GARDEN SPECIALTIES 229 



The cos lettuce requires too much care in 

 blanching, and in our dry American climate runs 

 up too quickly to seed in warm weather. 



My work with the lettuce was done about ten 

 or twelve years ago, when I experimented in the 

 endeavor to produce different forms, and at- 

 tained a measure of success. In working with the 

 cos lettuce the endeavor was to get a more solid 

 head which would be a very tender, compact 

 grower, and would not so quickly run to seed. 

 The part of the lettuce that is eaten is, of course, 

 the leaf, and the plant that runs to seed quickly 

 develops a toughness of leaf fiber that impairs 

 its value. 



In hybridizing the lettuce, my usual plan was 

 to get two varieties to bloom as nearly as possible 

 at the same time, and to pollenize by bringing the 

 head of one and rubbing it against the flowerets 

 of the other. The pollen may be removed with a 

 dash of water, as already described, but there is 

 always a measure of uncertainty in cross-pollen- 

 izing composite flowers of such small size as those 

 of the lettuce, as one cannot be sure in many 

 cases that a certain amount of the pollen does not 

 remain to effect fertilization of some neighboring 

 plant, but any skillful operator should be able to 

 know when a cross has been secured by the 

 product. 



