February c, isgo. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
113 
sturdily, and are pricked off 2 inches apart into other boxes. When 
sturdy little plants about 1 inch high are secured they are placed in 
cold frames, and given air abundantly. The lights are thrown off when 
the weather is favourable, and are admitted to the frames at night, 
when there is no fear of frost. The boxes are stood out of the frames 
tor a week or ten days to further harden the Lettuces before they are 
planted out. 
To follow these seed is sown the first week in February, this time in 
boxes, which are placed in a cool house. The seed is a little longer in 
germinating, but the young plants do not run up an inch high almost 
at once, the same as they do when raised in heat. These should noc be 
sown too thickl.y, and when they are ready for pricking out a low frame 
placed on a warm border, and the soil well broken up. With 
in ? incorporated leaf mould and potting shed refuse soil 
that has been passed through a sieve. We spread over the surface 
of the ordinary soil about 2 inches of this, so that the roots of the 
young plants will be in at first instead of the soil of the border, 
these grow slowly, but when planted out are ready for cutting by the 
time the majority of the earlier ones have been cleared from the ground. 
Tor succession seed is sown in a frame on the same border a month 
in 1-^® surface of the soil of the border, and 
^e plants are thinned out when large enough to prevent crowding, 
these can be pricked out, but we do not trouble to do so. A sowing is 
made outside during the last few days of March, and suc:essional 
sowings are made at intervals of three weeks until the middle of June. 
Any rough low frames are good enough for the purpose of raising Let- 
. ®®®‘ t'ba.t is really needed are a few boards nailed to stakes driven 
into the ground. If these are covered with lights they answer as well 
as frames of the best quality. 
loung Lettuces are hardier than many really think. Last year we 
were told our plants would all be killed, and we should have our trouble 
tor nothing. The weather proved most unfavourable before they h.id 
taken to the soil, and although they were battered and broken by strong 
winds and storms frost did them no harm; two or three genial days 
parted them into growth, and they never looked back afterwards, 
those in open exposed flats did as well if not better than those on warm 
borders. On the whole, those in the open were very much the finest, 
but about a week later than those on a south border sheltered by a wall 
feet high. The plants one yard from the wall were very much inferior 
to those at the front of the border, which is 8 feer wide ; those near the 
wall were drawn. 
To grow Lettuces well the ground should be deeply dug if possible in 
autumn, and when this cannot be done, as early in the year as it can be 
cleared of other crops. On that dug early manure should be wheeled 
during frosty weather, and left in heaps ready for spreading some time 
previous to planting. We prefer to do this and fork the manure in at 
the same time, breaking up the soil well as the work proceeds. All the 
land that was turned up roughly last year became thoroughly pulverised 
and was in excellent condition for planting after it had been forked 
over and left for two or three days. Lettuces delight in well worked 
soil, and if the surface has become fine from exposure they are easier to 
plafit and grow more quickly than when the soil is rough and lumpy at 
planting time. 
Manure in a well decomposed state should be used. Lettuces dis¬ 
like fresh manure, it is too hot and forcing for them, especially for 
plants that have to endure drought and bright sunshine. The roots 
take to rotten manure freely, but not when it is practically fresh. If it 
must be used in this condition it should be turned into the ground as it 
Is dug or decomposed by frequently turning the heap. This, however, is 
too costly an operation, and does not improve the manure sufficiently to 
cover the cost of turning it. 
Shallow drills are drawn 1 foot apart as planting proceeds, and the 
plants placed 1 foot apart. In planting care is needed to place the 
rwts straight down—that is, open the hole sufficiently large to place in 
the roots without doubling them. Those from boxes generally plant 
with balls, and are planted with small trowels. After the plants com¬ 
mence growing the hoe should be run through the ground to loosen the 
surface and render it fine. The more the hoe is used the quicker the 
plants grow, and are ready for cutting fully a fortnight earlier than 
those that are only hoed to keep down weeds. It is surprising how one 
or two applications of soot strewn over them in their early stages during 
showery weather assists them to make rapid growth. This should be 
done while the plants are quite small. 
During hot dry weather Lettuces do better on borders or flats that 
are not freely exposed to the sun. North borders can be selected, and 
mulching can be practised by those who grow a few plants only, but 
those who grow large breadths for the market cannot well practise 
these methods. They are not really necessary if the ground has been 
well worked, liberally manured, and the hoe is constantly going amongst 
them. When the surface is dry and fine they grow quickly even 
in dry weather. 
Whether grown for home use or the market Lettues pay well for the 
most careful treatment in their early stages, well worked ground and 
the most liberal of treatment. When they are grown for the market they 
should be pulled up, not cut off, for they keep fresh nearly double the 
length of time.—W. Baedney. 
