1&98 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
871 
with simple jokes and sallies, consti¬ 
tutes the entire evening’s amusement. 
Where they have pianos, the daughters 
exhibit their limited skill on instruments 
which are jangled and out of tune. One 
never sees a book or a magazine in these 
houses, though in two or three of the 
larger cities there are many literary men. 
Reading is not a strong point of the 
island population. 
A swell dinner in a Porto Rican home is a 
trying gastronomic ceremony. The menu 
is made up of astonishing viands, and 
the dishes seem to follow no conven¬ 
tional sequence in their procession to the 
table. Soup is as likely to be the second 
or third dish as the first. Roast beef 
and beefsteak are served at most un¬ 
heard-of moments. The disastrous effect 
of a meat diet in tropical climes has been 
dwelt upon by medical experts, yet at 
one dinner no less than eight meat dishes 
were served—combinations of bacon, of 
ham, of kidney, of beef, and of chicken. 
The following is the menu of a dinner 
given to two Americans by a rich sugar- 
planter : Fried eggs and two fried corn- 
cakes. Vegetable soup filled with garlic. 
“ Gondinga ” (a hash made of chopped 
kidneys and liver, seasoned with garlic 
and split olives). Larded beef, cooked 
juiceless and hard, flavored with garlic 
and oil. Beefsteak, onions and garlic, 
fried in oil, and served in overdone frag¬ 
ments. Potatoes, sweet and Irish. Rice 
and scrambled eggs. Guava jelly in 
rectangular blocks. Cocoanut and brown 
sugar. American apples and cream 
cheese. Coffee and cigars. Champagne. 
On the Wing. 
GLASS GARDENING IN THE BAY ST A TE 
“boston lettuce”; where it comes 
FROM AND HOW IT IS GROWN. 
( Concluded.) 
[editorial correspondence.] 
The Lettuce Crop. —Lettuce is the 
most democratic of salads, and is on our 
tables during almost every month in the 
year. Prices have fallen during late 
years, and it is necessary that results be 
obtained as cheaply as possible, to allow 
any profit. The houses are kept at work 
all the year through, cucumbers usually 
succeeding the lettuce, which is a cool- 
house crop. When the greenhouse lettuce 
must be given up, it is grown in frames 
until the outdoor season arrives. In the 
hot Summer weather, it is, of course, 
given up, for it is then tough, bitter, 
and “ bolting.” 
Varieties of Lettuce.—A market let¬ 
tuce must be crisp, tender, and well- 
hearted, yet it must not be so brittle 
that it will mash in transit. There are 
some very fine varieties, suited to the 
home market, which are, on this account, 
not recommended for commercial use. 
The Tennis Ball type seems a favorite 
for forcing. It appears under slight 
variations, for each seedsman selects a 
strain specially suited to his customers, 
and the name may differ with different 
dealers, but the lettuce itself varies 
little. A good solid round head is de¬ 
sired. The columnar Cos lettuce, with 
its long, succulent leaves, does not ap¬ 
pear at all. 
The Soil. —Looking down a long let¬ 
tuce house, one is struck by the weed¬ 
less surface, and the dry, loose texture 
of the soil. It does not merely appear 
loose ; it is loose, for the grower may 
clinch his fist and push his arm down in 
the mellow earth to the elbow, with but 
little resistance. It is friable in texture 
when planted, and the surface is not 
compacted by frequent waterings. It is 
very liberally enriched by stable ma¬ 
nure. At W. Proctor’s place, I saw a 
fine house of lettuce in which, I was 
told, the soil had not been taken out and 
replaced for five years. When the house 
was first built, the ground was heavily 
dressed with manure and plowed up, be¬ 
fore the pipes were put in. Before plant¬ 
ing, about four inches of the top soil are 
taken off, and this replaced with ma¬ 
nure, at the beginning of the season. 
Another top-dressing of manure and 
loam is given before the second crop of 
lettuce and, also, a sprinkling of com¬ 
mercial fertilizer, in some instances, 
while the third crop of the season, which 
is cucumbers, has a trench of manure 
put in right under the plants. It will 
be seen that this is concentrated plant 
food, but lettuce, of all salad crops, must 
be hurried along, to be tender and suc¬ 
culent. At the great Budlong place, at 
Providence, R. I., I found, however, that 
the soil is renewed each season. The 
earth thus removed is used for filling in 
low land, and is not expected to do duty 
again for greenhouse purposes. This is 
only practicable where the market gar¬ 
dener has a vast farm to draw upon. 
