Cultural Directions. 207 



The crop may be stored and wintered somewhat similar to 

 celery, in trenches or root-houses, or marketed directly from the 

 field in the fall. The decayed leaves are to be removed, roots 

 and tops cut back, and the plants, after washing, tied in bunches 

 of half a dozen or more, and marketed. 



VARIETIES. 



Long Flag, Large Flag, Broad Flag, London Flag. 

 Often ten inches long, and nearly two inches wide. A good 

 early, productive sort, and popular with our market growers. 



Scotch Flag, Musselburgh. A form of the common 

 long leek, somewhat hardier than the Large Flag, and with a 

 stem sometimes 10 or 12 inches long, but only an inch in diameter. 



New Giant Italian is introduced as a variety of very large 

 size, hardy, and of mild flavor. Perhaps identical with the 

 Giant Carentan introduced in England. 



LETTUCE. 



Lactuca Sativa. German, Salat ; French, Laitue ; Spanish, 

 LecJuiga. The production of lettuce in hot-beds and hot-houses 

 during winter, and in cold-frames and cold-houses in early spring, 

 is one of the chief resources for money for a large number of 

 market gardeners. The chapters on " Cold Frames " and " Cold 

 Forcing Houses " deal more fully with this subject. As an early 

 market garden crop for outdoor culture it is, perhaps, of still 

 greater general importance. 



GROWING FOR -MARKET. Plants are usually grown from 

 seed sown in open ground in latter part of September, trans- 

 planted into cold-frames (allowing 4 to 5 square inches space to 

 each) toward end of October or early November, and wintered 

 over in same way as early cabbage plants. Just as soon as the 

 ground is in working order in early spring, the plants are set 

 out in warm, rich, well-manured and well-prepared soil, 12 by 10 

 to 12 inches apart, all by themselves, or in rows between early 

 cabbages or cauliflowers. The latter plan is often adopted by 

 good market gardeners for the sake of utilizing space. The 

 lettuce crop comes off in time to give to the other crop the entire 

 space, long before it is needed, and for this reason is almost clear 

 gain. To a more limited extent lettuce is also grown for summer 

 and fall market from seed sown in one foot drills in open ground ; 

 the drills one foot apart, and the plants thinned to about the 

 same distance. 



In favored localities in the middle states, and almost every- 

 where further south, lettuce sown or planted out in open ground 

 in the autumn will usually winter all right, especially if protected 

 (when thought necessary) by lightly covering with evergreen 



