124 -A LITTLE GARDEN THE YEAR ROUND 



anywhere, for intermediate season, especially 

 recommended; Prize head for early use. 



A deep rich mellow loam founded on a dry 

 substratum is an ideal soil for lettuces, but they 

 thrive, fortunately, in even indifferent soil. 

 With a little care the salad-garden may be 

 made to produce a succession of lettuces 

 throughout the season. The earliest varieties 

 must be started in the hotbed for spring use, 

 if the seed has not been planted the previous 

 autumn in the open and protected by a mulch 

 ( covering of leaves, etc, ) . It is well to remem- 

 ber that lettuce-seed should be sown thinly 

 one-fourth of an inch deep in drills eight to 

 twelve inches apart. The seed will germinate 

 in from eight to ten days. When the plants 

 push out they should be thinned out to about 

 four inches apart. A quarter of an ounce of 

 lettuce seed will produce some two hundred 

 and fifty plants. Of course, with care, lettuce- 

 plants bear transplanting successfully ; indeed, 

 many who have for some reason delayed plant- 

 ing seeds until late in the season may still have 

 early lettuces by obtaining hotbed-grown seed- 

 lings from their seedsman for setting out in 

 their own gardens. Transplanted lettuces 



