When the lettuce plants had four little leaves Jack, with Elizabeth’s help, transplanted some into the drills left for them.  When they were larger yet, they transplanted the lettuce to the real garden.  This is the way they did it.  In the first place the children chose a cloudy day for the work.  A cloudy day is far better than a bright sunny one because bright sun is too strong for little lettuces which have been disturbed from their places and put into new ones.

To transplant, dig up a number of plants and plenty of earth with them.  Use a trowel for this work, gently lifting plants and earth.  A drill may be made; or, perhaps better yet, make holes with the dibber.  Pour a little water into the hole.  Then gently separate a plant taking as much soil with it as you can keep on its roots.  Place the little plant in the hole or drill, and cover the roots with soil.  With the fingers press the soil firmly about the plant.  Water the earth, not the leaves of the plant.  Next day, and for several days, cover the transplanted plants with strawberry baskets.  These are far better than newspaper coverings, because light and air freely come through the crevices of the basket.  The newspaper makes a covering too tight and close for the tender lettuces.  Between plants the children left six inches.

Jack raised Boston lettuce.  He not only had enough for his mother all summer long, but sold some, too.  The way he happened to sell it was merely an accident.  Not far from the village was a large summer hotel.  One day the proprietor had driven around to the house to see Jack’s father on business.  As the men were talking Jack and Elizabeth came from the garden with two fine heads of lettuce.

“Have you any more lettuce than what you can use yourself?” asked the proprietor, after feeling of the heads of lettuce and admiring the good firm centres.  “Yes,” replied Jack, “I have now, and shall have all along, more than we can use.  You see I keep making sowings every ten days in the coldframe, and transplanting.”

“I’ll take all the extra lettuce you have at five cents a head.  That is what I pay all summer long for it.  To-morrow bring me up what you can.”

“Thank you, sir.  Ten heads will walk up to-morrow.”

“The first time I’ve ever heard of heads walking,” laughed Jack’s father, well pleased with his lad.

But we are away ahead of the story, for we have planted and sold lettuce before Jack has had a chance to really make his garden.  The soil in the backyard was very poor, so Jack decided to cultivate only a strip twenty feet long and eight feet wide.  He dug out all the soil to the depth of two feet.  His father lent him the use of a horse and wagon, and gave him from the barns whatever fertilizer he needed.  The digging was a long, tedious piece of work.  It was hard, too; but the boy kept at it.  Any piece of land can be used if a boy has a mind to work hard over it.