THK GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



SUMMER LETTUCES, 



It is generally admitted that the lettuce 

 holds premier position for salading. Its 

 l)lanched leaves alone are also very refresh- 

 ing, and especially s-o during the summer 

 months, when they are found on almost 

 every tea table throughout the country. 

 Each year seems to bring a greater demand 

 for lettuces^ and much skill and fore- 

 thought are required from the gardener, 

 especially in such a summer as we expe- 

 rienced last year, to keep up a liberal and 

 constant supply of first-class produce. Let- 

 tuces grown on poor, light, shallow soils, 

 and insufficiently supplied with moisture, 

 are not worth eating, and stand as a great 

 contrast to the properly cultivated plant ; 

 therefore it is of the utmost importance 

 that good culture is given to attain sucx^^ss. 



Preparation of the Soil. 



Although it cannot be said that the let- 

 tuce is particularly fastidious with regard 

 to soil, it grows away most freely in a 

 deeply-trenched, rich, and moderately open 

 and warm soil. Fortunately, the freely- 

 stirred^ average kitchen garden soil is 

 mostly within a small margin of meeting 

 the requirements, and can be treated ac- 

 cordingly. Where it is found too stiff and 

 cold, a thorough dressing of soil from the 

 rubbish heap, first run through a sieve, is 

 of prime value ; while, where the land is 

 too light, a desired medium can be brought 

 about by adding marl or loam dressings, 

 and forking these in lightly in such quan- 

 tity as the case requires. Wood-ashes, if 

 at hand, are a valuable addition to anv 

 soil. 



The First Sowings. 



For the earliest summer cutting a sow- 

 ing should be made in a hed of soil in a 

 cold frame in early March. The frame 

 should be kept close until germination lias 

 taken place ; but as soon as the young 

 plants are establishe^:l, plenty of air, when 

 the weather is suitable, should be given 

 them, until the lights can lie entirely re- 

 moved, and the plants hardeni'd off for 

 planting out. The site selected to secure 

 an early cutting in June must be a warm 

 south border. 

 • About the same date as the above sow- 

 ing, and when the ground is foimd in a 

 suitable condition, make a sowing on an 

 outside south border in drills about 12 to 

 loin, apart. The germination and early 

 growth will naturally be slower than in 

 the case of frame-sown ones. The aim 

 should be to select varieties for these sf)w- 

 ings that turn in as early as ])ossi])le, and 

 the cabbage for 



mast valuable in t li :s icspcrt. (iolden 

 Yellow, Early Paris Market. All the Year 

 Round, and Buttercup — more especially the 

 two first-name<l — are varieties that will 

 give satisfaction. 



Mid-season and Later Sow- 



At mid-season extremes of temperature 

 and drought have to be reckoned with, and 

 the cooler and more open quarters of the 

 garden are to l>e preferred for these sow- 

 ings, and during the hottest part of the 

 year north borders are very valuable for 

 the crops. With the daily supply that is 

 required for a private establishment, com- 

 paratively small and frequent sowings of 

 seeds are better thini few nnd larger ones. 

 Everv second week or ten <lavs will serve, 



and then, whatever weather is experienced, 

 there will safety against broken sup- 

 plies. 



The lettuce see<llings are very amenable 

 to transplantation. Yet in mi<lsummer, 

 when the w tsither is often very unsuitable, 

 it is as well to err on the side of sowing 



where the plants are to remain, and thin 

 them out to their proper distance apart. 

 Top-dressings of old mushroom-bed manure 

 or other decayed material which conserves 

 the moisture to their roots is of great 

 benefit. This, with deep cultivation, and 

 ample supplies of water when the rainfall 

 is light J cannot fail to produce succulent 

 and satisfactory lettuces. 



The question of which kinds to grow at 

 this season, cos or cabbage, is,, of course, 

 a matter of individual taste ; yet I think 

 the majority would be on the side of the 

 cos varieties. Dickson and Robinson's 

 Little Gem turns in quickly, is nearly self- 

 blanching, and is in every way a desirable 

 lettuce ; while other good kinds are Lon- 

 don White, Mammoth White, Giant Mar- 

 ket, and Webbs' Monstrous White. All 

 these are well tried, and known to give 

 solid and crisp leaves. A mistake that is 

 often made by beginners is that of growing 

 the cos varieties too thickly together. They 

 should be allowed from 12 to 15in. from 

 plant to plant, to permit full development. 

 A detail with lettuces is that of blanching, 

 for, however well grown, they are far from 

 perfect if this has been omitted. Judg- 

 ment should be used, as far as can be, so 

 that the heads are tied up at least eight 

 days before using them. Good varieties of 

 cabbage lettuces for late summer use are 

 Standwell, Continuitv, All the Year Round, 

 Sumnierhill, and Verdant Green. 



C. Flack. 



Cholmondelev Castle Gardens. 



MORE ABOUT SWEET PEAS. 



The recent severe weather, coming as it 

 did after such a generally mild spell, will, 

 I am afraid, have played sad havoc with 

 many autumn outdoor-sown sweet peas. 

 The very moist state of the soil at the 

 time of the frost has no doubt accentuated 

 the evil effects. Many that I have seen in 

 this neighbourhood are badly hui-t, and the 

 stems appeared quite bleached a day or 

 two after the frost. 



As autumn-sown peas are generally put 

 in pretty thickly, some few may have sv.r- 

 vived, and as it takes very few plants to 

 make a row, many that now look entirely 

 done for mav soon, under suitalde weather, 

 quite fill up the ground. Many that are 

 cut down may even break up again, and 

 make better plants than spring-sown ones. 

