904 



LESPEDEZA 



but on heavy lands grows 18-24 in. high. It is a good 

 pasture-and hay-plant, and is useful for plowing under 

 as a green manure. It thrives on land which is indiffer- 

 ently prepared. For hay, seed is sown early in spring, 

 at the rate of X bushel per acre. It often yields ; 2 tons 

 of hay to the acre. For pasturage in the boutn, it is 

 sometimes sown with oats in the fall. 

 AAA. Oriental Lespedezas, grown as ornamental plants 

 for the fls.: erect: stipules and ft. -bracts 

 small: perennials. 



blcolor, Turcz. Fig. 1263. Shrub, with slender 

 branches, becoming 6-10 ft. tall, slender and graceful, 

 glabrous: Ivs. on thin wiry stalks, mostly longer than 

 the glabrous blades; Ifts. oval to round-obovate, rounded 

 at the apex, the terminal one 1-2 in. long: fls. small, 

 purple, in simple or compound racemes, which surpass 

 the Ivs.: pod M in. long, somewhat pubescent. Japan. 

 -Hardy as far north as Boston, blooming in July and 

 seeding freely. A good slender shrub for adding va- 

 riety to the border. A white-fid, variety is advertised. 

 Sidboldi, Miq. (Desmodium pendulifldrum, Oudem. 

 L.racembsa, Dipp. L. formosa, Koehne). Fig. 1264. 

 Herb, throwing up strong, wiry shoots each year from 

 the crown: stems angled, reddish or brown, hairy (at 

 least above) : Ivs. dull above and light-colored and hairy 

 beneath, the petiole usually 

 somewhat shorter than the 

 blade ; Ifts. elliptic-oblong- 

 pointed: fls. twice larger than 

 in the last (nearly % in. long), 

 rose-purple, drooping in very 

 numerous long racemes, which 



at the top of the P lant are 

 panic-ted: pod nearly or quite 

 y^ f n long, pubescent. Japan. 

 G.F. 5:115. Gng. 1:23. R.H. 

 1873:210. J.H. 111.30:15. G. 

 C. II. 20:749. F.S. 18:1888. 

 B.M. 6602 and Mn. 7, p. 69 (as 

 L. bicolor). Blooms in Sep- 

 tember, and hardy in central 

 New England. A very desira- 

 ble late-blooming plant, mak- 

 ing a large specimen with age. 

 Does not often seed in the 

 North. 



Jap6nica (Desmodium Ja- 

 pdnicum, Hort., not Miq.). 

 Very like the last, but blooms 

 a week or two later, has very 

 numerous pure white fls., 

 much lighter colored herbage, 

 1264. Lespedeza Sieboldi. usually nearly glabrous Ivs. 

 (X %.) an< * stems, the Ifts. broader 



and less pointed. Hardy as 



the last, and seems to seed more freely in the North. 

 Perhaps a botanical variety of L. Sieboldi, but distinct 

 for horticultural purposes. 



Other Japanese and Chinese Lespedezas may be expected to 

 appear in the trade. See Franchet, R.H. 1890, pp. 225-227, for an 

 account of W. China ornamental species, with picture of L. 



Delavayi. 



L. H. B. 



LETTSOMIA is a genus of the Convolvulus family. 

 About 26 species of tropical oriental climbers. An un- 

 known species was advertised from S. Florida in 1889 

 and is still procurable. Reasoner and others think well 

 of it. 



LETTUCE (see Lactuca) is the most popular of salad 

 vegetables. Plate XVIII. It is a quick-growing annual, 

 delighting in cool atmosphere and open, loose soil. As 

 an outdoor crop, it thrives best in spring. Special care 

 is needed to grow it in the hot summers of America, al- 

 though heat-resisting varieties have been developed. Of 

 late years, the forcing of Lettuce under glass has come to 

 be a large industry. The most serious trouble in forcing 

 Lettuce is the rot, due to a species of botrytis. The 

 leaves become soft and fall, leaving only the core of the 

 plant erect (Fig. 1265). This trouble may be prevented 

 by growing in loose soil, by keeping the surface of the 



LETTUCE 



soil and of the plant as dry as possible, and by avoiding 

 a too warm and too moist atmosphere. Sub-irrigation 

 (see Irrigation) is to be advised for Lettuce forcing. 

 Of varieties, there are two general types, the cabbage 

 or heading sorts (Fig. 1266), and the loose sorts (Fig. 



1265. Lettuce plant collapsed with the rot. 



1267). The latter are more used because more easih 

 grown, but the former are considered to be the finer. 



In 1885, Goff reduced the kinds of Lettuce to 87 

 rieties (4th Rep. N. Y. Exp. Sta. ), throwing them int 

 three general groups: (1) leaves roundish or but slightly 

 oblong, spreading rather than upright; (2) leaves ob 

 long, tending to grow upright ; (3) leaves pinnatel] 

 lobed. These categories were divided into subtribes 01 

 minor leaf-characters. In 1889 (Annals Hort. ) 119 name 

 of Lettuces were catalogued by North American seeds 

 men. Lettuce has been in cultivation for over 2,( 

 y^s. L. H. B. 



LETTUCE OUT-OF-DOORS. While Lettuce seems never 

 more enjoyable than when it conies from the greenhouse 

 during the colder parts of the year, yet it is acceptable 

 for salad purposes and is in good demand the entire 

 year. In open ground, at the North, we may have it in 

 all its perfection from June until snow flies again in the 

 fall. Usually it is much less of a knack, however, to 

 have it in the earlier part of the season and up 

 August, than in the torrid weather of August and early 

 fall. For early market we start the plants in the green- 

 house during February, and prick them out in flats or 

 sunken thurnb-pote filled with rich, fibrous loam, and 

 after thoroughly hardening them by exposure for a week 

 or more in a coldframe, we take the plants up, with a 

 chunk of soil, and plant them out in very rich, well- 

 prepared loam outdoors, just as soon as the weather 

 will permit. Tennisball and its various strains and 

 selections, Boston Market, etc., are good for this pur- 

 pose. The rows may be made a foot apart, and the 

 plants set 6 or 8 inches apart in the rows. We want neat 

 solid heads, even if not as large or heavy as some of the 

 heads we can easily produce later on from summer 

 varieties, and we wish to get them as early in the season 

 as possible in order to be able to put them on the mar- 

 ket when prices are still high. Light applications of 

 nitrate of soda, either broadcast over the patch at the 

 time of setting the plants, or along the rows very soon 

 after, seldom fail to assist in hastening early growth 

 and to increase the size of the heads. This is a "trick of 



1266. Heading Lettuce. 



the trade " well worth practicing. The free use of tl 

 wheel-hoe, keeps the soil loose and the crop free fror 

 weeds, and also hastens it to early market condition. 



At the time of setting the first plants in open grounc 

 we also sow a patch with the garden drill, using see 



