May 8, 1^9'. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
875 
Kith (Cos), Hicks’ Hardy White (Cos), and Hammersmith Hardy 
•Green (Cabbage). 
Phickino out and Ttv.vnsplanting. —If these operations are 
not carried out in due time the plants become crowded in the seed 
and nursery beds, and poor results are obtained in consequence. 
Therefore, if the object be to produce examples of good cultivation 
in the shape of large close heads of tender Lettuces, the young 
■p.ants when a couple of inches high and before they touch should 
be pricked out in a border having a south or west aspect in rows 
aMut 4 inches apart and at the same distance in the rows, making 
•the soil moderately firm about the roots, and if no rain fall at the 
supply water through a rose-watering pot to settle the soil 
alxmt the roots. If the ground be ready by the time the young 
plants are fit for pricking out they may be placed in rows 12 inches 
asunder and at the same distance between the plants in the rows, 
^ving water to settle the soil about the roots, as already advised. 
Before planting the ground should be trodden and surface- 
dressed with soot before raking it level, as the Lettuces will do 
better by being planted in a fairly firm ground, and the dusting of 
soot will save them from the attacks of the grub, which in some 
soils is very destructive, eating through the stems of the plants 
underneath the surface of the soil. However, very good Lettuces 
niay and are every year grown on Celery ridges during the interval 
of making the trenches and earthing-up the Celery plants in 
summer. But if plants thus grown are not pretty well supplied 
with water at the roots during a spell of dry weather thin loose 
heads of tough leaves will be the result. Where there is plenty of 
ground the largest, most solid, and crisp heads of Lettuce are 
secured by sowing the seed very thinly in drills about 1 inch deep 
and 12 inches apart, the ground having been previously dug, 
trodden, and raked level, afterwards closing the soil in drills with 
the feet, treading and raking it level in the same direction as the 
drills. In due time the plants should be thinned, first to G inches 
appt, and later on to 12 inches in the rows. Thus grown, and 
being afterwards attended to in the way of giving water at the 
Toots when necessary, the plants never experience the slightest 
check. 
In transplanting Lettuces, which had been previously pricked 
out as indicated above, they should be taken up and planted with a 
garden trowel avith good balls of soil adhering to their roots, 
letting them into the ground the same depth as they were before, 
and making the soil firm about the roots. In making early plant¬ 
ings of Lettuces level the soil well up about the stems of the plants, 
prevent the lidgment of water with the result of 
encircling the plants occasionally with ice. But on the other 
hand, in making plantations during the summer a slight depression 
should be left round the collars of the individual plants for the 
reception of water. Successional plantings, like the sowings, should 
be made every three or four weeks to the middle of August. The 
{^nts raised from seed sown during the latter month should in due 
time be dibbled out, those in slightly heated pits at G inches every 
way from plant to plant, drawing every other plant for early use 
before they touch, allowing 3 inches between the plants in cool pits 
aad in warm and somewhat dry borders out of doors. The plants 
in cool pits and out of doors must be protected from frost by 
shutters and fern and similar material. Slugs being very trouble¬ 
some to Lettuce plants so grown they should be sought and 
destroyed, subsequently laying occasionally a mixture of fresh soot 
and lime between the plants and the wall, fence, or edging as a 
means of keeping them off. 
Plants raised from seed sown in June and July will be ready 
for cutting in the late autumn and early winter months, and good 
breadths should be planted for this purpose. The July raised 
plants for lifting with good balls of earth, and carefully transplant¬ 
ing 3 or 4 inches asunder in a cool pit or frame, placed on a south 
border, before they are injured by frost, say the end of October. 
The plants may be placed the same depth in the ground as they 
were before, giving water to settle the soil about the roots. This 
should be poured through the pipe of the watering can round the 
stems and roots, so as not to wet the leaves. These plants should 
have abundance of air in the absence of frost and heavy rains, and 
always bear in mind that the great enemy to be guarded against 
in the preservation of Lettuces during the winter is damp. 
The only attention which the several plantations made during 
the spring and summer months from the interval of planting to 
cutting is to keep the plants well supplied with water at the roots 
during dry weather until they have taken well to the soil, and to 
keep them free from weeds by passing the Dutch hoe between the 
rows a few times, an operation that will at the same time promote 
growth in the plants. 
