THE GARDENER. [March 



bulbing, the rows should at least be 15 inches apart, and the seedlings 

 at the second thinning be left about 9 inches apart. An occasional 

 dusting with soot and lime is necessary to preserve the young foliage 

 from fleas. 



Lettuces. — A salad of some description is at all times essential in 

 most establishments, and if not forthcoming when required, it may 

 prove vexatious to all concerned. Although good salads can be made 

 without Lettuces, much better can be made with them ; a well-grown 

 Cos Lettuce, in my opinion, forming the very best of salads, and one 

 which few would decline. Cabbage Lettuces are very good, but not 

 to be compared with the Cos, especially if they have to be sent a dis- 

 tance, and, in addition, are supposed to keep good at least for three 

 days. Cabbage Lettuces should be used quickly ; even then they are 

 invariably much too flabby in salads, and are only grown by me on 

 account of their earliness, and their adaptability for late sowing also. 

 The little Commodore Nutt is a very hardy, though not very early, 

 variety ; and a number of autumn-raised plants planted on a south 

 border prove very serviceable should the Cos varieties be lost. If by 

 any chance the stock of autumn-sown plants of either kind be small, 

 seed should at once be sown of the Early Paris Market Cabbage Let- 

 tuce, and with this a good variety of the Paris White Cos. The seed 

 may be sown thinly in pans or boxes, using fine light soil, and placing 

 on a gentle hotbed till germinated, when they should at once be 

 transferred to a shelf near the glass, but still in a growing temperature. 

 When in rough leaf the seedlings may be pricked out in shallow 

 boxes, placing these in a frame on a gentle hotbed ; or if many plants 

 are required, a layer of about 4 inches of fine soil may be spread in a 

 frame over a slight hotbed, pricking the seedlings into this about 3 

 inches apart each way. Use tepid water for watering ; and keep the 

 frame rather close till the plants are established, when air should 

 be given freely, hardening them off so as to be ready for their final 

 quarters from the middle to the end of April, according to the locality. 

 The Cabbage variety will be first fit for use, and by growing a good 

 quantity the Cos variety need not be cut till it is near perfection. In 

 mild localities, if a good breadth of spring-sown Cos Lettuces are 

 planted, the seed of those to succeed maybe sown on a south or 

 south-west border, either where they are to mature, or for transplant- 

 ing. In cold districts it is advisable to sow more seed early in March 

 on a gentle hotbed, with or without glass covering, pricking the seed- 

 lings either into boxes or a sheltered spot, and finally transplanting 

 to a warm border. 



Lettuces delight in a deeply dug, heavily manured soil, which should 

 be made rather firm. The small varieties may be put in rows 9 inches 

 apart and 6 inches asunder in the rows, and the rows of the Cos 

 varieties 1 foot apart and 9 or 10 inches asunder in the rows. Tying 

 up hastens blanching, and is usually resorted to with the Hick's Hardy 



