MARKET GARDENERS AND THEIR COMPETITORS. 45 



animal world this was solved by evolving the Holsteins on the 

 one hand and the Jerseys and Guernseys on the other. Our 

 lettuce problem is the same. But the unfortunate part of it is 

 that we have built up our butter business on a beef breed. 



The horticultural literature prior to 1850 is full of references 

 to the culture of lettuce both in the open and in the frame and hot- 

 bed. The variety discussions of the time substantiate the state- 

 ments I have already made that the favorite lettuce of the Boston 

 market came from an ancestry which had qualities fitting it to 

 endure trying conditions. The success in the open at the South 

 of the varieties you have produced is only a verification of the 

 general purpose character of these lettuces. 



I am sorry that we are confronted by a condition so serious as 

 this really is, but we should not be discouraged or lose hope. There 

 are other centers in the United States successfully producing 

 lettuce under glass which do not feel the competition of the outdoor 

 crop. Perhaps their success holds a suggestion. Let us at least 

 take an inventory of their situation. West of Pittsburg the lettuce 

 forcing industry is founded upon a different type of lettuce from 

 that grown about Boston. This lettuce is the product of the forc- 

 ing house. It is not at all adapted to outdoor conditions, in fact, 

 it is one of the most uncertain lettuces for outdoor planting. Spe- 

 cial care must be exercised to secure germination of this sort in the 

 field. It will, therefore, probably never be a popular outdoor sort. 

 Its progenitors are fairly good field sorts the same as is the Black 

 Seeded Tennis Ball from which your own heading sorts have 

 originated. If you were producing in your forcing houses a sort 

 which did not thrive well in the open or was in some particular 

 decidedly different from the outdoor crop, your forcing industry 

 would be on a much safer basis. This is what the western growers 

 possess in their bunch or cutting type of lettuce. 



A year ago in speaking before the Market Gardeners' Associa- 

 tion I ventured to suggest some of the advantages of this loose quick 

 growing type of lettuce which is used by our western friends. I 

 wish to more emphatically bring this matter to your attention at 

 the present time. As I have already said, this lettuce is distinc- 

 tively a forcing lettuce. It grows more quickly than does the sorts 

 which are produced in the region about Boston. Four crops 



