10 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Juxx, 1899, 
MARKET GARDENING, No. 6. 
By H. W. GORRIE, 
Horticulturist, Queensland Agricultural College. 
SALADS. 
Iv every well-appointed garden a supply of salads should be always on hand, 
and this can be secured by planting a constant succession of suitable plants, 
each in its proper season. 
The plants which may be used as salads are very numerous—beetroot, 
tomatoes, celery, and many others being largely availed of for this purpose. 
The common dandelion is in some European countries, and particularly in | 
France, a universal salad; and several other plants, which are merely regarded 
as pests by us, are utilised by the thrifty French and Germans for the same 
purpose. 
I propose to deal here, however, with those plants which are salads pure 
and simple, and are grown as salads and nothing else. 
Of these, perhaps the most favoured and the most extensively cultiyated 
is lettuce (Lactuca sativa), an annual plant which is a native of Southern 
Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia. 
Our cultivated species of lettuce have all been evolved from Lactuca 
seariola, a variety which grows wild in each of the countries named. ‘There are 
two distinct forms of lettuce now in general cultivation —-the cabbage lettuce, 
which has round, closely-folded leaves, and flat firm heads; and the Cos lettuce, 
wi has an upright habit of growth, with somewhat long and spoon-shaped 
eaves. 
The Cos lettuce does not form a compact head, but by tying the leaves 
together at the top they can be made more tender and palatable than if left in 
their natural condition. 
This variety obtains its name from the island of Cos, in the Grecian 
Archipelago, where it first originated. 
Lettuce may be grown in the cooler parts of Queensland all the year 
round, but in the warmer districts its cultivation is attended with a great deal. 
of trouble in the hot weather, and it will not attain the perfection then which 
it does in the winter. Whether in hot or medium districts, abundance of water 
is necessary to attain any measure of success. To keep astock of lettuce always fit 
for use, a little should be sown once a month in a seed-bed, and planted out in 
good, rich, moist soil as soon as the young plants are large enough, which ought 
to be in 3 or 4 weeks after sowing. 
They should be set out in rows about 18 inches or 2 feet apart, and about 
1 foot between the plants in the rows. Where land is limited it is a good plan 
to plant lettuce out between cabbage plants. The lettuce will all be fit to use 
hide the cabbages take up the whole of the space in the rows. 
In order to have crisp, tender lettuce, the plants must be kept constantly 
growing and liberally watered in dry weather. Constant stirring of the ground 
around them with the hoe or cultivator will be of great help in keeping the 
plants on the move. 
Tn hot weather lettuce is not so crisp as in winter, the heat rendering it 
somewhat tough, unless it is grown under a slight shade of some kind. In very fine, 
friable, loose soil the seed may be sown in summer if desired in the open ground, 
but if this is done care must be taken that the soil is not allowed to bake and 
become hard. Sow very thinly in shallow drills, and thin out to a few inches 
apart when the plants come up. Lettuce can be used in 6 or 7 weeks after 
sowing, and the plants should be about their best in 60 days. 
ENDIVE. 
Endivé (Cichorium Endivia) is a species of chicory which is indigenous to 
the East Indies. It is a good deal like lettuce in appearance, and is a much 
esteemed salad worthy of being more extensively grown here than it is. Endive 
