66 THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES 



suggest Commodore Nutt, Dwarf Brown Forcing, and Tom Thumb, 

 which produce compact Lettuces of good flavour in a fev weeks. 

 These to be followed by Superb White Cos and others of that class. 

 Marvel will make a good succession, with Standwell to come in finally. 

 The Lettuce requires a light, rich soil, but almost any kind of soil 

 may be so prepared as to insure a fair supply, and in places where 

 fine Cos Lettuces are not readily obtained, it may be possible to 

 grow excellent Cabbage varieties in place of them. A tolerably good 

 garden soil will answer for both classes, and fat stable manure should 

 be liberally used. The best way to prepare ground for the summer 

 crop is to select a piece that has been trenched, and go over it again, 

 laying in a good body of rough green manure, one spade deep, so 

 that the plant will be put on unmanured ground, but will reach the 

 manure at the very period when it is needed, and by which time 

 contact with the earth will have rendered it sweet and mellow. By 

 this mode of procedure the finest growth is secured, and the plants 

 stand well without bolting, as they are saved from the distress con- 

 sequent on continued dry weather. As regards drought, it must be 

 said that the red-leaved kinds stand remarkably well in a hot summer, 

 and although they do not rank high as table Lettuces in this country, 

 were we to be regularly favoured with roasting summers they would 

 rise in repute and be in great demand. Cabbage Lettuces bear 

 drought fairly well, more especially the diminutive section ; but 

 where water is available in a dry, hot season, the Lettuces have as 

 good a claim to a share of it as any crop in the garden. To com- 

 plete this paragraph, it will be proper to say a few words on the 

 subject of blanching. A first-class strain of White Cos Lettuce will 

 produce tender white hearts without being tied, and, as a rule, there- 

 fore, the labour of tying may be saved. The section of which 

 Button's Superb White Cos is the type may be said to produce better 

 samples without tying than with this imaginary aid in the finishing. 

 Hence, if tying is practised to please all parties, it need not be done 

 until one or two days before the Lettuces are cut. The market 

 grower must tie his Lettuces, because he cannot sell them unless 

 there is a rope around each to prove that it is a Lettuce. The 

 coarser market kinds certainly are improved by tying, and in this 

 case the operation must be performed when the plants are quite 

 dry, and not more than ten days in advance of the day on which 

 it is intended to pull them. The Bath Cos must be tied always, 

 and when well managed the heart is quite white, with a pretty touch 

 of pink in the centre. 



