532 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 19, 1890* 
of even 2s. Gd. or 5s., more or less, from professional and amateur 
gardeners not rich in this world’s goods, but who would give their 
mites heartily, the greater would he, if living, appreciate the result 
apart from the sum collected. But the hewers of wood and the 
drawers of water in gardening must never forget that it is as easy 
for some to give pounds as it is for others to give pence, and that 
large sums may be, and are, given as freely, cheerfully, and with 
the same purity of motive as are the mites of the masses. This 
appears to be a case in which all should join—in which there should 
be less of pressing for money than seems to have become cus¬ 
tomary, but that each should give just what he feels he would like 
to give and no more, quite regardless of the contributions of others, 
who may be either better or worse off than himself. This we are 
sure must be the 'wish of the Committee, and we believe the small 
amount representing the day’s wage of a gardener would if sent 
be as much appreciated as would a sum equal to a gardener’s 
quarterly salary given by a person of wealth. 
What appears desirable in providing testimonials or memorials 
in the gardening community for or in remembrance of men of 
national repute is a greater number of subscribers of small or 
moderate amounts. At present a comparative few support these 
movements. It is not the amount subscribed by a few, giving 
because somebody else gives, and giving as much as he, that con¬ 
stitutes the essence of memorial tributes to the memory of the 
dead, or as testimonials to the worth of the living, but the number 
of persons who gladly and spontaneously cast their offerings into 
the treasury, or in other words the number of givers rather than 
the amount subscribed, reveals the truest measure of genuine 
public sympathy with all movements such as those under con¬ 
sideration, and which are now being somewhat frequently discussed 
by various persons who are interested in them. We should like 
to see a very long list of subscribers to the Hibberd Memorial 
Fund. 
LETTUCES. 
This vegetable was referred to by “ J. B., Nottingham ,” in 
“ Notes and Gleanings ” on December 4th, also by Mr. H. S. Easty, 
and as the former says he would like the experience of others I 
gladly give mine. As most gardeners have to keep up a supply for 
salading purposes as long as possible the subject is of some import¬ 
ance. Although Endive, Chicory, Witloof, Dandelion, and Sorrel 
(when blanched) are reckoned as salad plants, Lettuces, as a rule, 
are always preferred to those plants. Although large numbers are 
planted here during the year the varieties are very limited. Several 
I have tried are not equal, from an all-round point of view, to some 
of the old standard varieties ; nevertheless, any new variety, or old 
one either, with a good reputation will always be acceptable, par¬ 
ticularly a well hearted one, either Cos or Cabbage, for use from 
the end of November to the end of March. Between those dates 
I find the most difficult time to obtain a good supply of well 
hearted Lettuce from outdoors. If the weather is favourable— 
that is, not above 10° of frost, and not too much wet or damp—a 
supply may be kept ; but I have found 15° of frost damages full- 
grown Lettuce considerably ; also, too much wet weather, with 
slight frosts, decays good hearted plants, and Lettuces without 
hearts are not much appreciated. 
I have dug them up with good balls of earth in November, and 
placed them in unheated frames, and with all the care taken they 
have damped considerably. I have also covered them with straw, 
mats, and Pea haulm in the open ground, but the damp was too 
much for them to keep well after Christmas. The Pea haulm was 
the best of the three coverings ; it is cleaner and lighter, but a fall 
of 12 inches of snow makes it bad for them. The best of all cover¬ 
ings for salad plants, such as Lettuce and Endive outdoors, is about 
18 inches thick of brackenFern(Pterisaquilina). It is cleanandvery 
light, and that thickness will keep out much frost. It is not, how¬ 
ever, every gardener that lives within easy reach of a good supply 
of bracken, and I am one not lucky in that way ; but I know that 
some are within easy reach of acres of this most useful covering, 
and to such it would be of great benefit, not only for Lettuces, but 
also for cold frames, Roses, and half-tender plants. The bracken 
should be cut in autumn before it is too dry and withered. 
It must be understood that Lettuces to be well protected should 
have completed their growth, or made sufficient heart to fit them | 
for the salad bowl before the end of November, as it is next to i 
impossible to secure much growth in December and January. In 
October and November also look out on all possible occasions when 
the plants are dry and tie them up, as it very much improves their 
eating qualities, whether the kind of Lettuce is self-folding or not. 
