HOME VEGETABLE GARDENING 
LETTUCE— WHEN AND HOW TO SOW 
A NY soil will grow lettuce, though a deep, friable loam 
-CA- well enriched with manure and full of humus will most 
quickly produce the choicest heads. A heavy soil should 
be made lighter by adding some sand or ashes. Soils of a 
light, sandy nature need large quantities of manure. 
Start with any soil available, about middle of April 
or as much sooner as garden can be made. The young 
lettuce plants are very hardy and belated frosts do not 
injure them. Sow seeds in rows, two feet apart, covering 
one-quarter to one-half inch deep, depending on soil. 
Sow very thinly, dropping about two or three seeds to 
every inch. The average packet will sow fifty feet of row. 
A constant supply may be obtained by sowing sorts 
maturing in succession or by sowing short rows of the 
same kind at regular intervals. But when adopting the 
latter course, keep in mind that there are different sorts 
for different seasons. Sorts that do nicely during the cool 
spring months will not form heads during the summer. 
212 