Sterilized Soil. —The lettuce is sown 
either in greenhouse benches or boxes, 
and pricked out into boxes before being 
planted in the beds. At W. W. Rawson’s, 
at Arlington, I found them sterilizing 
the soil for the seed benches. The soil 
was shoveled into a large vat, holding, 
perhaps, a cart-load. Several steam pipes, 
pierced with fine holes, ran through the 
bottom of this vat. When the vat is 
filled with soil, the steam is turned on, 
120 pounds pressure, cooking the soil 
until both animal and vegetable life are 
destroyed. Neither viable weed seeds 
nor insects survive this. Soil has been 
similarly sterilized by rose growers, to 
destroy nematodes or eel-worms. The 
sterilized lettuce soil, however, is with¬ 
out manure, and the process is obviously 
impossible after the manure is added. 
The sterilized soil is put on the benches, 
and watered before the seed is sown; 
the seed receives a thin covering of yel¬ 
low loam. The seed germinates strongly 
in the sterilized soil, and is quickly 
pricked out into boxes. In the great 
establishments, seed is sown at intervals 
of about 10 days during the season, to 
give a constant succession for planting. 
Planting and Watering. —The lettuce 
beds receive a thorough watering before 
they are planted ; very little watering 
is required afterwards, the soil being so 
loose in texture that it does not part 
readily with its moisture. The crop may, 
perhaps, receive two waterings before it 
is taken off. The surface looks quite 
dry and crumbly, but there is an ample 
supply of moisture beneath. The plants 
are set in the beds about eight inches 
apart. In frames or hotbeds, 50 plants 
are usually set under each 3x6 sash, 
making them about 7% inches apart. At 
Mr. Rawson’s place, where the soil is not 
renewed each year, a dressing of Canada 
hard-wood ashes is given every Fall, be¬ 
fore the soil is prepared for planting ; 
this checks cut-worms, and is beneficial 
in other ways. This dressing appears 
to be the only fertilizer used excepting 
the manure. Fertilizer manufacturers 
are not likely to grow very rich through 
these truck growers. 
Two Tennis Balls.— While the White- 
seeded Tennis Ball is the favorite under¬ 
glass sort, another variety, Black-seeded 
Tennis Ball, is popular for growing out¬ 
side ; it is rather larger than the White- 
seeded. The first sowing of this variety, 
for the greenhouses, is usually made the 
last week in August or first week in Sep¬ 
tember, while the Black-seeded Tennis 
Ball is sown under glass, in February, 
for transplanting into hotbeds, from 
which it is set out in the open ground 
about the end of April. This is ready 
for use by the beginning of June, and is 
followed by the first outdoor sowing, 
made as soon as the ground can be 
worked. This is sown two feet apart, so 
that celery may be planted between, and 
the plants are thinned to one foot apart 
in the row. 
MOTHERS.—Be sure to use“Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup ” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adv. 
Insect Enemies and Disease. —Aphis 
or green-fly is one of the commonest in¬ 
sect enemies of the lettuce. Previous to 
February, it is often quite troublesome, 
but does not seem to cause much trouble 
afterwards. Tobacco fumigation seems 
to be the only cure and, when the trou¬ 
ble is severe, the fumigation should be 
done three nights in succession, to be 
followed by another treatment a week 
or 10 days later. The work must, how¬ 
ever, be very carefully done, or the crisp 
and tender lettuce leaves will burn at 
the edges, and the head is then un¬ 
marketable. If tobacco stems are used 
for fumigating, they must be moistened 
to prevent their flaming up, and care¬ 
fully watched during the burning. In 
damp and cloudy weather, there is risk 
of mildew, but the care in watering 
does much to obviate this, and plenty of 
air is given, under such circumstances, 
while temperature is held stationary. 
Shipping the Lettuce. —The lettuce 
is shipped in barrels, packed snugly, all 
lying one way, stem up. The roots are 
trimmed; trimming of the leaves is 
rarely required. The price, at the time 
of writing, for extra greenhouse lettuce, 
is but 50 to 65 cents a dozen, wholesale, 
and from this it goes down to 25 cents a 
dozen, so it will be seen that the crop 
must be watched closely to avoid finan¬ 
cial leakage. It has to compete with 
Florida lettuce already, and its south¬ 
ern competitors continue to come in all 
through the season. The unequaled 
quality of the eastern glass-grown let¬ 
tuce is what holds it in the market. One 
would imagine that the Rawson place at 
Arlington, and the Budlong place at 
Providence, would supply Winter lettuce 
enough for the eastern and middle 
States; yet there are plenty of small 
growers following the same line. e. t. r. 
Muscular 
Food .... 
Tlie peasantry of Europe in 
general, prefer their bread 
made from the whole meal, 
because of its nutritive 
value. The nutritive salts of 
meat and of wheat are phos¬ 
phates. These phosphates 
are indispensible to the nu¬ 
trition of all higher organi¬ 
zations. They enter into and 
constitute a part of, not only 
the hones, but every muscle, 
every nerve tissue; and in 
each secretory organ there 
seems to be a special accu¬ 
mulation. 
I&mkuh Miiis Hour 
A FIME FLOUR OF THE ENTIRE WHEAT 
as ground by the Franklin Mills Co., is exception¬ 
ally rich in nitrogenous and phosphatic elements 
necessary as the sustaining force in all labor. 
