The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1921-08-11
Growing Lettuce.

Lettuce seed should be sown about
the 18th to goth of September, in
frames situated so they may be wat
cred in order to force the seed to
terminate and plants to grow off
rapidly in case of drought. 1t would
be advisable to shade the beds for a
few days until the seed begin to come
I'D, otherwise the surface of the soil
will dry out rapidly and necessitate
frequent watering. The Big Boston
is the variety grown most extensively
in the south for shipping during the
early spring months. 1t will require
at least a pound of seed to produce
enough plants to set one acre. The
seed should be sown in rows about 8
inches apart in the frame, and care
should be taken that the seed are not
sown too thickly, as the plants will
be small and delicate at transplanting
time. 1t is better to SOW the seed
thin rather than to SOW them thick
and then thin the plants down to a
stand. The plants should stand
about one-half inch apart in the bed.
It will require frame about 60 to
70 feet long and 10 feet wide to pro-
duce enough plants to set one acre.
The size of the frame will necessarily
vary according to the way the plants
are allowed to stand in the row and
the distance the rows are apart in the
frame. Some growers SOW their seed
broadcast in the frame and then
lightly rake the soil, and either Wa
ter or roll it. This is very we'll, un-
less the beds are infested with weed
seeds, in which case the weeds and
grass may grow faster than the let
tuce and cause a great deal of hand
wedding.
The lettuce plants should be trans
planted to the field in early Decem-
Der. The rows should be "a inches
apart and the plants set II inches
apart in the row. 1t is we'll to have
good sized plants at transplanting
time, as it is much easier to trans
plant the large plants. The usual
practice is to have the lettuce beds
prepared and then wait for a suit
able season in order that the plants
may be set without the necessity of
watering them. After the ground has
has been plowed, the fertilizer should
be applied broacast at the rate of
1900 to 1000 pounds per acre and
the land narrowed repeatedly until
a perfect seed bed is formed. The
rows are laid off by the use of mark
ers. The marker is so constructed
as to mark off from three to five rows
at a time. Lettuce is sometimes set
on the level, but many growers in the
eastern part of the state, where the
land is not we'll drained and very
fiat, prefer to plant on beds. The
beds should not be more than six
inches high and should be smoothed
off with a weeder before the plants
are set. Two furrows with small
turn plow will make a bed of suffi-
cient height.
In transplanting lettuce care
should be taken that the plants are
not set too deep in the ground; they
should not be set any deeper than
they stood in the plant bed; ii the
bud is covered with soil the plant will
soon die.
After the lettuce has been trans
planted it should be cultivated fre-
quently, and in March a side applica-
tion of complete fertilizer should
be applied. Where a total Of 1000
pounds of fertilizer is to be applied
per acre. one-fourth of this amount
is usually held over for a side appll-
cation in the spring-C. c. Newman.
Chief of Horticultural, Division.
-scaH<zas-