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LETTUCE THINNING AND TRANSPLANTING 



r I ^HE one phase of growing lettuce that must be con- 

 -- sidered of greater importance than any other is 

 the need of prompt and repeated thinning out of the 

 young plants. Within three weeks after seeds are sown 

 the seedlings will be two to three inches tall when they 

 should be thinned out to stand about two inches apart. 

 The gardener who lets lettuce grow in a crowded row 

 and pulls the leaves for salad when about four inches 

 long will never know what quality in lettuce means. 

 A week after the initial thinning, every other plant 

 should be removed, thus giving each plant four inches in 

 the row. The pulled up plants may be transplanted. 



This work of thinning should be continued so that at no 

 time do the plants touch, let alone crowd each other. 

 A final distance for the plants of a foot apart in the row 

 will be found about right for the majority of the head 

 lettuces, though exceptionally large-growing sorts may 

 be given eighteen inches. 



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