THE SOWING OF LETTUCE. IOI 
have extensive houses devoted to lettuce can be decided 
only by trial. It certainly appears to be worthy of ex- 
tended trial.’’ 
Sowing and transplanting.—If the lettuce crop is to 
be taken off in early November, from seven to ten weeks 
should be counted from the sowing of the seeds to the 
delivery of the product. A midwinter crop may require 
two to four weeks longer. The heading lettuces generally 
require a week or two longer than the loose varieties. 
The time may be shortened ten days to two weeks by 
the use of the electric arc light hung directly above the 
house. A single ordinary street lamp of 2,000 normal 
candle-power will be sufficient for a house 20 feet or 
more wide and 75 feet long, if it is so hung that the 
house is uniformly lighted throughout. Our experiments 
with the electric light, now extended over a period of five 
years, have uniformly and unequivocally given these 
beneficial results with lettuce (see page So). 
The first sowing for house lettuce is usually made 
about the first of September, and the crop should be off 
in November. The seeds are sown in flats or shallow 
boxes ; it is preferable to prick off the young plants about 
4 inches apart into other flats when they are about two 
weeks old, and transplant them into the beds, about 8 to 
10 inches apart each way, when they are about five weeks 
from the seed. Gardeners often omit the pricking off into 
other flats, simply thinning out the plants where they 
stand and transferring them from the original flat directly 
to the bed; but better and quicker results are usually 
secured if the extra handling is given. Four or six weeks 
after the first seed is sown, another sowing is made in 
flats for the purpose of taking the place of the first crop. 
The first sowing is sometimes made in the open ground 
early in September, and this is transplanted directly into 
the beds. 
Following are some actual sample dates of good and 
bad lettuce growing in our houses, in a climate which is 
