' SEPTEMBER, 1908 
water heating is best. J use a tubular boiler, 
costing $250. This will carry ten thousand 
square feet of floor space, for cool plants. 
Get a self contained boiler of the marine 
type, requiring no brickwork and no setting 
up. Set the boiler so that the top will be at 
least level with, but preferably below the level 
of the greenhouse floor. I prefer the down- 
hill system, in which the highest point is 
immediately over the boiler, with the 
expansion tank above that, so that no air- 
cocks are necessary. The piping is carried 
from the centre both ways, on purlins, using 
four 24 inch mains, two on each purlin, 
returning them either by the gutter or on 
the purlins. 
The chimney should be at least fifty feet 
high, with an inside diameter of fifteen 
inches. Set it as close to the boiler as 
possible. It is very essential to get a good 
draft, as it saves fuel. A good chimney can 
be built of concrete, with a sewer tile lining, 
for $50 or $60. There is no difficulty in 
firing a system like this yourself, without 
additional help. In mild weather there is 
no firing between g P.M., and 6 A.M.: in cold 
weather there is one firing betewen these 
two periods. 
SOILS AND FERTILIZERS 
We use ground beds entirely. They are 
not built up at all, but are ona level. Usually 
the soil has to be made. If not very well 
drained naturally it must be tile drained. 
Since the main crop is lettuce, it is essential 
to secure a favorable soil. I grow the leaf 
lettuce entirely, using the Grand Rapids 
variety, which originated with Mr. Davis, 
of this place. The Eastern markets prefer 
head lettuce, but are just beginning to take 
leaf lettuce, and will soon take it in quantity, 
This type of lettuce needs-a sandy soil. If 
the greenhouse site does not have this soil, 
you must bringitin. But since it is necessary 
to grow cucumbers and tomatoes in the 
summer, it is well to use a heavier soil than 
is necessary for lettuce alone. If muck that 
has been well seasoned and sweetened is 
mixed with a light sandy soil, a very good 
soil is secured. The soil should be at least 
six to eight inches deep the first year, and 
should” be added to from time to time until 
it is sixteen to eighteen inches deep. The 
first year spade under two coats of well 
rotted manure at least two inches thick, one 
before the first crop of lettuce, and the other 
Lettuce plants ready to set in the beds 
DE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
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The first transplanting of ‘‘ double-rooting’”’ lettuce 
before the cucumbers. After the first year 
only one coat of manure per year is necessary. 
STARTING THE LETTUCE CROP 
Seed for the first crop of lettuce is sown 
in the seed bed, under glass, in August. 
Use very light soil and wet it thoroughly. 
Sow broadcast, smooth the soil over with a 
lath and cover it with cloth or paper for 
three or four days, not watering it the 
meanwhile. When the plants show the 
second leaf, prick them out and transplant 
to another bench in rows two inches apart 
and one inch between plants. This is 
called “double-rooting.” When these 
plants are three inches high, transplant them 
to the beds in rows six inches apart each way. 
The soil should be laid off into beds six feet 
wide, with narrow paths between. As soon 
as the lettuce has grown to a size where it 
falls down into the alleys, make lath racks to 
support it. 
LETTUCE DISEASES AND INSECTS 
Never water lettuce except when the 
weather is bright enough to dry it off the 
same day; if it goes into the night with 
wet leaves, there is sure to be trouble with 
“damping off” or “drop.” Keep the top 
of the soil as dry as possible. For green 
aphis, fumigate with tobacco stems, and be 
careful that the leaves are dry when fumigat- 
ing. As dark weather approaches, in late 
fall, paint a sulphur and lime mixtureon the 
pipes. This controls mildrew, one of the 
worst troubles of lettuce. To avoid “drop” 
and shot-hole rust, keep the temperature 
down and water just as little as is necessary. 
The first crop is ready to cut the last of 
65 
October. It is well to set only a small part 
of the houses for the first crop, setting one or 
two beds at a time thereafter, so as to have 
the beds coming on in succession. The 
main crop should mature about Christmas 
time, allowing six to eight weeks from seed 
sowing to cutting. In November, and 
December, it will take longer than this, for 
plants grow very slowly then. All the 
houses should be set by November rst. The 
main crop should be off by February tst; 
a crop can be held for two or three weeks 
after it is ready, by keeping the houses cold. 
Plants are ready to cut when the centre 
leaves come up even with the outside leaves. 
YIELDS AND PRICES 
_A yield of one to one and one-half pounds 
per square foot should be secured. A bed 
six feet wide and one -hundred feet long 
should produce from 500 to 800 pounds, 
occasionally 1,000 pounds Lettuce is cut 
off level at the ground, washed, and packed 
in barrels or boxes lined with newspapers. 
A sugar barrel holds about too pounds of 
lettuce. It usually sells for seven to twenty 
cents per pound, but this year it is bringing 
only three or four cents per pound, because 
there was no frost down South. 
The beds are reset as soon as a crop is 
taken off, the rule being to sow seed once a 
week and take off a new crop every week. 
The crop maturing about the last of March, 
or the first of April, usually brings the most 
money, and this is also the heaviest crop. 
After this is off, setting may be made for the 
third crop, which matures in May, and almost 
always brings good prices. Leave out a 
row of lettuce every four feet for cucumbers, 
or tomatoes. Another plan is to sow 
radishes, leaving space for cucumbers or 
tomatoes. The cucumbers are started about 
February 15th, and the tomatoes in Decem- 
ber. The cucumbers are transplanted to 
pots to make a ball of roots. Never let 
them get pot-bound; when they show buds 
it is past time ‘to transplant them. 
Tomatoes, however, should be pot-bound 
before being transplanted. I use White 
Spine cucumber and Comet tomato. 
This variety of tomato does not have to be 
pollenated by hand and produces ten pounds 
per plant. The tomatoes are trained to a 
single stem, and begin to ripen in June, and 
A yield of one and one-half pounds per square foot 
is not an uncommon occurrence 
