1846 



LETTSOMIA 



LETTUCE 



LETTSOMIA (John C. Lettsom, 1747-1815, English 

 physician and botanist). Convolvulacese. About 30 

 species of scandent shrubs of Trop. Afr. and E. Asia, 

 which may occur now and then in collections in Fla. 

 Allied to Argyreia, differing in ovary 2-celled rather 

 than 4-celled: Ivs. alternate, undivided: fls. mostly 

 purple or rose-color, in cymes or heads; corolla tubular 

 to funnelform, the stamens exserted or included: fr. 

 an indehiscent caps. 



capitata, Miq. (L. strigosa, Roxbg. Convdlvulus capi- 

 tatus, Vahl. Argyreia capitata, Choisy). A beautiful 

 vine with handsome Ivs. and deep pink fls.: strong 

 climber, with hispid branches: Ivs. cordate-suborbicu- 

 lar, short-acuminate, somewhat hispid, 5 in. long: fls. 

 hispid without, capitate on peduncles 2-4 in. long; 

 corolla 2 in. long. India, Java. Grown in S. Fla. 



L. H. B. 



LETTUCE. The lettuce plant is botanically Lactuca 

 saliva (which see), which is probably derived from Lac- 

 tuca Scariola. It is an annual with milky juice, and 

 has been greatly developed for its root-leaves. These 

 leaves, much enlarged and modified, comprise the most 

 popular of the plant 

 salads. It has been 

 in cultivation for 

 more than 2,000 



S;ars, according to 

 e Candolle. The 

 varieties are many; 

 in 1889, "Annals of 

 Horticulture" listed 

 119 varieties offered 

 by American dealers. 

 The two general 

 forms are the head 

 lettuces and the clus- 

 ter or open-leaf let- 

 tuces (Figs. 2136, 

 2137). There are also 

 spring lettuces and 

 summer lettuces, the 

 latter being de- 

 veloped to withstand 

 more heat, for let- 

 tuce usually thrives 

 best in the cool 

 weather of spring. Of 

 late years, kinds specially adapted to forcing have been 

 secured, as the growing of the crop under glass has now 

 assumed large proportions. See Forcing, Vol. Ill, p. 

 1255. 



The lettuce plant is quite hardy to cold, comes 

 quickly to edible maturity, is not much subject to 

 disease or insect injury and, though it quickly succumbs 

 to dry hot weather, is generally of the easiest culture. 

 Even a farmer's wife, who, because of household cares, 

 cannot take the time to plant a garden or even to gather 

 and prepare a mess of peas or beans, can make and care 

 for a planting of lettuce, and a few heads cut in the 



2136. Heading type of lettuce. 



Varieties differ greatly in adaptation to cultural 

 conditions, some giving fine returns when grown under 

 glass but are hardly usable when grown in the open 

 garden. They also differ greatly in color, tenderness 

 and other qualities of the leaf. In some varieties, like 

 the Prize Head, the leaf is mottled with red and brown 

 and so tender that they are often so broken and torn 

 apart by a heavy rain as to be unsalable, while the light 

 green more tender-looking but really tougher leaves of 

 a nearby planting of Grand Rapids are uninjured. 

 There are varieties that form very broad white mid- 

 ribs which, when the green portion of the leaf is cut 

 away, make quite as beautiful salad for table decora- 

 tion or to eat from the hand as the finest celery or 

 witloof. 



There are many forms of Cos lettuce that are seldom 

 grown in this country because they do not thrive in 

 our bright sunny days, but do much better in the 

 cloudy weather of England, where our most popular 

 American sorts are considered coarse and weedy. All 

 varieties require for the best development well-drained 

 but moist cool friable soil, and thrive best in cool moist 

 weather. They cannot be grown to perfection in the 



heat of midsummer. 

 Even more than with 

 many vegetables, it is 

 essential to the most 

 successful culture of 

 lettuce that the soil 

 be well enriched from 

 previous dressings 

 rather than recent 

 applications, and if 

 only coarse and fresh 

 manure is available 

 that it be well shaken 

 apart, evenly distrib- 

 uted through, and 

 well mixed with the 

 soil. The most ex- 

 perienced Boston 

 growers hardly expect 

 a full crop until after 

 the second or third 

 manuring. Hard- 

 wood-ashes and bone- 

 meal usually prove 

 the most profitable 

 artificial manures. Plantings for the first crop can be 

 safely made as early as the soil can be put in friable 

 condition. In many lots of seed the outer seed-coats 

 are very hard, resulting in slow germination, and it 

 may be advantageous to soak the seed for twenty- 

 four hours before planting. Drills about 16 to 24 

 inches apart and evenly about 2 inches deep should 

 be made and while the soil is still fresh and moist 

 twenty to forty seeds to the foot should be evenly dis- 

 tributed and covered with not to exceed % inch of 

 fine earth. Any greater depth, particularly on heavy 

 soils, lessens the chances of a good and even stand. 



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early morning and placed where they will be kept cool Some varieties are more sensitive than others to deep 



are a, most appetizing addition to the noonday meal. 

 From 1 to 2 yards of row to a person should yield an 

 abundance for as long as a single planting is usable and 

 a family supply may be grown in the smallest village 

 yard or even on the back of a city lot; and, because of 

 coming to the table in better condition, may be superior 

 to any obtainable from the market. 



Hundreds of different varieties and strains have been 

 developed, varying greatly in habit of growth and 

 character or product, ranging from those with but a 

 few upright-growing narrow, smooth, thin leaves, and 

 which soon shoot to seed, to those with many thick 

 broad, smooth, crumpled or savoyed leaves, either 

 clustered together, or overlaying each other so as to 

 form a round head like that of a cabbage. 



covering. Many successful growers in planting the 

 Grand Rapids do not cover the seed at all except 

 by washing over a little earth with a watering-pot and 

 then shading with a board supported 1 or 2 inches above 

 the row and removed as the plants germinate and start 

 into growth. As the plants appear they should be 

 thinned so as to prevent crowding and replanting should 

 be made every fifteen to thirty days in order to secure 

 a succession. With common facilities it is impossible 

 to grow good lettuce in the dry heat of midsummer, 

 though plantings in early autumn often furnish that of 

 the very best quality. 



In villages, plantings of lettuce for sale in the imme- 

 diate vicinity often prove very profitable, the great 

 essential to success being a rich well-drained soil, 'the 