Liquid Manure foe Resting Plants. —The value of liquid 
manure occasionally to plants during their resting period may be clearly 
seen when they make a fresh start, as they grow more vigorously in 
consequence, and often do not need repotting if the feeding is continued 
during their growth. Those that do require to be repotted are equally 
improved by the liquid manure previously given, as the stronger the 
growth the more quickly the roots take possession of the fresh soil.— 
A Youngster. 
THE BRITISH FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
An adjourned annual general meeting of the above Association was 
held in the Horticultural Club Room, Hotel Windsor, Victoria Street, 
on Thursday, January .SOth, at 3 P.M., T. Francis Rivers, Esq., in the 
chair. The principal business was the consideration of a code of rules 
based on those originally drawn up, but which have been found to be 
inadequate for the purposes of the Association. After considerable dis¬ 
cussion it was duly resolved that the following rules should be adopted 
and printed. 
Rules op the Association. 
1. Title. —The title shall be the “The British Fruit Growers’ Asso¬ 
ciation.’’ 
2. Objects and Methods. 
A. Ohjects. —The objects of the Association shall be to promote 
the profitable culture of fruit in Great Britain and Ireland, to 
facilitate the distribution of fruit to consumers, and to disseminate 
practical information on these subjects. 
B. Methods. —The Association shall endeavour to effect these 
objects by the means of meetings and conferences in the metropolis 
and the provinces, by the collection of reliable information, by the 
publication of such reports and essays as the funds may permit, by 
securing the adherence of local societies, by the award of prizes, 
medals, and certificates to successful cultivators and those who 
have assisted in the extension of knowledge in fruit subjects, and 
by such other methods as the General Committee shall determine. 
3. Management. 
A. Offieers. — The management of the Association’s affairs shall 
be entrusted to the following officers :—A President, Vice-Pre¬ 
sidents, Treasurer, Chairman of Committees, Vice-Chairman of 
Committees, and an Honorary Secretary. All the officers shall be 
ex-officio imembers of the General Committee, the Chairman, Vice- 
Chairman, Treasurer, and the Hon. Secretary being ex-officio mem¬ 
bers of the Executive and all Sub-Committees. All the officers 
shall retire annually, but be eligible for re-election. 
B. Committee. —The General Committee shall comprise forty 
members of the Association (exclusive of delegates from affiliated 
societies as provided in Rule 6), ten of whom shall retire annually, 
but be eligible for re-election. The members shall be pro¬ 
posed, seconded, and elected at the annual general meeting, and 
after the business of the annual meeting, or at the first subsequent 
meeting, the Generel Committee shall elect from amongst their own 
members an Executive Committee of fifteen members, to whom 
the arrangements for the current year will be entrusted. 
4. Election of Members. 
A. Subscriptions and Donations. —Any person who desires to 
become a member of the Association shall be proposed by one 
member and seconded by another at any meeting, and if duly 
elected shall, on payment of his subscription, be entitled to the 
privilege of membership in accordance with paragraph b of this 
rule. Donations of not less than 6s. shall confer the same privileges 
(for the current year) as subscriptions, if the donor so desire. Elec¬ 
tions shall be effected by ballot or by show of hands, a majority 
being required to elect an opposed candidate. This shall apply also 
to members of the Committee. 
b. Privileges. —1. Subscribers of 5s. per annum shall be entitled 
to personal admission to all general meetings and conferences, to a 
vote at the annual and other general meetings, and to a copy of the 
Association’s annual report. 2. Subscribers of 10s. shall be entitled 
to a transferable ticket of admission to the meetings specified in 
section 1, to a copy of every publication issued by the Association, 
and all privileges named in section 1. 3. Subscribers of one guinea 
shall be entitled to the privileges named in sections 1 and 2, also 
to such assistance as the Committee can render in naming varieties 
of fruit, and to advice by letter on matters connected with fruit 
culture. Subscriptions for the current year shall be due at the date 
of joining the Association, and subsequently annually on Jan. 1st, 
and no member whose subscription is unpaid shall be entitled to 
take part in the proceedings or to the other privileges of member¬ 
ship. 
5. Affiliated Societies. 
Horticultural and other provincial societies concerned with fruit 
culture shall be affiliated with the British Fruit Growers’ Association 
on the payment of an annual subscription of 10s. The affiliated 
Society will receive a transferable ticket of admission to all con¬ 
ferences, and may appoint a delegate as a member of the General 
Committee. A copy of each of the Association’s publications will 
be sent to the Secretary, and two of the Association’s certificates to 
be awarded for meritorious exhibits of fruit, for well managed fruit 
gardens, and for presentation to those who have displayed proficiency 
in fruit culture. 
