VARIETIES OF LETTUCE 



heading all the better for the freer space. For this reason plants 

 should not be too thickly pricked out in beds three by three inches 

 is close enough. It is quite practicable, however, to transplant di- 

 rectly from the bed in which the start was made from the seed. 



It may be quicker to get lettuce with the loose-leaved plants, 

 but the heads are most delicious, and all should learn to keep the 

 plants in good thrift until they become full and solid with their 

 crisp and delicious contents. Seed-beds should not have much heat- 

 ing material in this climate. It is better for the plants to grow slowly 

 at first, and after the rains a raised bed with enough fibrous material 

 and well-spent manure will furnish a long succession for trans- 

 planting. But whether the ordinary grower will undertake this 

 work or not, let him have lettuce anyway even if he will only scat- 

 ter seed at frequent intervals on moist ground and then give the 

 plants good hoeing. To get crisp, tender lettuce the plants must 

 be pushed along with rich soil and good cultivation whatever method 

 of growing is pursued. The rotting of lettuce is due to lack of 

 drainage or to too frequent surface watering, and this should be 

 avoided. 



In the hot parts of the state, where the summer tries the plants, 

 lettuce should be planted on the shady side of tall growing vege- 

 tables, and then, with moisture enough, they will do well. Lath 

 screens or other devices are, of course, serviceable if one prefers 

 them. But do not be content with a little lettuce in the spring and 

 go without the rest of the year. It only requires a little ingenuity 

 and energy and water to have crisp, cooling salad all summer, when 

 it is most delicious and wholesome. 



Varieties. There is almost illimitable variety in lettuce, and 

 inextricable confusion in the nomenclature resulting from renaming 

 by seedsmen and others. As with other plants, however, a few va- 

 rieties constitute the bulk of the California lettuce product. It is 

 customary to arrange lettuce varieties in two groups ; one has round- 

 ish heads and includes the "cabbage" varieties ; "the other has tall, 

 elongated heads and includes the "cos" varieties. There is, of course, 

 much difference in the density of the heads, and some are quite loose 

 and open, but the close-heading varieties are better and the more 

 suitable for market handling. In California the cabbage varieties 

 very largely preponderate over the cos varieties, and the non-heading 

 or "cutting lettuces," or curled varieties, are not widely grown, 

 though they may be found useful in getting the quickest foliage from 



