plmted tho shou 

 to 20 das s the \ or 

 ingStolOto thet 



thi 



Lhe, 



every other plant can b i 

 ones remaining have i I 

 afterward From earl\ i i i ^ iiuul 1 

 sow a few rows of the^e -iumiiu i Li i 

 weeks or so and thu-^ try to provide : 

 ply of good heads The demand may c 

 days, or even weeks, but it is sure to r 



1267 



Grand Rapids Lettuce. 



manage to have good Lettuce late in the fall it will sel- 

 dom go begging for customers. 



Sometimes we may wish to raise seed of a sort that 

 suits our purposes. All we have to do is to leave some 

 of the plants in the rows, until the larger part of the 

 seeds on a plant have matured. The plant is then cut 

 off near the ground and exposed on a sheet to sun and 

 air to dry. The seeds arc then to be thrashed out and 

 cleaned. T. Gkeiner. 



Lettuce for the Villjige Garden and City Yard.- 

 The value of Lettuce for the table depends largely upon 

 its being fresh. A very small area may be made to 

 produce an abundant supply for an ordinary-sized family. 

 The plant is quite healthy and hardy, when young endur- 

 ing a considerable frost without injury. It has few in- 

 sect enemies and the requisites for its successful culture 

 are few and easily understood. On this account it can 

 be grown with greater satisfaction and profit on a village 

 lot, or even in a city backyard, than can mostof our gar- 

 den vegetables. To produce it of the best quality under 

 these conditions, as early in the spring as the ground is 

 at all dry and the grass begins to start, a bit of ground 

 should be well dressed with tineniflniirp. inittinrr,,,, from 

 one-half a bushel to one bushel tc. tli. .un:: ■ .ini.iind 

 then well spading up, working in 1 1^ ■ i milk- 



ing the bed as fine and smootli .i- : ■■ ■ M;ike a 

 mark about one inch deep, dniii in il;- -i- il nt the 



gtjwn in acit\ Ml 1 I \ till mil. 1 WW Tracy 



Lettui E Fori IS - 1 hi \ _ i il It is one of the prin- 

 cipal monej crops ot thi in like! ^,udener m winter It 

 Is giown in hotbeds and hothouses The old way is to 

 1 list It in hotbeds, but since the experiments of grow 

 ing 111 houses have been so successful it is grown mostly 



For the first early crop to be grown in I 1 i li u i s 

 thi seed IS sown m the seedhouse il ni \iuii i n in 

 the 1 ititude of Boston By this mem ili I tin will 

 be brought into market the latter pirt t i i r I i i tlie 

 first of November, after the frost has spoiled the out- 

 door crop ; and thus it often brings very good prices. 

 The sowing is made in a bed in the house prepared for 

 the purpose with sterilized soil, so that there will be no 

 fear of a rusty root or mildew on the plants. The soil 

 should be 10 inches deep, well moistened and beat up 

 very fine, with no manure or fertilizer. For every ounce 

 of seed, prepare a space feet square, raking off the bed 

 as smooth as possible. Sow the seed and then sprinkle 

 the bed with water. Then sift on one-fourth of an inch 

 of either sterilized or clean subsoil, preferably the lat- 

 ter. In about four days the plantlets will appear. Three 

 weeks from .sowing, the plants will be ready for trans- 

 planting. This should be done at the proper time, that 

 is, before the plants become too large. Prepare the soil 

 the same as for the seed-bed. If 3 inches of the steri- 

 lized soil, or some new soil that no Lettuce has been 

 grown in, can be had, it will be sufficient. Transplant 

 the Lettuce 4 inches apart in sufficient quantity to set 

 out the prepared space. In three or four weeks these 

 plants will be large enough to again transplant into the 

 bed or house intended for them. Sterilizing is done in a 

 box 5x4 feet and 3 feet deep, with several punctured 

 steam pipes in the bottom. The soil should heated to 

 200°. 



In preparing the bed for the last transplanting, the 

 soil should be well wet before working and then let 

 stand until the water has all drained off, which will be 

 in about twenty-four hours. Now ]nit in stable manure, 

 worked fine with the first heat out of it. which is secured 

 by piling and overhauling twice a week for two or three 

 weeks before using. Apply this prepared manure about 

 3 inches deep and dig into the soil to a depth of 12 to 

 15 inches. Rake off and mark with the marker 8 inches 

 apart. If the soil is new no sterilization is needed, but 

 if old would prefer about 2 inches of the to]i sterilized. 

 This is done to prevent the mildew and disease that 

 often comes from old, worn-out soil. 



If the bed is properly prepared it will need no water- 



