worthy of General Cultivation, ^-c. 55 



sorts. There are in cultivation for the market in the vicinity of Bos- 

 ton only four or five kinds, and, we presume, though we are not able 

 to state, not many more in the vicinity of New York or Philadelphia. 

 These are the early curled Silesia, Tennis Ball, Royal Cape, 

 Hardy Green, and the Ice or common coss; but we have seen cata- 

 logues with upwards of forty varieties enumerated. We cer- 

 tainly do not believe that near all these are distinct, and if they 

 were, they cannot possess individual merit enough for the culti- 

 vator to put himself to the trouble of growing the whole number. 

 This innumerable mass of names only tends to create confusion, 

 without being of any permanent benefit. The coss lettuces are 

 not grown to any extent in this country: whether it is owing to 

 the peculiar climate, or from ignorance of the mode of managing 

 the plants, we are unable to say: we have never seen any of very 

 great excellence, though their cultivation was attended with much 

 care, and we are inclined to believe it is from the former cause: 

 our warm and dry summers induce a rapid growth, and the plants 

 run up to seed before their heads are matured. 



Imperial. — Under this name we have cultivated a variety 

 which deserves to be extensively grown; the heads are large and 

 solid, and the plants are not so apt to run up to seed as some 

 other sorts. It approximates somewhat to the kind cultivated as 

 the Royal Cape, but is superior to that. We can highly recom- 

 mend it. 



Early Dwarf Head. — This is another sort which we have 

 found to be worthy of general cultivation for an early crop. The 

 heads are small but very solid, and in this respect it has the ad- 

 vantage of the old kind known as the Tennis ball; it is, also, a 

 more delicate locking lettuce than the latter, and its heads attain 

 perfection at quite as early a period. 



The varieties of lettuces first named in this article we hope to 

 give some account of at the end of the season. Those of our 

 friends who know any thing of their merits will confer a favor by 

 communicating such information to us at an early period. 



Cabbages. — The early Dutch, early York, Drumhead, Sa- 

 voy and Red Dutch varieties, have been so long almost exclu- 

 sively cultivated, and the names have become so familiar to mar- 

 ket gardeners, that it is almost impossible to persuade them to 

 try any new sort. As long as the purchasers of these vegetables 

 are satisfied with such as are brought to market, it is of little 

 consequence to the raiser whether they are an old or new varie- 

 ty; they sell well, and that is sufficient: they do not take into 

 consideration the great difference in the production of a crop 

 from a given quantity of land; and rarely deem it of sufficient 

 importance even to try the experiment, to see what variety is 

 the most profitable in this respect. With vegetables, as with 

 fruits, there must be a demand for superior sorts before the mar- 