 Given a few fine drying days a good hoeing 

 between the rows will materially help the 

 {)lants to make a fresh start, this being 

 particularly necessary on the dam]), cold 

 soil, but it must not be done where tluMc 

 is danger of sharp frosts at night, as I 

 have found plants damaged badlv < n 

 freshly moved ground, whilst those that 

 ba ve not lucn lK)ed or (list u rlu <! in 

 anv wav have not i)t en ti uclK d. Whore 

 lltoi-(^ is anv icar ot an insufiiciencv of 

 ]>Iants, a sowing may b(^ iuad(^ at onc(\ in 

 boxes ; the seeds will soon germinate in a 

 little warmth, and. after careful harden- 

 ing off, the seedlings may be pricked off 

 into the rows to fill up gaps. The tore- 

 going remarks ap])ly chieilv to sw(M^t ])ens 

 being groAvn either for ordinary cutting 

 puri)osc^ or tni- ^eeds. 



The plants wintered in frames woidd. in 

 manv instances, also lie frozen, but these 

 ])ein*'" drier and ])artiallv shelt(M-ed shoidd 

 nrit h(> ajiy t lie w<irst\ though it sonu*- 

 times hap])('ns thai when the pots are n(-t 

 plunged till' voimg i-oots are apt to MifiVi-, 

 but as tin's is easily prexcntalth' i»y p'un^- 

 when t hev \\<\\v sufiered it is the 



* 1 



t;nilt of the indi\ idual and not the sysieiii. 

 With ttie letigthening days, and a little 

 mor(> power in the sunshine, these plf nts 

 shoidd now be growing freely, and if they 



are very close together they should be 

 spaced out a little, and, where necessarVj 

 a few twigs put to the plants to keep them 

 upright. Every opportunity of fine 

 weather must be taken to remove the 

 lights, not only during the daytime, but at 

 night also, and there are not many ^veeks 

 left in which to get them into a thoroughly 

 hardy condition, as planting out should be 

 commenced as early in April as the con- 

 dition of the soil and weather will allow. 



In the paper recently read by Mr. Chit- 

 tenden, at the National Sweet Pea Society - 

 Conference, he strongly urged the necessity 

 of having the plants as strong as possible 

 in the early stages, as the streak disease 

 (Thielavia basicola) did not appear to 

 attack the plants until they were in a gene- 

 rally debilitated condition through sdiie 

 other cause; with this in mind, it might be 

 an advantage to give the plants in pots or 

 boxes just one watering with sulph'ite of 

 potash, loz. to two gallons of water. 



Plants either planted out or growing in 

 pots in the houses are now commencing to 

 grow in real earnest, and careful watering 

 and ventilating must be employed to keep 

 them as steady as possible; it is not de- 

 sirable to have them about six feet high 

 before they commence to tlower. Itie ab- 

 sence of sunshine during the earlv iiart of 

 February has been all against sAveet peas, 

 but as we hope to see more of his majesty 

 now, we shall expect a proportionate im- 

 ))rovement in the plants; those of ciu' 

 friends who are growing sweet peas for the 

 great International Exhibition, will le 

 Avauting all the sun possible to have their 

 ))lants in the best possible condition for the 

 month of May ; it must be remembered that 

 sweet peas will not stand forcing at ii:e 

 finish, as is the case with many (-ther 



plants. 



In warm districts and dry soils prepara- 

 tion should be made for solving out ot 

 doors. There are many people who rely on 

 this method of sowing for their main hatch 

 of flowers, therefore it is as well to do 

 everything possible to ensure a good ger- 

 mination. Presuming the ground luis been 

 thoroughly well dug or trenched during 

 the winter, a few drying days should be 

 all that are necessary to bring it into good 

 working condition. Where the soil 

 heavy a sprinkling of dry wood ashes over 

 the surface should help to break it down 

 finely, and this is essential, not only t<) 

 allow of the free growth of the youug seed- 

 lings through the soil, but to do away witu 

 the harbourage for slugs, which are pro- 

 bably the worst enemies of outdoor-sowa 

 sweet peas. With the soil in a fairly dr} 

 condition, and thoroughly well broken np. 

 from tAvo to three inches is none tno deep 

 to s >\v th<' seeds, varying it, of course, ac- 

 cf)r(ling to th(> ti'xtuie of the sod, deeper 



in rli(^ caso ot liLdit soil, and vice versa; 



i-oceni- 



than 



manv 



peoph^ 



til is is dei'per 



mend, and the late phmts arc longer m 

 pusliing through the uround. but I ha\t* 



])fov(H| they do blotter afterwards, and do 

 wuX dry out so ([uickly in hot weather a> 



those so\\ n quite shallow. 



Where birds ar(^ troublesome it is ^y^^ 



i-oAvs of blacti 



the soil 



and this should be done at the time of 



Stkvkxsox. 



])lan to strain four <u- fivt 

 thread al>out four inches abovt 



Thos. 



Woburn Place Gardens. 



sowing. 



I a t( 



Chrysanthemum Madame R- 



Oberthur.- Thi. is one of the best (d t 



white clirvsaiithemums, either ''"'/^ 

 Inn' as ]Mvt plants, or for lire su])plv <>t ' 

 l)lnoins. Ux addition to it^. oilier ^^^'^"■*'|'. 

 qualities, it is of easy cnlture. atul \ 

 beautiful flowers can be depended ap<>" 

 develop well. — W. T. 