I had a very good supply of well-hearted Bath or Brown Cos 
through the month of December a few years ago by digging them 
up with good balls of earth attached, about a hundred plants that 
had been tied up when in a very dry condition in the middle of 
November. They were planted or laid in on the back border of a 
cold vinery, watering the earth about the roots as the planting 
proceeded, being careful not to let a drop fall on the foliage. 
The house being kept cool and dry, and the plants lifted with 
large balls of earth, they proved to be the most useful Lettuces I 
ever had through the month of December. If left on the border- 
in the kitchen garden where they had been growing, the chances 
are that they would have been all spoilt with frost and damp, unless,, 
as previously stated, I had a good supply of bracken. I hope that 
any gardeners who have a good supply of Lettuces through the 
three or four worst months of the year will give the benefit of 
their experience to the numerous readers of the Journal, with the- 
best methods of culture and protection. 
This matter is of considerable importance, as many families 
require salad daily in winter as well as the summer months, and it 
is not every gardener who can have a number of frost proof frames. 
The Broad-leaved Batavian Endive, well blanched, is the best sub¬ 
stitute I know for Lettuce, but the latter is generally inquired 
after most. I should say that those having brick frames, with a 
flow and return hot-water pipe, in which early Potatoes are grown, 
with Melons for succession, would be suitable in which to sow 
Lettuce for use in December and January, after the Melons are 
cut in August. The hot-water pipes would dispel damp and pro¬ 
mote a healthy growth. Any remarks from cultivators so situated 1 
I feel sure will be acceptable. 
To maintain a supply of well hearted Lettuces from April to- 
the end of November is easy enough, provided too much frost does- 
not come before the date last named. For the earliest supply I 
sow thinly in beds about mid-August the two following, Hicks’' 
Hardy White and Bath or Brown Cos. At the same time a good 
breadth of Lee’s Immense Hardy Cabbage Lettuce, the sort men¬ 
tioned by “J. B., Nottingham ,” is sown thinly in drills a foot apart, 
the plants to be thinned to 6 inches apart when large enough to- 
handle. This sowing of Cabbage Lettuce, if the winter is not too- 
severe, comes in at a most useful time to cut, before the Cos 
varieties are ready. Another sowing of the Cabbage variety is- 
made at the beginning of September, thinning also to 6 inches 
apart when large enough. Last year this sowing proved the more 
useful of the two ; a large number of the August sown plants were 
destroyed by frost and wet, as being more advanced in growth. I 
suppose their condition was such that they could not withstand 
the weather so well. Early in March a number of clean 6-inch- 
pots were placed over the best plants, leaving the crock hole 
open, and in that way we had tender hearted Lettuce for use- 
until the unprotected and tied Cos were ready the succeeding 
month. 
One of the best summer Lettuces I find is All the Year Round,, 
and although reputed hardy by some, I find it is not so, at all events 
in this district (midlands). Last year I sowed it in rows side by- 
side with Lee’s Immense Hardy Green at both sowings above 
stated, but 16° of frost completely destroyed it, while the last- 
named sort escaped almost uninjured. 
I may state that both these sowings of Cabbage Lettuce were in- 
open quarters. My opinion is that, provided the soil is of a 
moderately light texture and well drained, that plants are as hardy 
in the open quarters as near a south wall ; at all events, that has 
been my experience. It is the full glare oc the sun catching the 
plants so quickly on a south border after a night’s frost that does 
the mischief. Some of the best Lettuces I have ever seen are- 
grown by the London market gardeners, and, as a rule, they have 
no walls or south borders, but all open quarters. Two plantings 
are made from the mid-August sowings of the two Cos Lettuces 
named above. One planting is made in October of the strongest 
plants on well manured ground (for the Lettuce delights in a rich 
larder) in rows a foot apart, and about the same distance asunder 
in the rows. I usually plant about the same quantity of Hicks’ as 
of the Brown Cos, but there is not much difference in their degree 
of hardiness. This planting, if all is well, is fit for use in May. 
Another planting is made from the same seed beds some time 
between the middle of February and middle of March, the weather 
and state of the land being the guide for this planting. These will 
follow those that were planted in October, and are fit for use in 
June. Both these forms of Cos Lettuce must be tied when three 
parts grown and perfectly dry. I find the best time for tying is 
late in the afternoon when the sun is off them, or has lost its 
power considerably, as if tied in the middle of the day when the 
