LETTUCE. 59 



For Stock Seeds and Seeds for Private Use.- 



Select the finest specimens which show faithful correct- 

 ness as to type. These are transplanted, the plants tied 

 to stakes for support, and only seeds which ripen first 

 on the plant are saved. A good plan, when the opera- 

 tion is on a small scale, is to pull up plants as seeds 

 are ripening, place them against a fence with a cloth 

 under them, and allow them to remain in that position 

 until seeds are thoroughly matured. 



Threshing Seed must be thoroughly dry before 

 threshing, which may be done in a threshing machine, 

 or with a roller on a cloth on a floor. Seed is then 

 run through a fan mill. A small quantity may be 

 threshed in a bag, and the cleaning done with a hand 

 sieve. 



Market. Seed is sold extensively by the trade; in 

 some parts of the South lettuce is grown largely as 

 an early market open-field crop. At one time, nearly 

 all the seed that was used here was imported from 

 Europe. But within the last thirty years it has been 

 produced extensively in California, and now that State 

 practically supplies the entire country with lettuce seed 

 and even ships to Europe. The annual production in 

 this country is at present upwards of 200,000 pounds. 

 To the west of the Rocky Mountains, almost any section 

 is peculiarly adapted to lettuce; but for that matter, 

 seed of excellent quality can also be grown in all the 

 States east of the Rockies, where the soil is loose and 

 not over rich. If too rich, it is liable to cause rot at the 

 root at period of blossoming. 



In California, a seed-yield in a favorable season is 

 about 500 pounds per acre, at prices to the grower of 

 fifteen to twenty cents per pound. 



