The Garden Magazine, April, 1922 



117 



Giant Fringed or 

 Oyster Endive is 

 indispensable 

 during August 

 and September 

 when the true 

 head Lettuces 

 are no longer to 

 be had 



midribs. With no other vegetable is the question of " specific 

 strains and varieties for specific seasons" as all-important. 



The Programme of Sowing and the Kinds to Sow 



I TAKE it for granted that the gardener had access to a cold- 

 frame during early March in order to provide seedlings of 

 Black Seeded Simpson. As an alternative, most seed and plant 

 establishments are generally prepared during April to supply 

 sturdy plants, suitable for transplanting into the open ground, 

 10 inches apart in rows, 1 8 inches between the rows. Where 

 this can be done early in April, the gardener will enjoy crisp 

 Lettuce from early in May until the middle of June. But 

 please remember Black Seeded Simpson is not a Head Lettuce. 



As soon as the ground can be dug and raked (generally about 

 April 15th) sow short rows each of Wayahead, May King, 

 Black Seeded Tennisball, and California Cream Butter. When 

 thinning these, about May 5th to 10th, transplant the sturdiest 

 seedlings wherever there is space in the garden. These four 

 varieties will mature in succession, supplying salad from the 

 middle of June until the middle of July, when California Cream 

 Butter will " bolt " to seedstalks. 



Theirs/ week in May sow All Seasons, Iceberg, New York or 

 Wonderful, and Kingsholm Cos. This will provide heads from 

 early July until early August. While thinning the seedlings of 

 New York or Wonderful, transplant the sturdiest, which will be 

 ready about a week later than those left to grow in the original 

 row. By the middle of August, even Kingsholm Cos will go on 

 a strike; and from then on, for about four weeks be satisfied to 

 do without Lettuce. But Endive sown in May will supply the 

 salads for that interval. 



Early in August sow a row each of Unrivaled,- Crisp-as-Ice, 

 and New York or Wonderful. These will provide salad from 

 the middle of September, when Unrivaled will be ready, until 

 Thanksgiving when the last of New York or Wonderful may be 

 snowed under. 



At this time the coldframe will help again. By the middle of 

 October, transplant a score each of Crisp-as-Ice and Wonderful 

 into the frame, covering the plants during severely cold nights, 

 and you may enjoy fresh Lettuce of your own growing even up 

 to Christmas, depending entirely upon the severity of the season. 



Caring for the Growing Crop 



THE least understood and therefore 

 least practiced detail in Lettuce 

 culture, the lack of attention which is 

 responsible for 75 per cent, of all failures 

 (balance to be credited to choice of poor 

 strains), is thinning the growing crop. 

 The seedlings must be thinned to give 

 ample room for the unhampered de- 

 velopment of the individual plant. Do 

 the first "thinning" (which is really 

 cultivation) when the plants are just 

 large enough to be taken hold of, gen- 

 erally 3 to 4 inches. Lettuce seeds ger- 

 minate from 90 per cent, to 100 per 

 cent. Everyone sows them too thickly. 

 The result is crowded rows, spindly 

 seedlings, a war of " the survival of the 

 fittest," a waste of plant food on the 

 unfit, and permanent injury to the crop. 

 Thin out so that every Lettuce stands 

 at first 4 inches from its fellow in the 

 row. As soon as the little plants fill that 

 space, remove every other one, now fit 

 for salads. Repeat this thinning out 

 process until the plants stand 12 to 18 

 inches apart, the small varieties requir- 

 ing less room, the larger ones as much 

 as 2 feet of space for each head in the 

 row. 

 From the time that the little plants become individuals on a 

 street rather than babies in a crowded tenement, the hoe or any 

 cultivator should be kept busy. Besides hoeing both sides of 

 the row, stir the soil in the row, between the plants. No other 

 vegetable crop I know responds so thoroughly to diligent and 

 thorough cultivation. It will grow fairly well even in soils poor 



The Chinese Cab- 

 le Wong Bok, if 

 sown in early Au- 

 gust, matures rapid- 

 ly and is ready for 

 table use by the end 

 of September 



