6o6 



OREGON HORTICULTURE. 



soil about half an inch deep. The drills should be 

 six inches apart. Sow the seed as thinly as you 

 can and fill the drills with fine soil. Roll the bed, 

 or walk across it until you have brought your 

 whole weight upon every inch of the surface of the 

 bed. Then give it a thorough watering, and never 

 let the soil become dry. As soon as the plants 

 are one inch high, thin them out to two or three 

 inches apart. Keep the bed clear of weeds, and 

 hoe often to keep the soil loose. 



If your plants are not ready in time put the soil upon 

 the benches to a depth of five or six inches, as lettuce 

 sends its roots down deep. Rake the soil upon the 

 beds fine and level ; take the rod, as above directed, 

 and make the drills half an inch deep and four inches 

 apart. Sow each alternate drill with Boston Market 

 lettuce, and the other drills with Olive Short-Top 

 radish. The latter will be fit for market in four weeks. 

 Treat the seed in the same manner as though sown out 

 of doors. It is well to give the beds a good dusting 

 with tobacco ashes, or with the dust from cigar manu- 

 factories, once every two weeks to prevent the appear- 

 ance of the green-fly. Another good preventive is to 

 tie strips of tobacco along sticks and lay these between 

 the rows. Tobacco stems strewn underneath the 

 benches will also aid in keeping out the pest. If green- 

 fly once gets a good start in the lettuce, it is a very hard 

 matter to get rid of it. 



Keep the beds free from weeds by frequent hoeings, 

 and never allow the soil to get dry, as lettuce, being of 

 a succulent nature, requires plenty of water. Good 

 drainage may be obtained by leaving the bottom 

 boards three-quarters of an inch apart. The tempera- 

 ture of the houses should never rise above 50°, night or 

 day. If the thermometer should register as high as 70°, 



ventilation should be resorted to. Open the houses 

 on the side opposite to that from which the wind is 

 blowing, if possible. After each crop of letttuce, it is 

 well to give the beds a light dressing of well-rotted 

 horse manure, for the crop soon exhausts the soil. 



Lettuce is subject to two serious diseases. One of 

 these attacks the center, causing it to decay, and this 

 continues until the whole plant becomes a rotten mass. 

 This, I believe, is caused principally by a hard, wet, 

 non-porous surface soil, and by deluging the heart of 

 the lettuce with water, instead of spraying it between 

 the plants. It is incurable. The other disease attacks 

 the outer edge of the leaves. It first manifests itself 

 by the leaves becoming hard and brittle. These then 

 change to a rusty color, and this gradually spreads over 

 the leaves, making them unfit for sale or eating. It is 

 caused, I believe, by some fungus. There is no remedy 

 for it. Some varieties of lettuce are more subject to 

 the above diseases than others. 



Fertilizers may always be used with advantage in 

 growing and forcing lettuce, as the more quickly it is 

 grown, the more tender it is. Peruvian guano may 

 be used as a top dressing between the rows a few days 

 after the plants have been thinned. Grind it to a fine 

 powder and scatter it upon the surface of the bed at 

 the rate of half-a-pound to the square yard. Hoe it 

 into the soil. Nitrate of soda is another excellent 

 fertilizer for lettuce. When dry and in a fine powder, 

 apply it evenly at the rate of two pounds to five square 

 yards. Be very careful that none of it comes in con- 

 tact with the leaves, for they are easily killed by it. 

 Stir the fertilizer into the soil. Ammonia is another 

 good fertililer, as it produces leaf growth. It may be 

 used about once a month. Put one ounce into five 

 gallons of water, and water the beds. 



Diiluth, Minn. G. M. Stratton. 



OREGON HORTICULTURE. 



QUIETLY laestling in an alcove of the 

 Blue mountains lies a beautiful little 

 valley — the Grande Ronde — sheltered 

 from the cold and icy winds of the 

 north, the dry and withering winds of 

 the southwest, and the bitter, biting 

 winds of the northeast. It has a climate admirably 

 adapted to certain phases of horticulture. The 

 temperature ranges from 60° to 85° — 90° being 

 exceptional — in summer, and from 60° to 80° 

 during the remainder of the year. The soil is 

 naturally deep, friable and fertile, and has the best 

 of surface and sub-soil drainage. In winter the 

 snow is ample to protect the roots and crowns of 

 tender trees, shrubs and herbs, and sufficient rain 

 falls during the summer so that irrigation need not 

 be practiced. The Grande Ronde valley has 



within the past few years come to be considered 

 one of Oregon's most favored regions. 



The valley proper is about thirty-one miles long and 

 sixteen miles wide There are several "arms," how- 

 ever, which make its total area something like 500,000 

 acres. The greater part of this is easy of cultivation, 

 being a prairie loam, varying in color, but uniformly 

 deep, light, ashy and fertile. The sub-soil is generally 

 gravelly along the borders — and here it is that in some 

 seasons irrigation seems desirable — while toward the 

 center and along the streams it is an alkali "pan." 



The timber of the valley is found along the streams, 

 and consists mainly of willow and alder. In the 

 mountains there is an abundance of coniferous woods — 

 spruce, fir, pine, cedar and hemlock. Not only is the 

 valley promising from an horticultural standpoint, but 

 also from that of the general farmer. In fact, it has 

 for some time been noted for its quantities of fine 



