CHAPTER XIV 



LETTUCE 



There is no excuse for any one who buys his let- 

 tuce at the store during the summer season. Let- 

 tuce may be grown with complete success in the 

 tiniest garden. Even the flat dwellers may have it 

 also. A window box, fastened outside the wall, 

 will support a surprising amount of the best, if rich 

 earth is used. Lettuce, of all plants, should be grown 

 at home ; for salad greens may become, instead of 

 a dehcious addition to the hot weather menu, an 

 actual danger, if they have been wilted and exposed 

 to dust. Lettuce, once wilted, is edible lettuce no 

 longer ; water can never restore it to good condition. 



Varieties 



Multiplicity of Kinds. — The beginner may well 

 be confused. by the long list of names under this 

 head in the seed catalogues. Fifty varieties and 

 strains may easily be counted, each of which is 

 good according to its kind ; but all are not de- 

 sirable from the standpoint of the beginner. Some 



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