72 GARDENING FOB YOUNG AND OLD. 



for ruta baga or Swedes. If any thing, the land should 

 be richer and the seeds sown a little earlier. The best 

 variety for stock or for table use, is the Large White or 

 Large Green. For table use these should be grown 

 quickly and used before they become stringy, which they 

 will be apt to be if allowed to get larger than a teacup. 



LETTUCE. 



Every body raises Lettuce. While no plant is more 

 easily grown, comparatively few people have it in per- 

 fection. The reason for this is three-fold. The soil is 



? 9- Fig. 10. 



"THE DEACON" LETTUCE. cos LETTUCE. 



not made rich enough, it is not thoroughly cultivated 

 and hoed, and the plants are left entirely too close 

 together. As an out-door crop, lettuce can be sown in 

 the spring as early as the weather will permit. I have 

 sown it in February, and though we had very severe 

 weather afterwards, the plants were not injured by the 

 frost. In the same field, however, the same variety, 

 " The Deacon," sown April 14th, was just as large by the 

 first of June as that sown in February. The best way 

 with this, as with other hardy crops, is to sow as early as 



