THE LETTUCE. 663 



frame about the middle of September, and planted out in February or 

 the beginning of March. The first spring sowing for transplanting is 

 made on heat, and the subsequent sowings in the open garden ; always 

 on comparatively sandy, poor soil, that the plants may form abundance 

 of roots and comparatively rigid foliage, so as not to suffer so much 

 from transplanting as if they had been grown on rich soil, and conse- 

 quently had tender succulent leaves and roots. The routine culture 

 consists of little more than weeding and watering ; each crop being but 

 a short time on the ground. In the beginning of summer the Cos 

 varieties are sometimes slightly tied up with matting, to hasten their 

 blanching. In gathering, pull up the plant, and take the outside leaves 

 and roots at once to the rubbish -heap. 



The following instructions are given by Mr. James Barnes (late of 

 Bicton) : " They should be sown in shallow frames close to the glass, 

 on poor but sweet soil, at a sharp angle, the first week in October ; air 

 freely night and day, in order to keep the plants short, stubby, and 

 hardy ; keeping them very dry all the winter, which will keep them free 

 from fogging, damping, shanking, or canker ; keep dry dust and old 

 dry mortar, or ceiling dust, always ready in a shed ; mix together half 

 and half of poor, dry, dusty loam and sand, and sift with a fine sieve 

 over the plants with care, occasionally, on fine dry winter days. The 

 return will be a batch of healthy, clean, well-rooted, stubby, hardy 

 plants, free from all disease, and fit to plant out early in any well-cul- 

 tivated garden." 



By far the best system of cultivating lettuces is that pursued in the 

 neighbourhood of Paris. The French are much more fastidious about 

 tender, well-grown, and clean salads than we are, and the market-gar- 

 deners of Paris not only supply the wants of that city in that way, but 

 also to a great extent in winter, and early spring, those of London 

 and other large English cities. The winter and spring culture is 

 mostly carried on under the cloche, described elsewhere in this book. 

 To some of the varieties, such as the Petite Noire, no air whatever is 

 directly given i.e., the cloches are kept firmly down during the whole 

 period of growth, and in the case of varieties like the Cos, which it is 

 not considered necessary to treat in this way, the custom is also to leave 

 the cloche firmly down for many weeks during the cold season, and so 

 far from this injuring the plants, as some might think, they are as far 

 superior in every way to English-grown lettuces as can be conceived. 

 The other radical differences between the French and English modes 

 of cultivating lettuces are that the soil in the French market-gardens 

 is of the finest, lightest, and richest nature, and the plants are culti- 

 vated from the earliest stage i.e., instead of allowing the seedlings to 

 run together, or become drawn in the least degree, they prick them 

 out when just broken into the seed-leaves, so that the plants at once 

 begin to form healthy little rosettes, are again transplanted under 

 the cloche, and rapidly grow without a check of any kind, or even a 

 speck of dust. The sorts chiefly grown are the Petite Noire, Verte 

 Maraichere, Laitue Gotte, Laitue de la Passion, and the Palatine. 



Lettuces as small salad are produced by sowing the seed in drills, 



