14 



mouth fine sand or Portsmouth fine sandy loam it is held to be neces- 

 sary to use as high as 100 loads of well-rotted stable manure per 

 acre in the beds. In addition 500 to 2,000 pounds per acre of high- 

 grade commercial fertilizer is used by the most successful growers. 



The North Carolina Experiment Station has recommended the 

 following formula for the use of lettuce growers in that State : Acid 

 phosphate, 900 pounds; dried blood, 600 pounds; muriate of potash, 

 400 pounds. This mixture is for application at the rate of 500 to 

 1,000 pounds per acre, in addition to composted stable manure. In 

 practice it has been found advisable to apply the mixture several 

 days in advance of the transplanting of the lettuce, in order to avoid 

 any possible caustic action of the potash salt upon the tender roots 

 of the young plants. For special forcing of the growing crops, 

 nitrate of soda is raked in as a surface dressing as the growth of the 

 crop may seem to require. It is believed by many growers that 

 cotton-seed meal can not profitably be used as a source of nitrogen 

 for lettuce crops, as it is claimed the meal is conducive to rotting 

 of the plants. 



More than two or three successive crops of lettuce can not be pro- 

 duced in the same beds. The most successful growers usually pro- 

 duce one excellent crop and then devote the beds to the production 

 of other truck crops, like snap beans, collards, or early Irish potatoes, 

 sweet potatoes, or even a crop of cowpeas. Beets and cucumbers in 

 the lettuce beds would also do well when the beds are made up from 

 the Portsmouth fine sand. 



In some of the Atlantic coast trucking regions crops of Big Boston 

 lettuce have been cut which yielded a gross return of $1,800 per acre 

 and a handsome profit even after deducting large bills for manure, 

 fertilizer, hand labor, and the cost of installing and maintaining the 

 frames. 



Among the other market garden and truck crops suited to the 

 Portsmouth fine sand, beets, carrots, collards, and eggplant may be 

 enumerated. 



The following table gives the results of mechanical analyses of 

 samples of the soil and subsoil of the Portsmouth fine sand: 



Mechanical analyses of Portsmouth fine sand. 



Bul. No. 132, North Carolina Exp. Sta. 



[Cir. 19] 





