Special Articles 
79 
On beds or benches, the plants are planted usually 18in. to 20in. 
a])art each way and trained upright around strong twine or ligbt- 
weigiit sticks to overhead wires. All side shoots are removed and the 
plants must be shaken at intervals of a few days during sunshiny 
weather to aid pollination of the flowers. As the plants grow, some 
of the lower leaves that touch the ground should be removed and 
when the fruits are reaching a good size the pruning should continue 
gradually from the bottom upward to permit sunshine to ripen the 
fruits and to aid in a good circulation of air. The entire compound 
leaf must not be removed at one time. It is best to remove one-third 
of the leaf at intervals of four or five days. About four months in 
the greenhouse are necessary to grow plants 6ft. tall and to ripen 
fruits. The best temperatures for Tomatoes are 60 deg. F. at night 
and 70 deg. during the day. Tomatoes will begin to ripen in .50 to 65 
days after they are planted in the growing house. If plants on 
raised benches are not grown more than 5ft. tall, the crop may be har- 
vested in less than four months. 
Lettuce 
The Lettuce crop which is planted after the Fall Tomatoes, about 
.Ian. 1 to 5, is started Nov. 16 to 20. It requires longer to grow the 
plants at this season of the year because the days are shorter and the 
weather is often cloudy in many sections. Loose-leaf Lettuce is 
planted Tin. to 9in. apart each way, while head Lettuce requires a little 
more space. In four or five weeks the Lettuce will be large enough 
for some markets, while five to seven weeks at this season of the year 
may be needed to grow a larger head for other markets. In case a 
second crop of Lettuce is to be grown or if plants are to be set between 
the Spring Cucumbers or Tomatoes, this cro]) of Lettuce should be 
started about Jan. 1. Growers who are serving small markets and 
cannot sell the entire crop in a short time, may sow small quantities 
of seejl at intervals of one week from Nov. 16 to Jan. 1, and thus 
have a constant siqiply. A crop of Radishes could be grown on some 
of these small plots, while the later Lettuce plants are coming on. 
The temperatures for Lettuce are 45 to 50 deg. F. at night and 60 
deg. during the day. 
In the Fall and Spring, a crop of Lettuce may be cut from the 
growing house in four to eight weeks, depending upon the size of the 
plant that meets the market requirement. Since the Winter days are 
.shorter and some sections have considerable cloudy weather, about one 
to one and a half weeks more time will be required to grow the Win- 
ter crops. 
The first Fall crop of Lettuce which will be planted in the houses 
about Sept. 1, should be started in flats or beds about Aug. 1 to 5. 
In order to have a succession of crops throughout the Fall and Win- 
ter until the Spring crop of Tomatoes or Cucumbers is planted. Let- 
tuce seed must be sown every week. This will provide plants of all 
ages and a constant supply to replant a bed or bench as soon as a 
cro]) is cut. Since Lettuce requires a very rich soil, })lenty of well 
rotted manure should be added to the soil and, if necessary, applica- 
tions of nitrate of soda to encourage a rapid growth. 