If your grocer does not keep Franklin Mills 
Flour, have him order some for you or send us 
his name and your order—we will see that you 
are supplied. 
The genuine made only by the 
Franklin Mills Co., Lockport, N. Y. 
SAVE^YOUR FUEL 
By using our (stovepipe) RADIATOR 
With its 120 Cross Tubes, 
ONE stove or furnace does the work of 
TWO. Drop postal for proofs from 
prominent men. 
TO INTRODUCE OUR RADIATOR, 
where we have no active agent we 
will sell at wholesale price. Wrlteat 
once. 
Rochester radiator Company, 
VI Furnace St., ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
High 
Arm 
fKiBt$IOto$25 SAVED 
to. . —*■* in buying direct from factory. 80 
<layn free trial. No agents large 
profits to pay.No money in advance 
$65 Kenwood Machine for.$22.50 
No better Machine at any price. 
$50 Arlington Machine for.$19.50 
Other Machines $8.00, $11.50 and $15.00 
all attachments free, over 100 000 In 
use. Catalogue and testimonials free 
Write today for special freight offer. 
CASH BUYERS’ UNION, 
168-164 West VanBuren St., B-343 Chicago, ills. 
To New subscribers to The R. N.-Y. 
will now get the paper from the 
J 3 T1 U 3 ry , time subscription is received until 
1 Qnn January 1, 1900. If you will send 
I9UU; U8 a club of four subscriptions, 
for new or renewal, with 14. we will 
^ advance your own subscription 
3>I.OO. one year free. 
Ipneiiite 
is perfectly ODORLESS, 
and that is another reason 
why it is the Modern Stove 
Polish. You will not have 
to move out of the house 
until it “ burns off,” if you 
use Enameline. “My stove 
shines in the night,” a lady 
writes. Put up in paste, 
cake or liquid form. No 
other has so large a sale. 
J. L. PRESCOTT & C0., New York 
B.&B. 
ait ounce of proof 
that you’ll save money by buying your 
Dry Goods here is worth more to you and 
to this store than pounds of talk. 
We’ll send the proof free soon as you 
write for it. 
An ounce of samples—or more—all the 
samples you want—of any Silks, Dress 
Goods or other sampleable goods you’re 
interested in. 
All you need do is give us an idea of 
your preference. 
Goods and prices will be such convinc¬ 
ing evidence that every woman who 
reads this will be glad—find it to her 
interest—to know about. 
This store grows on merit. 
Merit in merchandising means choice 
goods for less prices. 
C Special lot half dollar Dress Goods— 
neat mixtures—36 to 42 inches wide— 
25c. yard. 
Other choice Dress Goods 35c., 50c., 
75c., 85c., $1. 
Silks—50c., 65c., 75c. to $1.50—rich 
effects. 
Send for our 250-page illustrated cata¬ 
logue—you’ll be surprised to see the de¬ 
tails of what a large dry-goods store 
this is. 
Extensive assortments a feature. 
BOGGS & BUHL, 
Department C, 
ALLEGHENY, PA. 
SOLD! 
* UNDER A 
Positive 
Guaran 
to wash as clean as can be 
done on the washboard, 
even to the wristbands and 
collar of the dirtiest shirt, 
and with much more ease. 
This applies to Terriff’s 
Perfect Washer, which 
will be sent on trial at 
wholesale price. If not 
satisfactory, money will 
be refunded. Agents 
wanted. For exclusive 
territory, terms <k pricea- _ 
write Portland Mfo. Co. .Box H, Portland, Mich. 
_ CEARHART'S IMPROVED FAMILY 
KN^ING 
^ Cheapest and beet. 8*11 12 sad get year* 
8end forpartioalars, and samplee of work knit on 
WATCH AND CHAIN FOR ONE DAY’S.WORK, 
"TCaoqfVirv nun nr,mu jam i 
Boyi and Girli can get a Nickel-Plated Watch, 
, also a Chain and Charm for aelling 11-J doten 
I Package i of Blaine at 10 cent* each. Send yoor 
full adfdreai by return mail and we will forward 
the B’.nine port-paid, and a large Premium Lirt. 
_ No money required. 
BLUIH* CO, Box 353, Concord Junction, Hut. 
C*r nc Diamond 
\K*V5 STUDDED CASE 
Solid UK Gold Fluted Case 3 Pm- 
■ iflian Diamonds, and Ruble,. Am- 
erican movement Jeweled A 
accurately regulated stem 
wind & set Warranted for 
Sent O. I>. 
with priv lege of examination 
Do not take from the express 
officeif you think this watch is not equal in 
to a I JO watch. Mention nearest 
express office. Ladies' or Gent's. Agents and 
talesmen coin big money. Adlrcss 
EAGLE WATCH CO., 268 Broadway, New York, 
