68 



THE CANADIAN HORTrCULTUEIST. 



nois), that our " Prairie Queen Rose " 

 was raised from, must have been struck 

 with its great beauty when growing in 

 a state of nature. The writer saw one 

 bunch of it thirty feet through, or in 

 diameter, the past year, with thousands 

 of flowers upon it. If the writer pre- 

 vails upon some one to try and grow 

 the Prairie Queen as it grows wild, he 

 will feel thankful. 



In concluding this paper, it is wished 

 that some one may take pity upon our 

 woodbines or honeysuckles. Though 

 not all climbers, they are worthy our 

 attention, and deeper, better soil than 

 we usually see them in, in gardens. 

 — A Perambulating Gardener, in 

 Prairie Farmer. 



LETTUCE. 



Among the many vegetables which 

 are usually found growing in any well- 

 stocked kitchen-garden, there are none 

 that are more highly prized t];ian one, 

 two, or three varieties of Lettuce. This 

 vegetable is always in season, and al- 

 ways a welcome relish for those who are 

 fond of the choicer productions of the 

 vegetable garden. The wonder is that 

 a vegetable so easily grown, and one 

 that is so highly valued, is not more 

 generally seen in the gardens of the 

 many, instead of the few, for this 8eem§ 

 to be the case. In large centers of 

 population, the demand for Lettuce ex- 

 tends the year through, and it is one 

 of the leading crojis raised by market 

 gardeners, in the winter under glass, 

 and in the spring and summer as an 

 out-of-door crop. In former years, the 

 bulk of the winter production of Let- 

 tuce was raised in hot-beds and cold 

 frames, for the winter and early spring 

 supply. But now a large part of the 

 winter supply is grown in houses, con- 

 structed and heated in the same way 

 that the ordinary greenhouses are; and 

 this latter plan is a great imi)rovement 

 on the old-style method. In these 



houses there are three crops of Lettuce 

 raised between the first of December 

 and the first of May. This plan en- 

 ables large hotels and first-class restau- 

 rants to have Lettuce on their bill of 

 fare at all times through the year. For 

 family use, an early spring supply can 

 easily be raised by planting in a hot- 

 bed at any time that the bed is ready, 

 setting out sixty plants under each sash 

 of 3 X 6 — the usual size — giving air in 

 mild weather, and frequent waterings 

 with tepid water. The market gar- 

 dener always sows the seed for the fol- 

 lowing year's crop in September. In 

 November, these young plants are 

 "pricked" out close together in an 

 ordinary cold frame, where they are 

 kept until planting time, in March or 

 April. 



The plants for the crop of early cab- 

 bages are set out in rows two feet 

 apart, and a row of lettuce is set be- 

 tween each two rows of cabbages. The 

 lettuce comes to maturity and is mar- 

 keted before the cabbages are half 

 grown, and, by economizing ground, a 

 large quantity of produce is raised from 

 a comparatively small surface. When 

 the lettuce plants have not been kept 

 over through the winter, then sow a 

 small quantity of seed in a hot-bed at 

 the time of sowing tomatoes, egg-plants, 

 and other seeds wanted to stock the 

 garden. Seeds sown in this way may 

 be planted in the open ground, in the 

 latter part of April, and, unless checke<i 

 by cold, frosty weather, will grow 

 rapidly, giving some for table use in 

 five weeks from the time of planting. 

 Cold-frame plants can be set in the open 

 ground three or four weeks earlier than 

 hot-bed plants ; and to gain this advan- 

 tage in time, and lengthen the season, 

 it is a good j)lan to buy two or three 

 hundred of plants from some market 

 gardener or seed-store. These can be 

 planted in the garden as soon as the 

 ground is fit to work, and as a matter 



