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JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



being ready for use, or in the quality, might make all the difference 

 between the crop proving remunerative or otherwise. 



Mr. Veitch said it would perhaps be as well to state that 

 what he said applied solely to English gardens, and to such kinds 

 as were not specially influenced by local conditions. 



ON THE PRODUCTION OF WINTER SALADS.' 

 By Mr. Norman, F.R.H.S. 



To supply Salad in winter is one of the most important duties of 

 a gardener ; to have it through our long winters requires a great 

 deal of care. Lettuce, the most important of Salads, is always in 

 request. As seasons vary so much, it is impossible to fix upon 

 dates for sowing in any part of England. I commence sowing 

 for winter about the 1st of July ; I sow again about the 15th of 

 July and the 1st of August. The varieties I like best for winter 

 are Brown Cos, Lee's Immense Hardy Cabbage Lettuce, with 

 some Victoria Cabbage Lettuce for the early part of the winter. 

 These are planted out as soon as large enough, about 10 inches 

 from plant to plant. If the season is warm the earlier sowings 

 are ready for use in September, which does not matter, as 

 Lettuce are in great demand at all seasons. My object is to 

 have as many as possible ready for use and half-grown by 

 October. Frost is very destructive to full-grown Lettuce, there- 

 fore, when October comes, it is necessary to have mats, or some 

 kind of protecting material, ready to cover them with on all 

 frosty nights, on the quarters where they have grown, or they 

 may be lifted and laid in close on a south border or some 

 sheltered situation where they may be more conveniently pro- 

 tected. By this means good Lettuce may be had out of doors to 

 November, and, in favourable seasons, to quite the end of that 

 month. 



The plants that are about half-grown I lift with as many 

 roots as possible, and plant in cold pits and frames between the 

 1st and 15th of October ; these, with plants sown about the 15th 

 of August, and planted as soon as large enough in pits, give a 

 supply from November to March. I sow again, and it is gene- 

 rally the last sowing of the season, about the 1st of September, 

 the plants of which sowing are planted on a south border, and in 

 a frame by the side of a greenhouse, about 5 inches apart, so 



