Gunnison news-champion., 1923-03-23
GROWING OF HEAD LETTUCE

Much Of the information contained
l1 these articles Is taken from the
works and experiments Of DR.. c. G..
Hopkins, one Of the leading authorities
on soils, ard adapted to existing con-
dItioEs IN growing head lettuce. This
applies particularly to the noun
famous regions Of Colorado. The
statements are largely general and
are meant, not as an exact guide in
growing lettuce, but n a sort OF found
alton Of general principles which
should govern all farmers in growing
most any crop.
There are six important general
factors which should be considered in
growing head lettuce. You might not
have thought Of these factors in this
particular way, but most every farmer
- familiar with each of these factors
DO his own way Of thinking.
The SIX factors in crop production
Of any kind, are:
]. seed; ?, light: 3, home 1.-THE soil;)
:, moisture (watcr;l ), heat item
perature:) 6, food flor plants.)
We viii discuss briefly each factor
and what II means to Us in growing
head lettuce.
First, the seed. We are all well
aware that good seed is an important
factor in growing any crop. II is
many times more important an the
growing OF head lettuce, for several
reasOns. First, you want a pure seed,
one that contains the largest possible
perccHtage of the type and variety
which has been found best for this
locality, namely the New York or
Wonderful. Next you want TO be
sure this seed has been carefully
elected from heads which do not 20
20 seed stalks too quickly. You want
iced Of high termination test 20 that
you will not have 10 seed too heavily,
20 get 4 stand. Last you want seed
which is free from and disease which
may ruin your crop. SO buy your
5eed only from seed houses OF highest
reputation.
The second factor is light Light
is important TO plant growth be-
cause 1t brings about a process called
Photo Synthesis, which Is absolutely
essential to plant growth. 1t is not
important to know what Photo-Syu-
thesis is, only to know that we need
Light FOR plant growth. We have
plenty of light and this need not wor-
- ~ %AAAE ~ NAtt hAtho ~
outgrow the lettuce.
The third factor is the home of the
plant. This is the soil or ground in
which the plant lives, the same as we
live in a house. IL is important that
lettuce have a deep, friable, porous
seed bed or home in which the roots
can have large and easy development
and growth. We can make the soil
=. e. . L.. tre@, L.,
blowing deeply and pulyerizing thoroly
before planting and keeping the soil
well stirred by cultivation during the
growing season.
The fourth factor is moisture or
water supply. This is often limit
ing factor in many sections of the
country, but with adequate irrigation
systems We can largely control the
amount of water which we give to
the lettuce plant Each grower must
learn and judge for himself how much
or how little water to give his own
particular lettuce field.
The fifth factor is heat, and this is
an important factor for the lettuce
grower to consider. Lettuce is n
plant which does best in relatively
cool growing season. Our heat all
comes from the sun, but we can, to a
certain extent, control the heat in our
soil. Dark soils are warmer than
light eolored soils, and il the soil is
cultivated too deeply during the heat
of the day, the warm air penetrates
and heats the soil. This is not desir-
able in lettuce growing, so cultivate
shallow. However, the largest con-
troll of soil temperature lies in regulat-
ing the soil moisture content.We all
know that damp, poorly drained soil
is always cold and sandy; well drained
soil warns up quickly and stays
warm. So we can cool the soil by in
creasing the moisture content which
is done by irrigation, and We can warm
the soil by airing it with warm air,
which is done by cultivating deeply on
a warm day.
The sixth factor is food for the
plant This will be taken up in anoth-
er article.