LETTUCE 165 



face become dry, however, before watering, else 

 we shall find that lettuce has disease to fight. 

 Sometimes, when the soil is poorly drained or is 

 kept too wet, and also when surface tillage is neg- 

 lected, the leaves begin to soften or rot where 

 they touch the ground. This rhizoctonia or 

 bottom-rot is often very destructive where large 

 quantities of lettuce are grown for market. A 

 slimy rot sometimes appears in muggy midsum- 

 mer weather. In the home garden, however, there 

 need be no difficulty from any disease. Be careful 

 about the watering. Sometimes, small garden 

 snails will herd on the lettuce, especially if the 

 surface is left un tilled; and sometimes the 

 aphids will prove a nuisance. A good hard hos- 

 ing, in the early morning, will drive off these 

 garden leeches, and water the plants at the same 

 time. Stirring the soil often will keep them away. 

 Furnish plenty of clear air about the plants and 

 in the surface soil by thorough thinning and care- 

 ful shallow cultivation. Lettuce thus grown in 

 well-drained, well-aerated, sandy soil, well-fed and 

 carefully tended, will be sure to be healthy and 

 thrifty. 



Somewhere in the garden, there is always just 

 the right sheltered spot for the lettuce. Be sure 

 to have a little growing somewhere, all the season 

 through, for this salad plant is needed, in some 

 form, every day. Early in the season, lettuce 

 alone is most satisfying. For the spring lettuce 



