186 PROPERTIES OF LETTUCE. 



respect is recommended in declining age, which is naturally wakeful. 

 Pope has said 



" If you wish to rest, 

 Lettuce and cowslip, wine probatum est." 



It is emolient and easy of digestion, but is not good for cold, weak, or 

 melancholy temperaments, except medicinally. It is more wholesome 

 in summer than winter. It allays thirst and the fumes of wine, and is 

 altogether the best salad vegetable grown in open ground. There are 

 17 varieties cultivated, 6 of these are hardy kinds, suitable for our 

 climate. There are 7 cabbage and 7 Cos lettuces ; the latter are pre- 

 ferred for salads, but the other is best very young. An oz. of seed 

 produces 400 plants. When getting too old, cut off the tops, and they 

 soon spring up fresh and tender. For winter, they are sown in Sept. 

 and covered in the cold months. Others are sown in March and 

 April. When young, the cabbage-lettuce is best. Refuse leaves are 

 good for swine, geese, ducks, &c. Indeed all lettuce should be eaten 

 young, as it is said to be poisonous when in flower. 



Whoever has command of lettuce, onions and cucumbers, it is said, 

 may well dispense with most other acetarious plants. L. virosa, a 

 poisonous plant, is thought to be the parent of our cultivated sorts, as 

 our celery is naturally one of the strongest poisons. All the species 

 have the qualities of opium, but these are most abundant in the wild 

 plant. The juice is collected by incisions and by scraping off the thick 

 juice, as with the opium of the poppy; it is little inferior to the opi- 

 um of the East ; it is called lactucarium, and may be given when 

 opium is unadvisable. It is sown monthly throughout the year, and 

 thinned and transplanted. Its succulency is also increased by water- 

 ing. Blanching is promoted by tying up the leaves with strings when 

 2-3ds grown. Lime-water effectually destroys the snails and slugs. 

 White and green Cos are best for the main crop in summer. Brown 

 Cos is best for winter and in open ground ; the dwarf of this is best. 

 Brown and white Silicea are the best for stewing. Imperial and cab- 

 bage lettuces are among the best for summer salads, and continue long- 

 est in use. A bed of 4 by 30 feet, well supplies a family ; or it may 

 be sown among onions, carrots, &c. The soil is dug deep, the seed 

 sown dry, covered lightly, patted down and raked over ; the plants arc 

 thinned and put in drills 3 inches apart. Sowings are made every 3 

 weeks, and frequently watered when dry. For winter, it is sown in 

 a warm sloping place 1st Sept., or in hot-beds or houses in Nov. 



Lettuce opium of commerce is in hard brown masses, and is em- 

 ployed as a.n anodyne, antispasmodic and sedative. It is given to al- 

 lay coughs, in phthisic and other pulmonary affections, to relieve ner- 

 vous irritation and watchfulness, in febrile and nervous diseases, in 

 which opium may not be used, and in spasms of the uterus. 3 or 4 