Blanching the Head.s. —The object of the cultivator should 
be to get as great a portion of the leaves of the individual heads of 
I.»ottuce as white and tender as possible, therefore recourse should 
be to tying up the leaves, but not too tightly, with bands of matting 
when the heads are nearly full grown. The leaves of the Cos 
Lettuce being, as a rule, self-folding they do not require tying, 
although by doing so the process of blanching is more complettdy 
effected. The Cabbage Lettuces generally require being tied up ; 
this should be done when the leaves are dry. One band of matting 
tied within a couple of inches of the top of the heads is quite 
sufficient for each Lettuce. 
As wood pigeons, pheasants, and sparrows are in some districts 
very partial to young Lettuces their movements should be watched, 
and if necessary a piece of garden netting be placed over the plants 
until they have become well established and the attention of the 
feathered tribe diverted.—H. W. Ward, Longford Castle,Saliaburg. 
VARIATION IN PLANTS. 
CConti/ined from gtage 3-55.) 
As regards marvellous floral forms and adaptations, no family 
of plants equals the Orchids, but it is impossible to deal with their 
structural peculiarities in reference to cross fertilisation in these 
notes. Charles Darwin’s book on the subject contains the greatest 
number of facts observed or recorded, and elsewhere I have en¬ 
deavoured to give a few ideas on the subject. One peculiarity 
stands out prominently in the Orchids as a means of attraction, 
and that is the labellum or lip, a singularly modified structure, 
totally distinct from anything in other flowers, but with just a 
distant resemblance to the lower portion of the corollas in the 
“two-lipped” flowers previously noted. It is in this organ that the 
majority of the modifications occur that render Orchids so exceed¬ 
ingly interesting, and the rich colouring often in bold streaks and 
bands render them equally beautiful. The lip serves as a lure to 
insects ; it even serves as a bait, and in some cases as a trap for the 
creatures it compels to perform the service of hybridisers. The 
strange resemblances to other insects in certain cases, the powerful 
odours, and in some cases even the unusual colours are all directed 
to the same purpose. 
But it is not in the corolla alone that means are provided to 
ensure cross-fertilisation ; the stamens in numerous instances show 
quite as evidently their structural adaptation for a certain purpose. 
In the two-lipped flowers, the Salvias, &c., they are often strangely 
curved ; in the upper hooded portion of the corolla the separated 
lobes of the anthers are curiously hinged connecting portions, so 
that an insect when entering the lower part of the flower touches 
one end and forces the other down on its back, the pollen being 
then carried to another flower. 
The stamens are sometimes of different lengths, as in the 
Primulas, giving rise to the phenomenon of dimorphism or tri- 
morphism, when tw'o or three forms respectively are present. 
Long stimens and a short style (thrum eyed flowers of florists); 
short stamens and a long style (the pin-eyed flowers of florists) ; 
and when the stamens and the style are about the same length. 
Combinations between these forms give different results, but the 
intercrossing of two extremes give the best. Occasionally, also, 
the anthers are in a mature state before the pistil of the same 
flower, and the reverse occurs in some instances, this being really 
a means to prevent self-fertilisation, and consequently indirectly 
to encourage crossing, at least with other plants of the same if 
not with distinct species. 
There are still other modes of promoting cross-fertilisation in a 
state of nature—namely,, where the the pollen is produced very 
freely, is light and powdery, and consequently is easily distributed 
by the wind. The Willows and many of our deciduous trees are 
examples of this, and in most cases the flowers are individually 
inconspicuous, but compensate to some extent by being in clusters 
or dense drooping catkins. Having now briefly reviewed the chief 
points in regard to natural cross-fertilisation, we may turn our 
attention for a few minutes to the same process as conducted by us 
under artificial conditions. 
Artii'ic'ial Cross-fertilisation. 
What has been already said will indicate that in some of the 
modes described, or by a combination of them, plant variability is 
induced in nature on an extensive scale and continuously, and when 
we reflect upon the ages during which this has been in operation it 
is not surprising that plant forms are extremely diverse, and 
distinct floral structures equally numerous. A little attention to 
what has been effected artificially, even within the present century, 
is sufficient to show how great the range of variation is and how 
much can be done by the skilled horticulturist to multiply the 
beautiful and useful flowers and plants in our gardens. What has 
been done in the past should act as a guide to the future, and it is 
work in which almost every amateur and gardener can engage. 
'Ihe subject is very far from being exhausted, and some of the 
