THE SOIL for growing lettuce should be composed of three parts of rich, sandy loam and two parts well-rotted horse manure. Thoroughly mix them together by turning several times, and make as fine as possible. This compost would be all the better if prepared and put under cover six months previous to being used. The plants should be ready for transplanting into the beds by the second week in September. They are thus put into market early, and the houses are used to the best advantage. To have plants ready at this time, prepare a bed of rich light soil out of doors, and plant it with true seed of the Boston Market, as that is one of the best kinds of forcing lettuce for early work, not later than the second week in August. Have a round rod two inches in diameter with which to make the drills, and press it into the soil about half an inch deep. The drills should be six inches apart. Sow the seed as thinly as you can and fill the drills with fine soil. Roll the bed, or walk across it until you have brought your whole weight upon every inch of the surface of the bed. Then give it a thorough watering, and never let the soil become dry. As soon as the plants are one inch high, thin them out to two. or three inches apart.

Keep the bed clear of weeds, and hoe often to keep the soil loose.

If your plants are not ready in time put the soil upon the benches to a depth of five or six inches, as lettuce sends its roots down deep. Rake the soil upon the beds fine and level; take the rod, as above directed, and make the drills half an inch deep and four inches apart. Sow each alternate drill with Boston Market lettuce, and the other drills with Olive Short-Top radish. The latter will be fit for market in four weeks. Treat the seed in the same manner as though sown out of doors. «It is well to give the beds a good dusting with tobacco ashes, or with the dust from cigar manufactories, once every two weeks to prevent the appearance of the green-fly. Another good preventive is to tie strips of tobacco along sticks and lay these between the rows. Tobacco stems strewn underneath the benches will also aid in keeping out the pest. If greenfly once gets a good start in the lettuce, it is a very hard matter to get rid of it.

Keep the beds free from weeds by frequent hoeings, and never allow the soil to get dry, as lettuce, being of a succulent nature, requires plenty of water. Good drainage may be obtained by leaving the bottom boards three-quarters of an inch apart. The temperature of the houses should never rise above 500, night or day. If the thermometer should register as high as 70°, ventilation should be resorted to. Open the houses on the side opposite to that from which the wind is blowing, if possible. After each crop of letttuce, it is well to give the beds a light dressing of well-rotted horse manure, for the crop soon exhausts the soil.

Lettuce is subject to two serious diseases. One of these attacks the center, causing it to decay, and this continues until the whole plant becomes a rotten mass. This, I believe, is caused principally by a hard, wet, non-porous surface soil, and by deluging the heart of the lettuce with water, instead of spraying it between the plants. It is incurable. The other disease attacks the outer edge of the leaves. It first manifests itself by the leaves becoming hard and brittle. These then change to a rusty color, and this gradually spreads over the leaves, making them unfit for sale or eating. It is caused, I believe, by some fungus. There is no remedy for it. Some varieties of lettuce are more subject to the above diseases than others.

Fertilizers may always be used with advantage in growing and forcing lettuce, as the more quickly it is grown, the more tender it is. Peruvian guano may be used as a top dressing between the rows a few days after the plants have been thinned. Grind it to a fine powder and scatter it upon the surface of the bed at the rate of half-a-pound to the square yard. Hoe it into the soil. Nitrate of soda is another excellent fertilizer for lettuce. When dry and in a fine powder, apply it evenly at the rate of two pounds to five square yards. Be very careful that none of it comes in con-tact with the leaves, for they are easily killed by it. Stir the fertilizer into the soil. Ammonia is another good fertililer, as it produces leaf growth. It may be used about once a month. Put one ounce into five gallons of water, and water the beds.

Duluth, Minn. G. M. Stratton.