146 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
all plants. Upon this, I made a frame with sashes to fit; 
sowed lettuce in it in September; put on the glass, the 
latter part of November, and let it remain till March, 
when I had the satisfaction to find all the lettuce alive 
anti flourishing. Whether my theory was correct or not, 
I thus ascertained the fact, that lettuce may be preserved 
over winter merely by a simple covering of glass. In the 
spring, the lettuce grew luxuriantly, and was fit for the 
table as early as it would be if grown in a hot bed. The 
plan of growing lettuce, suggested by the foregoing fact, 
I have followed for several years with invariable suc¬ 
cess. If you please, your readers may have the benefit 
of my experience, which I will give somewhat in detail 
In the construction of the frame, in which the lettuce 
is to be grown, I do not know that any particular size is 
material. In the climate of New Haven, it is requisite 
that the frame should be at least 6 inches thick; mine is 
made of cedar scantling, laid up like a log house, with a 
slope towards the south of one foot in five. A board is 
nailed over and on the outside of the scantling. The 
sashes should be made like those of a hot bed, with glass 
lapping, so that the water may run off. Common win¬ 
dow sashes will be broke, by water standing on the panes 
and freezing. The glass should be thick, to prevent 
breaking by the weight of snow. For the same reason, 
the frame should be set where the snow will not drift in¬ 
to it. When the sashes are on, they should lie about a 
foot from the ground, which should have the same slope 
as the sashes. There must be a contrivance to fasten the 
sashes, so that they shall not be blown off by high winds, 
and also to prevent their sliding when the upper end is rai¬ 
sed. The manure used in the frame should be well rot¬ 
ted and well mixed with the soil. The same soil will 
not answer well, for more than four years. As often as 
that, either the frame should be moved, or the soil taken 
out and replaced by fresh earth. The kind of lettuce 
which I think best for cultivation in this manner, is one 
of the cabbage varieties—the white head. It forms a so¬ 
lid head b to 8 inches in diameter. The time of sowing 
is the middle of September. It is sowed broadcast and 
raked in. The frame is left open till the setting in of 
winter—till the ground begins to freeze hard. The sash¬ 
es are then laid on the frame, and remain undisturbed till 
the opening of spring. No watering is required during 
winter; nor is it necessary to admit the external air. 
The glass must not be covered. Snow may fall upon it, 
but it will not (in New Haven,) continue long enough to 
do injury. When spring opens, it will be necessary in 
clear warm days, to raise the upper end of the sashes 6 
or 8 inches. When there comes a warm rain, the sashes 
should he taken off. If a suitable rain does not occur 
often enough, it will be necessary to give water in some 
other way. As the ground during winter, will have dri¬ 
ed to a considerable depth, there must be, early in spring, 
at least one thorough watering, by rain or otherwise, 
deep enough to reach the moist earth below. As soon 
as the open ground is thawed, lettuce may be transplant¬ 
ed from the frame to any warm place. That in the 
frame must be thinned, if heads are wished, to 9 inches 
apart. If the frame is small, it will be best to leave the 
plants about 4 inches apart, and depend upon heads in the 
open ground. There the plants should be set 12 inches 
apart. It is a common practice to pick off for use the 
even to cabbages. In respect to the last mentioned arti¬ 
cle, I would suggest to those who have old window sash¬ 
es, to try the experiment by making their eabbage hole 
with window's that will admit the sun to the cabbages 
within. Roses and fig trees are well preserved under 
glass, in the same manner as lettuce, only the sashes must 
be higher from the ground. Noyes Darling. 
Neio Haven, Conn., Feb . 15, 1845. 
MANAGEMENT OF THE ORCHARD. 
Mr. Editor —Your correspondent’s article on the ma¬ 
nagement of the Peach orchard, (see Cultivator for Jan. 
p. 38,) has a strong advocate in the person of Mr. 
