ection; but where water is available Lettuces
have as good a claim to a share of it in a dry, hot season, as any crop
in the garden.

==Blanching==.--A first-class strain of White Cos Lettuce will produce
tender white hearts without being tied, and, as a rule, therefore, the
labour of tying may be saved. The section of which Sutton's Superb White
Cos is the type may be said to produce better samples without tying than
with this imaginary aid to blanching. The market grower is still
accustomed to tie Lettuces because they are more easily packed and
travel better when tied, but when tying is practised it need not be done
until one or two days before the Lettuces are cut. The coarser market
kinds certainly are improved by tying, and in this case the operation
must be performed when the plants are quite dry, and not more than ten
days in advance of the day on which it is intended to pull them. The
Bath Cos must be tied always, and when well managed the heart is white,
with a pretty touch of pink in the centre.

==Spring-sown Lettuces== may be forwarded under glass from January to
March, from which time sowings may be made successively in the open
ground. In any and every case the finest Lettuces are obtained by sowing
in the open ground, and leaving the plants to finish in the seed-bed
without being transplanted. It will, of course, occur to the practical
cultivator that the two systems may be combined, so as to vary the time
of turning in, and thus from a single sowing insuring a longer
succession than is possible by one system only. We will suppose small
sowings made of three or four sorts in January or early in February, and
put into a gentle heat to start them. A very little care will keep them
going nicely, and of course they must have light and air to any extent
commensurate with safety. When about three weeks old, it will be
advisable to prick these out into a bed of light rich earth in frames;
or if the season is backward, and they need a little more nursing, prick
them into large shallow boxes, containing two or three inches of soil,
which will be sufficient provided it consists in great part of decayed
manure, kept always moist enough for healthy growing. The next step will
be to plant them out about six inches apart, with a view to draw a
certain number as soon as they are large enough to be useful, leaving
the remainder at nine to twelve inches, taking care to thin out in time
to prevent any leaves overlapping.