SALADS AND HERBS 127 



thinned-out plants may be transplanted elsewhere. The 

 Lettuce should be treated as a " catch "-crop, or side-issue, 

 and only a few seeds sown at a time say, for a small garden, 

 once a month. The soil must be rich, friable, and moist, having 

 been previously well dug and manured. The main point of 

 culture is rapid growth, which must be encouraged in every 

 possible way- by cultivating the soil with the hoe, the pro- 

 vision of copious supplies of water and liquid manure in dry 

 weather, and a supplementary mulch of manure or litter during 

 the hottest portion of the year. 



Lettuces can be safely wintered, even where no pits or cold 

 frames are at command for winter protection. The procedure 

 is : Mark out a bed twelve feet wide, running east and west ; 

 throw up the soil in the form of a ridge, mixing with it a good 

 dressing of well rotted manure. Make the sides of the ridge 

 firm and even ; then plant on the south side strong, sturdy 

 plants of the Cabbage varieties, six inches apart, and mulch 

 the surface of the soil between them with pa tly decayed 

 manure. Should the frost be very severe, a little dry bracken 

 or stable litter may be lightly spread over them in the evening, 

 but removed whenever the weather is favourable. They will 

 thus pass safely through very severe seasons, and be ready for use 

 nearly as early as those that have had the protection of a frame. 



There are two classes of Lettuce the Cos, a tall, upright 

 plant, the leaves of which require to be folded around the heart 

 and tied in that position with bass, in order to encourage heart 

 formation, and blanching, and to prevent premature running to 

 seed ; and the Cabbage, or dwarf, type, which forms compact 

 hearts without assistance. These, again, are divided into 

 varieties for summer and autumn use. Besides the standard 

 varieties, every seedsman has a speciality of his own a fact 

 which applies also to the dwarf kinds. These latter are also 

 legion. The smallest are the best for quick growth. For 

 winter use, the following varieties are useful : Cos C event 

 Garden White and Brown, Hardy Winter White, Brown Bath. 

 Cabbage Hardy Green Hammersmith. Those gardeners who 

 attempt any form of French gardening, the cloche system, or 

 early forcing in glasshouses, should obtain a supply of seeds of 

 the Parisian Cloche Lettuces, or Harbinger Forcing ; while 

 many of those previously mentioned will lend themselves 

 admirably to these systems. 



Lettuces may be boiled and eaten as Spinach, if desired ; 

 and the tenderest stalks of the plant, when running to seed, 



