242 GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



They are an excellent addition to soups, being very nutri- 

 tious. Like beans and peas, but in a greater degree, they 

 are apt to be unwholesome for those of weak digestion. 



LETTUCE. (Lactuca satwa.) 



Lettuce is a hardy, annual, Composite-flowered plant, 

 generally considered a native of Asia. The Cos lettuce, 

 however, came from the Greek island of Cos, in the 

 Levant. It has been cultivated in England since 1562. 



Of the two great families of lettuce, the Cos varieties, 

 which grow upright and of an oblong shape, and require 

 blanching, though more esteemed in England, do not gen- 

 erally succeed so well in this country, except at the 

 South, where they may be sown early in October. The 

 cabbage varieties are more hardy and free growing, and 

 better adapted to our common gardens. 



The following are good cabbage lettuces : 



Hammer smith, or Hardy Green, Leaves thick, dark 

 green ; the wrinkled and concave seeds, white ; stands the 

 winter better than any other sort, but in summer soon 

 runs to seed. 



Butter, or Early Cabbage, Heads small, white, crisp, 

 and closely cabbaged ; leaves pale yellowish green ; ex- 

 cellent for hot-bed culture, or open air ; early and hardy. 



Brown Dutch (yellow seeded). Heads much larger; 

 equally tender and excellent, and closely headed ; with 

 brownish green leaves. 



The next three varieties, if sown at the same time with 

 the above, will come into use about two weeks after them : 



Royal Cabbage, Black seed ; heads larger, and leaves 

 of a darker green than the early cabbage ; equally firm 

 and crisp. 



