LETTUCE 12389 
White Tennis Ball, or Boston Market 
A very popular market variety adapted 
for hotbed and early spring use only. It 
forms a solid head of medium size but 
quickly goes to seed in warm weather. 
Hanson 
Forms large solid heads and is a gen- 
eral favorite; excellent for spring or sum- 
mer use. 
Black-Seeded Simpson 
A popular forcing variety that stands 
well without going to seed and does not 
form a head but a mass of curled leaves. 
Grand Rapids 
A very desirable lettuce for forcing. It 
resembles Black-Seeded Simpson, but is a 
better shipping variety. 
Black-Seeded Tennis Ball 
A popular sort for forcing or early gar- 
den culture. It forms large, solid heads 
and is highly esteemed. 
Salamander 
A good heading sort for summer use. 
Buttercup 
Bright chrome yellow in color, very 
beautiful; tender and desirable. A popu- 
lar new sort. 
Lettuce is now being extensively grown 
in almost all the Northern and in some 
Southern states in hotbeds and marketed 
for winter use. Of late years this has 
grown to be a considerable industry. In 
this manner it is easily grown and the 
principal question is how to keep it fresh 
and crisp after taken from the hotbed 
and before it reaches the consumer. To 
secure this end the growing of lettuce in 
pots is sometimes resorted to. R. L. 
Watts, of the Tennessee Experiment Sta- 
tion, suggests the following advantages of 
pot culture: 
Advantages of Pot Culture 
1. The chief advantage is in making 
it possible to retain the succulent condi- 
tion of the lettuce until it reaches the 
table. 
2. Attractiveness of heads when of- 
fered for sale increases prices fully one- 
third on the Knoxville market. 
3. The handsome appearance of curled 
varieties is highly appreciated by those 
who value lettuce for garnishing pur- 
poses. 
4. It enables grocerymen to keep a 
constant supply of lettuce in a perfectly 
fresh condition. 
5. It enables the consumer to keep a 
supply of lettuce to be used at will. This 
is a very important element, for cut let- 
tuce should be eaten before it withers, 
and it is not possible by the usual method 
of marketing to keep the heads in a fresh 
condition more than a few hours. 
6. A crop may be cut from the per- 
manent bed every month when pot cul- 
ture is practiced. With the usual meth- 
ods a crop is cut from the same space 
about every two months during winter 
and spring. 
7. Pots removed from the permanent 
bed when the plants are ready for mar- 
ket may be replaced at once by pots 
from the sandbed—a great economy of 
space. 
The expense of pots and slight increase 
of labor in marketing are the only dis- 
advantages, but we believe the advantages 
mentioned above overbalance the disad- 
vantages and render pot culture desir- 
able and profitable for gardeners depend- 
ing upon local markets. 
Size of Pots 
It is not practicable to use pots smaller 
than two inches. Those exceeding three 
inches in size are too expensive and the 
balls are too large for convenient mar- 
keting. 
Effect of Pots on Yield 
The use of pots decreases the yield 
about 15 per cent. Plants grown with 
their roots thus confined are more com- 
pact but weigh less at maturity than 
plants set in open beds. Pot culture, 
then, is a disadvantage when lettuce is 
sold by weight or measure. The adop- 
tion of the system means a slight sacri- 
fice in quantity for quality. 
Value of Sodium Nitrate in Pot Culture 
The decrease in productiveness when 
pot culture is employed is due to the 
confined and crowded condition of the 
roots. This difficulty can be almost en- 
tirely overcome by the application of con- 
