180 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 



CHAPTER XX. 



LETTUCE (Lactuca saliva). 



Laitue, French ; Garten-salat, German ; Latuw, Dutch ; Lattuga, Italian ; 

 Lechuga, Spanish. 



The Lettuce is a hardy annual which was first culti- 

 vated in England in 1562, but whence it was introduced 

 is not known. 



Owing to its freedom from insect depredations (exclu- 

 sive of the cut-worm), its large consumption, and the 

 ease with which it can be grown, lettuce is one of the 

 most important crops of the Northern farm-gardener, 

 notwithstanding the fact, that, of late years, it has be- 

 come subject to a disease. In New York, the winter and 

 very early spring markets are supplied from hot-beds, in 

 which it is grown in and near Boston, where a specialty 

 is made of this vegetable. In consequence of this ex- 

 tensive supply of superior and fresh stock, the more 

 wilted condition of shipments from the South renders 

 the cultivation of it here unprofitable. It is grown, how- 

 ever, to a considerable extent at Norfolk. 



A good sort should form a solid and large head. The 

 varieties used at Norfolk are: " White Cabbage " and the 

 ' 'Boston Market," or " Tennis Ball," the former for open 

 field culture, and the latter under glass. 



The seed is sown under glass in September, the plants 

 put five or six inches apart, and the crop is ready for 

 market in February and March. 



The trouble with this crop is the liability of the plants 

 to damp off under glass. 



For the open field, the seed is sown about the middle 

 of September in a bed, and not quite as deep as cabbage 

 geeds, the plants are transferred to flat beds, setting then? 



