118 



The Garden Magazine, April, 1922 



in humus, so long as frequent cultivation is practised, and will 

 stand a surprising amount of drouth. 



Utilities of the Different Classes 



THERE are three distinct branches of the Lettuce family, 

 each of specific usefulness at different seasons: (i) the Loose- 

 leaf class, members of which will never form heads; (2) the true 

 Head Lettuce; (3) the Cos Lettuce which forms upright bunches 

 of leaves, folding more or less tightly, according to variety. 



The first is important only for very early work; it will thrive 

 in lower temperatures, and meaner weather, and get along on 

 poorer soil than any other type. But that's all that can be said 

 in favor. Neither in quality nor in appearance do they 

 measure up to the other classes. The most important of the 

 early Looseleaf type is Black Seeded Simpson. Prizehead — a 

 poor name for a sort that won't head, and positively misleading- 

 ranks second. 



Among the Cos Lettuces, the chief value of which lies in their 

 heat resistance, Express or Eclipse is the earliest, but small. 

 Paris White grows larger, does well during early August and is 

 of better quality. Kingsholm is the largest and latest of the 

 three and while of a rather forbidding appearance, it holds a 

 heart of gold. 



Head Lettuces, however, are the ambition of every home 

 gardener. They are of two kinds: Butter-head and Crisp-head. 



The Butter-heads are distinct from the others in having 

 leaves of markedly delicate texture which seem oily or buttery 

 to the touch. The Crisp-heads lack this characteristic, form- 

 ing strongly ribbed heads which somewhat resemble small 

 Cabbage, wherefore they are called " Cabbagehead " in some 

 catalogues. The Butter-heads carry off the quality prize, they 

 are best served with French dressing, whereas Crisp-heads are 

 often given a bacon fat dressing. 



But there is reason for growing both Butter-heads and Crisp- 

 heads in the home garden. When the best of the Butter-heads 

 wilt and go to seed under August suns, the Crisp-heads, with 

 their tightly folded heads and strong midribs, prolong the salad 

 season for another week or ten days, perhaps. 



For perfect succession of delicious Butter-head Lettuces, use 

 the following varieties (the figure after each name indicates the 

 time required to form heads from the time of sowing seeds) : 

 Butter-heads: Wayahead, (45); May King, (50); Black Seeded 

 Tennisball, (55); California Cream Butter, (65); All Sea- 

 sons, (75). 

 Crisp-heads: Iceberg, (70); Harrison, (75) ; New York or Won- 

 derful, (80). 

 Crisp-as-Ice is difficult to classify; with Butter-head quality 

 its growth character is Crisp-head. It is the one variety, 

 however, I prefer to all others for late season work. It will 

 stand a remarkable amount of cold weather without injury. 



The Other Salads 



WH ILE a member of an entirely different family and lacking 

 the delicate flavor of Lettuce, Endive is indispensable 

 as a salad to fill the gap during August and September. Giant- 

 fringed or Oyster Endive, from seeds sown in the middle of May 

 will yield average plants by the middle of August and, if shaded 

 by either boards or muslin during the hottest part of the day, 

 will do duty while a late sowing of Lettuce is coming on. 



We also discovered last year that the Chinese Cabbage was 

 better as a salad than as a cooked dish. Do not sow until early 

 in August and its development will be most rapid, so that by 

 late September, and from that on until snow covers the ground, 

 you can count on gathering delightful, crinkled, well blanched 

 heads, weighing from two to five pounds each. The flavor of 

 this salad is delightfully pungent. 



Witloof Chicory is for connoisseurs among salad eaters. This 

 is the French Endive of Europe. Seeds are sown early in April, 

 the plants making a strong growth throughout the season, and 

 the roots are dug in the fall. The tops are then cut back to 

 within an inch of the neck, the roots are shortened at the bottom 

 so that all are a uniform length of from six to eight inches. 

 They are then packed upright in deep boxes, the crowns covered 

 with sand, soil, or moss. After watering, place in a warm cellar. 

 If this be done in the middle of November, a delightful, 

 crisp, aromatic salad will be had at Christmas. 



A 3-IN-1 SPRAY FOR THE BUSY GARDENER 



Saving Labor by Uniting Several Ingredients into One All-Purpose Combination 



r OU would like to save from a half to 

 two thirds of the time and labor or- 

 dinarily required in giving the garden 

 a thorough spray treatment. It can 



be done, yet there are plenty of gardeners who 



just have never got round to merely com- 

 bining two or three sprays — each with a 



specific purpose and action — and using the 



manifold protector three or more times 



throughout the season at such keynote periods 



as will enable them to do the most damage to 



the largest possible number of injurious insects 



and diseases. 

 The essential ingredients of such a mixture 



of preventives and remedies are: 



1. Fungicide with which to overcome or 

 ward off mildews, rusts and other fungous 

 diseases. 



2. Stomach poison for the destruction of 



such beetles, caterpillars and other insects as chew the plant 

 tissues and may be killed by materials taken into their ali- 

 mentary systems along with the leaves eaten. 



3. Contact spray by means of which scale insects, plant lice 

 and all other sucking forms may be combatted. 



Double lines show what may be united 

 into a combined 3-in-i all-purpose spray. 

 Undesirable combinations are shown by 

 broken lines. The light, continuous 

 line shows possible safe mixtures 



Taking our fruit crops (which are perhaps 

 more permanent and easily observed than the 

 average ornamentals) as a calender guide, the 

 first act of our general spray programme opens 

 just as the Apple blossoms are about to ex- 

 pand. If there is a severe and well-established 

 case of scale on any of the trees, you can ad- 

 vantageously introduce a "prologue" in the 

 form of an application of some recognized 

 scalecide, just before the leaf buds on the fruit 

 trees break. This is a "dormant" spray, and 

 since most, if not all, insect enemies as well 

 as their host plants are dormant at that time, 

 there is no need to waste either poisons or 

 contact sprays by including them. 



As soon as the Apple petals have fallen, but 

 before the calices of the tiny fruits have 

 closed, give the second act. From ten days 

 to two weeks later a third spraying will 

 usually dispose of any pests that have escaped the first two ap- 

 plications. Such a course of treatment will be reasonably sure 

 to destroy any infection existing in your own garden. 



Later throughout the summer infestations of insects or disease 

 spores may come in from a less thoroughly protected outside 



