GARDENING UNDER GLASS 345 



tion and manuring of the soil is the vital point in the growing of frame let- 

 tuce ; for an inferior article will hardly find a market, while extra fine heads 

 always sell at a good price. 



We set the plants of Big Boston lettuce 10x12 inches apart in the frames 

 The first crop is set as soon as the plants are large enough. Each sash is 

 watered as fast as planted, and the sash put on and covered with straw or sand 

 to shade the plants till they get hold of the soil ; then the sash is taken off and 

 not returned till the nights get frosty. In fact, there is here very little use 

 for the sashes till the first crop is about heading, which it should do about 

 the first of December, and be all cut out by Christmas. The second crop 

 plants, that were sown in September, are left in the open ground and slightly 

 protected by leaves scattered between them (but not over them). As fast as 

 the first crop is cut out the outdoor plants are set in their places, and this 

 second crop should all be ready to cut out during March. In the meantime, 

 in the greenhouse, we have cucumber plants in pots of four-inch size; these 

 are set in the centre of each sash as fast as the lettuce is removed, and are 

 protected at night so long as the nights are cool, and finally the frames are 

 left to the cucumbers and the sashes stored under cover for another season, 

 after being well painted. In some frames we sow beets and radishes instead" 

 of a second crop of lettuce, and by careful attention can usually get beets 

 ready for the table when the seed sown in open ground is getting 

 above the soil. 



The growing of frame lettuce on a large scale requires ready capital, for, 

 while the crop, well grown, pays remarkably well, it also requires a very ex- 

 pensive outfit and expensive preparation and fertilization. But when the 

 frames are properly attended to the quality of the lettuce produced cannot 

 be excelled by that grown in the hothouses of Boston at a still greater expense. 

 To put an acre of soil under glass will cost $4,000 here, and in some localities 

 more ; the preparation of the soil and the fitting it and planting the crop will 

 cost at least $200 more. Of course the outlay for the frames and sashes is in 

 the shape of a permanent investment for a number of years, but the prepara- 

 tion of the soil is an annual job and cannot be neglected, for if you allow the 

 old soil to remain, no matter how well you fertilize it, the crop will be less and 

 the ravages of rot will soon make the saving an expense rather than a gain, 

 for with the best precautions there will always be a little root rot among the 

 head lettuce, though generally very little among the curled leaf sorts. 



We formerly used and advised a fertilizer for lettuce containing 10 per 

 cent, potash, but we have found that this amount is not needed, and makes 

 the risk of damage too great in such heavy fertilization, and we now use but 

 3 per cent, of potash. 



