Arizona republican., 1919-01-01
ONE 1T
 TIE BEST CROPS
 OF THIS VALLEY
It Is Only aFew Years Since
 the Initial Carload Was Shipped to the East By J. $. Heard and Paved Way

As a commercial cro D, lettuce in the Salt River valley is comparatively new. It was only q few years ago that one enthusiastic truck gardener, J. s. Heard of R. F. D. No 6, Phoenix, produced a carload of lettuce which was shipped back east and brought returns that at once showed the possi bilities of this crop. The following year there were many enthusiastic growers that put in Q considerable acreage. Unfortunately, their eXperi- ence was far less in evidence than their enthusiasm, and in consequence there were some failures as well as many successes. Since then, and par ticularly for the past two or three years, lettuce has been recognized as | one of the principal crops which may | be raised in this valley. For the past | two seasons, the shipments have been close to 100 carloads each season. The acreage the present season, especially | in the Glendale district, has been in creased considerably and it is prob able that the shipments this year will be larger than in previous years.
 Grows in Winter
 Lettuce is one of the few crops that makes its principal growth in the l winter season. It is possible to ma ture lettuce in December, and, as q matter of fact, lettuce is being shipped in small quantities by express now, as well as supplying local demands. For the local demand and that of the near by markets, lettuce is planted as early in the fall as it will mature, usually | this is not earlier than September. For the main crop, it has been found that | the lettuce which reaches the eastern market just after the California and l Florida lettuce is off the market | brings better prices. Consequently the aim of the grower is to produce lettuce | maturing continuously from about | January 15 to early March.
 The most popular variety grown l here is that which is generally known as the New York Market although this sometimes ppears under different | names, such as Wonderful and other l local names.
 "New Pork" Called Best
 l At the agricultural experiment sta- 1 ton at Mesa two years ago 47 differ ent varieties of lettuce were grown. and the New York was pronounced the best variety for this section, al- though Iseberg may be considered a close second. Of this variety, the Of ficial report of the experiment station says: Next to the New York market, | this is the best variety for Arizona. l Late in the spring it heads better than New York, and is therefore popular l with gardeners during this season. l The heads are generally smaller. light l CT in color, and the leaves are more
 wrinkled than New York. The head is
 solid and fine texture. The touch of bronze adds to its appearance.
 Other varieties are grown to q small extent to supply local needs or for home gardens. Those who are most successful in growing lettuce are those | that give a great deal of attention to
 the selection and fertilization of the
 soil. Most lettuce is grown upon the
 sandy loam or upon the Glendale loess
 soil, although exceptionally good yields
 have been obtained upon the heavy
 adobe soil.
 | Requires Rich Soil
 Lettuce is a crop that requires very
 rich soil and growers now recognize
 the necessity of heavy fertilization
 Cotton seed meal was used at the ex-
 perimental farm, but best results were
 obtained where about 20 tons stable
 manure was used. This should be
 ploWed under in the fall, the ground
 then thoroughly plowed and worked,
 ridges being thrown up about 24
 inches apart. Some growers have
 planted on both sides of the ridges,
 leaving the rows on the ridges about
 F inches apart and thinning the plants
 in the row to 12 inches. This method
 makes it necessary to do a great deal
 of hand work, and most growers pre-
 fer to plant on one side of the ridge
 only, thinning as previously mentioned
 to F inches. Many growers prefer to
 have the rows run east and west, and
 for the early planting the seed is scat
 tered with a hand seed drill on the
 north side of the ridge. For a later planting, October and November the seed is sown on the south side of the ridge, the ridge forming a slight pro- tection. The seed is not covered more