THE SOWING OF LETTUCE. IOI 



have extensive houses devoted to lettuce can be decided 

 only by trial. It certainly appears to be worthy of ex- 

 tended trial." 



Sowing and transplanting. If the lettuce crop is to 

 be taken off in early November, from seven to ten weeks 

 should be counted from the sowing of the seeds to the 

 delivery of the product. A midwinter crop may require 

 two to four weeks longer. The heading lettuces generally 

 require a week or two longer than the loose varieties. 

 The time may be shortened ten days to two weeks by 

 the use of the electric arc light hung directly above the 

 house. A single ordinary street lamp of 2,000 normal 

 candle-power will be sufficient for a house 20 feet or 

 more wide and 75 feet long, if it is so hung that the 

 house is uniformly lighted throughout. Our experiments 

 with the electric light, now extended over a period of five 

 years, have uniformly and unequivocally given these 

 beneficial results with lettuce (see page So). 



The first sowing for house lettuce is usually made 

 about the first of September, and the crop should be off 

 in November. The seeds are sown in flats or shallow 

 boxes ; it is preferable to prick off the young plants about 

 4 inches apart into other flats when they are about two 

 weeks old, and transplant them into the beds, about 8 to 

 10 inches apart each way, when they are about five weeks 

 from the seed. Gardeners often omit the pricking off into 

 other flats, simply thinning out the plants where they 

 stand and transferring them from the original flat directly 

 to the bed ; but better and quicker results are usually 

 secured if the extra handling is given. Four or six weeks 

 after the first seed is sown, another sowing is made in 

 flats for the purpose of taking the place of the first crop. 

 The first sowing is sometimes made in the open ground 

 early in September, and this is transplanted directly into 

 the beds. 



Following are some actual sample dates of good and 

 bad lettuce growing in our houses, in a climate which is 



