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.  If Peas are being grown under glass, a few plants of an early Cabbage variety may be put out between the rows, or they may be pricked out on the borders of a Peach-house, in either case spacing the plants nine inches apart.  Successive sowings made in February and March will be treated in the same way, and will need less nursing.  In planting out, it is important to have the seedlings well hardened, for they are naturally susceptible to wind and sunshine, and if suddenly exposed to either will be likely to perish.  Again, when first planted out their delicate leaves will attract all the slugs and snails in the garden, and the discreet way of acting is to regard a plantation of Lettuce as an extensive vermin trap, and thus, knowing where the marauders are, to be ready to catch and kill, or to destroy them by sprinklings of lime, salt, or soot, in all cases being careful to keep these agents at a reasonable distance from the plants.

Sowings in the open ground from the end of March onwards should be made, not on an ordinary seed-bed, but on a plot loaded with rich manure at one spit deep, and the seed should be put in shallow drills one foot apart.  From the time the young plants are two inches high they must be drawn freely for ‘Cutting Lettuce,’ or for planting out elsewhere; this thinning to proceed until a sufficient crop remains to finish off on the ground.  The value of ‘Cutting Lettuce’ is better understood on the Continent than in this country.  The small tender plants are in daily use, and appear in the salad bowl with Water Cress and Corn Salad, delicately dressed with delicious flavourings.  After this brief digression it is necessary to add that a crowded Lettuce crop is an encumbrance to the ground; and one of the evils of the best system, that of sowing where the crop is to finish, is the tendency of the cultivator to be timid in the thinning, which should be done with a bold hand, and in good time.

==July and August Sowing==.—­From sowings made during these months the supply of Lettuce from the open ground may be extended throughout the autumn, and even into December or January should the weather prove favourable.  The main conditions essential to success are, the use of quick-growing varieties, sowing in good soil where the heads are to mature, and early and severe thinning.  The thinnings may be transplanted if required.