LETTUCE. 193 



/" se . The root shredded or grated, with the addition 

 of vinegar, is used as a condiment with meats and fish. 

 It has an agreeable, pungent flavor, and, besides aiding di- 

 gestion, possesses other important healthful properties. 



It has been truthfully remarked, that " there is scarcely 

 another culinary vegetable, of equal importance, in which 

 cultivation is, in general, so greatly neglected as in this. It 

 is often found planted in some obscure corner of the garden, 

 where it may have existed for years, and is only visited 

 when needed for the proprietor's table. The operation of 

 hastily extracting a root or two is too often all that is 

 thought of; and the crop is left to fight its way amongst 

 weeds and litter as best it may." 



LETTUCE. 



Lactuca sativq, 



Lettuce is a hardy, annual plant, and, when fully de- 

 veloped, from two to three feet in height, with an erect, 

 branching stem. The flowers are compound, yellow, usually 

 half an inch in diameter; the seeds are oval, flattened, and 

 either white, brown, or black, according to the variety. 

 Nearly thirty thousand are contained in an ounce, and their 

 vitality is retained five years. 



Soil. ; Lettuce succeeds best in rich, moist soil, and is 

 also best developed, and most crisp and tender, if grown in 

 cool, moist weather. A poor soil, and a hot, dry exposure, 

 may produce a small, tolerable lettuce early in spring, or 

 late in autumn ; but, if sown in such situations during the 

 summer months, if will soon run to seed, and prove nearly, 

 if not entirely, worthless for the table. The richer the soil 

 may be, and the higher its state of cultivation, the larger 

 and finer will be the heads produced ; and the more rapidly 

 the plants are grown, the mo,re tender and brittle will be 

 their quality. 



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