How and What to Grow in a Kitchen Garden of One Acre (10th Ed)/Lettuce
LETTUCE.
This is generally known as salad, which is a misnomer, as salad nicans anything that is served in a green state; it may be onions, tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, or anything of that kind. By general usage the word salad has been appropriated to the lettuce, as the latter is the plant most frequently grown in this country for salad. But call it whichever you like, it is one of the greatest additions to our tables, and in our kitchen garden it should not be made a side issue of a week or two in the spring, but should be raised in the finest condition possible throughout the season, and by using the hotbeds and cold frames it is possible to have it the whole year round.
To raise head lettuce in perfection the greatest care must be taken to reserve the very best and tightest heads for seed, or if the seed is to be purchased select the hardest-heading varieties. For the earliest planting the seed should be sown in the hotbed and have the same treatment as its associate, the cabbage; the young plants should not be allowed to stand too thickly; they should be at least an inch apart in the seed bed, or be transplanted to that distance when half an inch high. When the cabbage is set out, one or two lettuce plants may be set between each pair of cabbages in the row, according to the distance the cabbages are apart. There must be space enough between the plants to give the soil a good stirring with the hoe around each plant, as thorough cultivation is essential to the best development of both cabbage and lettuce. A second lot of seed should be planted when the tomatoes and egg plants are sown; these can be set out in the garden as soon as they are large enough to handle. The third sowing should be made in the open garden when the first planting is done, and the young seedlings should be transplanted as soon as the plants
PERPETUAL LETTUCE.
are large enough and before they begin to be crowded in the row, as this last sowing will not form heads without it receives the best of care. These three sowings are about all that can be depended upon to make hard heads, unless it can be planted in some rich, shady corner, and carefully nursed with the watering pot.
About the first or middle of May a sowing should be made of the “Perpetual Lettuce,” and the plants, when large enough, should be transplanted and treated the same as the head lettuce; it will not form tight heads, but produces a fine bunch of broad, yellowish-green leaves, which are very crisp and delicate, not being strong and bitter, as most lettuces are in hot weather. This lettuce will stand from four to six weeks without running to seed, so that if plantings are made about once a month it can be had in perfection throughout the balance of the season. If the head lettuce is more particularly desired, a sowing should be made about the first of August, and another about the fifteenth; the young plants should be transplanted and treated in the same manner for heading as is followed in the spring; the first sowing will not produce heads unless the latter part of August and the first part of September be cool and moist; but you are almost sure to have fine heads from the second sowing. Personally, I prefer the Perpetual, both for its fine qualities and the ease of growing it.
Another way, and the easiest, to have a constant succession of lettuce for the table throughout the season, is to sow the seed thickly in drills and to cut the loose leaves close to the ground when it is three or four inches high; this produces rather narrow leaves, which are very tender and juicy, but which have not the substance of those grown as separate plants or heads, and are not so easily prepared for the table. These sowings can be made every few weeks, and a constant succession of young leaves be had for use throughout the entire season. It should be the object in sowing lettuce to plant small lots frequently, that it may always be had in the best condition.
About the second week in September a sowing of some early hard-heading variety should be made, and a succeeding one about the first of October; from these two sowings the cold frames should be planted, about one-third from the first and two-thirds from the second; the plants should be set about six inches apart each way, which will allow about fifty plants to each sash. When cold weather comes the sash should be put on, and the outsides of the frames banked around with long stable manure. The plants must be treated to plenty of fresh air whenever the weather will permit of it, and on very cold nights the sash should be reinforced with a covering of straw, old mats, or carpet. The lettuce grown in these frames is apt to be infested with the small insect known as the “Green Fly;” to prevent or to get rid of the presence of this pest, tobacco refuse and sweepings from a cigar-maker’s shop should be strewn on the soil under the leaves; this will destroy the fly and act as a fertilizer, but if too much is applied it will spoil the delicate flavor of the lettuce.
If a few very early cabbages are desired, the seed should be sown about the first of October and transplanted with the lettuce into the cold frames; planting them about two inches apart each way; if these are in good condition and the spring favorable, they can be planted out about the 15th of March, and will produce heads one to two weeks earlier than those raised in the hotbeds.
BURPEE’S HARD-HEAD LETTUCE.
Burpee’s Hard-Head.—This is the fastest growing and the best heading kind that I have ever grown. With this variety the ordinary gardener is able to grow as fine, large, solid heads as those grown by the professional market gardener. In shape it very much resembles a cabbage, as even the outer leaves tend to curl in over the head, instead of spreading outward, as in most lettuces. In appearance it is quite novel and striking, the edges of the leaves being tinged with a deep brownish-red, while in the centre of its hard heads the leaves are blanched to a beautiful creamy white. In quality it is гemarkably tender, rich, juicy, and never bitter
BURPEE’S TOMHANNOCK LETTUCE.
Burpee's Tomhannock.—This is the finest of all the cutting lettuces, as it is of large size, handsome appearance, and the very choicest quality. It grows very quickly, is soon ready to cut, and stands a long time without running to seed, retaining throughout the season its delicate and delicious flavor. The growth is erect; a fully developed plant is ten to twelve inches in height, and nearly as great in diameter across the top; the outer edges of the leaves curl outward. The outer leaves are shaded with reddish-brown, while the inner leaves are almost white. It is entirely free from any bitter taste throughout the entire summer.
GOLDEN STONEHEAD LETTUCE.
Stonehead Golden Yellow.—This is a new variety, which makes very solid heads, of handsome appearance and the finest quality. Its earliness, large, tight heads and superior quality render it one of the best kinds for forwarding under glass.
Burpee’s Silver Ball.—This, next to the Hard Head, is the best heading variety for general purposes, and where the brown markings in the latter kind are an objection, the gardener will find in this kind all the good qualities that go to make a desirable lettuce. It produces a beautiful head, very firm and solid, with handsomely curled leaves. The head is of a silvery white color, very rich and buttery in flavor, and stands for some time before running to seed. Other excellent varieties of cabbage lettuces are Philadelphia White Cabbage, The Hanson and The Deacon, while The Tennis Ball is a great favorite with market gardeners for forcing.
BURPEE’S SILVER BALL LETTUCE.