CHAPTER XXIII. 

 LETTUCE. 



Cabbage Lettuce. Lactuca capitata. 



French, laitues pommees; German, kopfsalat; Dutch, 

 kropsalad; Italian, lattuga a cappucio; Spanish, lechuga 

 acogollada ; Portuguese, alface repolhada. 



Cos Lettuce. Idem. 



French, laitues romaines; German, bind-salat; Dutch, 

 roomsche latouw; Italian, lattuga romana; Spanish, lech- 

 uga romana; Portuguese, alface romana. 



Lettuce is emphatically a satisfactory garden plant in 

 California. It is unaffected by the ordinary winter tem- 

 peratures of our valleys and foothills, and it endures the 

 heat, if moisture is adequate, with only slight protection 

 from the burning sun. It withers and dies or it becomes 

 tough and worthless, in the face of drought, it is true, but 

 any gardener who does not arrange better for its growth 

 does not deserve to enjoy its refreshing crispness. Who- 

 ever will provide the simplest arrangement to relieve its 

 roots from cold, standing water in winter, or who will keep 

 its roots moist and afford slight shade for its tender leaves 

 from the interior heat in summer, need never miss a day 

 of lettuce-gathering. And even these slight aids from the 

 grower are not needed everywhere. In regions naturally 

 moderate, both in moisture and heat, and with a few weeks 

 of watering in midsummer, succession of lettuce is un- 

 broken throughout the year on any good garden soil which 

 is well cultivated. There is little lettuce forcing in Cali- 

 fornia, and, of course, with such natural conditions, there 

 is small need of any, and yet during recent years, owing 

 to the constant demand for lettuce all the year, because of 

 the increased importance of salads in the menu, there has 



