224 CROP GROWING AND CROP FEEDING 



be worth more under glass. In fact, here in the Upper South, we can pro- 

 duce in a simple cold frame, with mats for protection in unusual cold, as good 

 lettuce in the dead of winter as the Northern gardener can get in his expen- 

 sively constructed and heated greenhouse. The frames used in the South for 

 the production of winter lettuce are made 12 feet wide and have a ridge pole 

 running the length of frame, one-third the width, from the north side, so as 

 to give a long slope to the south and a short one to the north. The canvas 

 is sometimes on rollers, like awnings, and sometimes is merely stretched over 

 the pole, and held in place by eyelets on hooks in the sides of the frame. Aside 

 from the imperfect protection of the cloth there is the further disadvantage 

 that the whole must be taken off to give the plants full sunlight, and in cold 

 weather this cannot be done, and the plants get drawn in the partial shade ; 

 while under glass, when the weather is too cold to uncover, they are exposed 

 to the full sunshine and grow sturdy and short stemmed and head far better. 

 The frames for growing lettuce under glass are made about six feet wide, so 

 as to admit a 3x6 foot sash. The back of the frame towards the north 

 is made 18 inches high and the front 12 inches so as to give a slope to the 

 sun. Some make the frames wider and have a ridge pole and a short wooden 

 span to the north, but this makes the frames unhandy, and the lettuce under 

 the wooden slopes is poor. The chief points to be observed in growing frame 

 lettuce after the preparation of the soil of which we will speak, are to keep 

 it as near 40 degrees Fahrenheit at night as possible and to give air in all 

 sunny weather to prevent too high a temperature, which would result in a 

 flabby growth and poor crop. At all times when the sun shines, and that is 

 nearly all the time in the South, and the temperature is above 25 above zero, 

 we admit some air, and when there is no frost we fully expose the plants, even 

 at night. 



CULTURE OF FRAME LETTUCE IN THE SOUTH. 



The best soil for the lettuce crop is a sandy loam. This inside the 

 frames should have a heavy coat of black leaf mold from the forest screened to 

 remove all coarse roots and trash, and spread three inches deep in the frames. 

 The frame is then ready for the application of the fertilizer. As this should 

 be used without stint and should have, on such a soil, a large percentage of 

 potash, it should be applied at the rate of a ton and a half to two tons per acre 

 of area enclosed, several weeks before setting the plants, so that the caustic 

 effect of the potash may disappear. On a clay-loam soil the fertilization is 

 better with a heavy application of well rotted stable manure and a lighter 

 dressing of the phosphatic and potassic fertilizers. The wide awake gar- 



