196 GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT. 



hotbeds by the fifteenth to the twenty-fifth of February, 

 and will be ready for market as soon as the third crop 

 has been cut from the house. By sowing seed, at inter- 

 vals of three or four weeks, a succession can be obtained 

 from hotbeds and cold frames until field-grown crops 

 mature. When there is a demand for lettuce during 

 November, it can be grown in cold frames at a low cost, 

 and if they are deep and are well covered on cold nights* 

 it can be carried until Thanksgiving. 



For hotbed and cold frame uses, the forcing house 

 sorts answer very well, and such varieties as Chicago 

 Market, Denver Market, and Black Seeded Simpson, 

 will also be found desirable. 



CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS. 



The principal reason why the lettuce specialists have 

 such remarkable success is that every detail of handling 

 the crop is properly attended to. 



As of prime importance we consider (1), the char- 

 acter of the soil. This should be of a sandy nature, with 

 less than five per cent of clay. If the clay is present in 

 much larger quantities the surface of the soil, on becom- 

 ing dry, will bake and form clods, and as it will remain 

 wet and cold after watering, it is likely to induce the 

 appearance of the rot. A good lettuce soil, properly 

 supplied with drainage, will allow the surplus water to 

 pass through it, and the roots will penetrate to a much 

 greater depth than in a cold, heavier soil. 



(2.) They not only have suitable varieties, but the 

 best growers take pains to have selected plants from 

 selected seeds of selected strains of those varieties. Hav- 

 ing found a variety adapted to the wants of a particular 

 market, each grower should raise his own seed, selecting 

 it from plants that come nearest his ideal, carefully pul- 

 ling up all others before they have blossoms. Care 

 should be taken to reject all of the small, light seeds, as 