John Mason, tenant of John Gill, Esq. of Haddonfield, 
New Jersey, who cultivates a noble farm of 200 acres, 
upon which is an extensive orchard of apple trees of the 
finest kinds. In a late conversation with Mr. Mason, who 
is a native of one of the eastern States, and a very intel¬ 
ligent man, bred originally to a mercantile profession, he 
remarked, 
‘When I came here, I found that the orchard had al¬ 
ways been kept under careful tillage, such management 
being considered essential to its well being, according to 
the generally received opinion; butobserved, that al¬ 
though the blossoming of the trees -was abundant, the 
trees themselves soon become covered with the nests of 
caterpillars so thick as to give the appearance of hoar 
frost; while the fruit soon after began to drop off in im¬ 
mense quantities; what remained, being cankered, and 
almost worthless. I therefore determined to change the 
plan, and immediately laid the orchard down to grass, 
converting it into a hog pasture; only mowing the tall 
weeds that spring up during the summer, and turning in 
young cattle to graze occasionally. The next year there 
were scarcely any caterpillars’ nests to be seen, the hogs 
picking up the fallen fruit, and destroying the malady in 
the bud. The year following, the evil was totally erad¬ 
icated, the yield of fruit being of the finest qnality, and 
enormous in quantity; and at present, I know no orchard 
so vigorous, or that promises so fair a prospect, whether 
for grass or fruit.” 
On accompanying him to the spot, I was struck with 
the neatness of the husbandry and the vividness of the 
pasturage; the thrifty state of the trees affording abund¬ 
ant proof of the justness of the theory practiced by my 
friend. The grasses were of the finest kinds, chiefly in¬ 
digenous to the soil, the grazing and tramping of the 
hogs and young cattle having produced a close and rich 
carpet of the greenest verdure, and remarkably early in 
its growth also, for although but the 27th of February, 
the herd were already pasturing in it; while not a weed 
of last year’s growth was to be seen, or any thing to im¬ 
pede the springing of the young crop. Upon this or¬ 
chard, from sixty to eighty hogs, besides young cattle, 
were pastured the last year during the whole summer, 
which took good care of the fallen fruit; after which, 
more than 3,000 bushels of the choicest apples were fed 
to the former in the way of fattening, and for which they 
proved most valuable, saving a vast amount of corn. 
Here I witnessed the justness of your correspondent's 
remarks. The orchard has become a hog pasture, where 
the weeds are kept down, and the necessary cultivation 
lower leaves. This will infallibly prevent the heading!|by tramping, has been performed far more profitably and 
ot the lettuce. In gathering the lettuce from the frame, l| economically than by the use of the plow; while the 
it is better to cut it off at the surface of the ground, than 
to pit)I it up. The stumps will throw up sprouts, which 
produce the best of seed. Indeed it is almost impossible 
to procure seed, otherwise. If the head is left on, the 
setd atalk is so wrapped up by the leaves, that it com 
mord/ decays before it breaks through. Some of these 
directions may appear minute; but whoever attempts to 
cultivate lettuce in the manner here described, will find 
them important to his success. 
The eating of the lettuce may be performed without 
any special instruction. But I may be allowed to say, 
that a little sugar with vinegar, forms a palatable dress¬ 
ing, for those who do not crave egg and mustard. 
I think it probable that the principle of supplying light 
in winter, may be advantageously applied in the case of 
othe herbaceous plants, and to half tender flowers, and 
source of the caterpillar and the borer has been cleared 
away by the aid of a class of laborers whose wages have 
been paid in a measure by the food thus collected, at 
great profit and the most lasting benefit. In conclusion, 
and injustice to Mr. Mason’s very neat anti careful ma¬ 
nagement displayed in this experiment, I must add, in no 
part of the orchard or elsewhere, did I observe a single 
instance of the rooting of the hogs while at pasture; all 
was level as a bowling green or a well trimmed lawn, 
with not a weed or a bush, even in the fence rows. 
What has been said, however, does not by any means 
militate against the mode every where adopted and pur¬ 
sued in this part of the country, of cultivating and crop¬ 
ping the orchard while the trees are young and small; 
this is a system differing in toto from that in question, 
which has been introduced for the purpose of preventing 
