246 



VEGETABLES OR FOOD CROPS 



boxes, before the commencement of either of the monsoons ; prick 

 out the seedlings when large enough to handle, and transplant 

 these at intervals of 6 inches into well-manured, deep trenches. 

 As the plants increase in height, the trench should be rilled in 

 gradually with earth so as to encourage the production of a thick 

 succulent and well blanched stem, which is the part used. Leeks 

 require rich loose soil and constant moisture. The " London 

 Flag " and " Musselburgh " are old favourite varieties, which are 

 still perhaps unsurpassed for quality. 



Lettuce. "Salada" S. ( Lactuca saliva. N. O. Compositae). 

 This takes first place as a salad plant, and fortunately can be 

 grown at almost all elevations in the tropics, but to greatest per- 

 fection in the hills. The plant is an annual, prefers a rich mellow, 

 humous soil, and responds well to manuring. Sowings should be 

 made at intervals of three weeks or a month, so as to keep up a 

 succession of crops. It is best to sow the seed in shallow drills on 

 a well-prepared bed, afterwards thinning out the plants to about 

 6 or 8 inches apart ; or the seed may be sown in seed-pans or 



boxes, and the seed- 

 lings transplanted out 

 when they have ob- 

 tained their second 

 pair of leaves, though 

 it is well to remember 

 that Lettuce does not 

 always take well to 

 transplanting. In the 

 tropics, the plants 

 soon run into seed. 

 I am informed that 

 a method adopted in 

 Madagascar to pre- 

 vent them from seed- 

 ing is to cut the 

 tap-root below the 

 surface of the soil, 

 this also being con- 

 sidered to have the 

 effect of causing the 

 plants to form a good 

 heart. 



COS LETTUCE. 



