76 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



out, and destroy them ; but I dig care 

 fully at the side of the hill, remove 

 the fruit which is grown, leaving the 

 vine undisturbed : and my theory is, 

 that it will go on bearing, and sub 

 mitting to my exactions, until the frost 

 cuts it down. It is a game that one 

 would not undertake with a vegetable 

 of tone. 



The lettuce is to me a most interest 

 ing study. Lettuce is like conversation : 

 it must be fresh and crisp, so sparkling, 

 that you scarcely notice the bitter in 

 it. Lettuce, like most talkers, is, how 

 ever, apt to run rapidly to seed. 

 Blessed is that sort which comes to a 

 head, and so remains, like a few people 

 I know; growing more solid and satis 

 factory and tender at the same time, 

 and whiter at the centre, and crisp in 

 their maturity. Lettuce, like conver 

 sation, requires a good deal of oil, to 



