1574 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



dollars, and the profit varies from fifteen to twenty-five dollars or more 

 per acre if conditions are favorable or if good methods of culture are used. 

 In the small garden where but one acre or less is raised, and some of the 

 peas are sold as a green vegetable, the cost ranges from forty to seventy- 

 five dollars, according to the method of planting and the yield, and the 

 profit varies from fifty to seventy-five dollars. In the small garden, after 

 peas have been harvested, another crop may often be grown on the same 

 soil during the remainder of the summer. 



SPINACH 



Spinach is one of the most- important crops grown for greens in the 

 United States. 



Soil and its preparation. — For spinach, rich, sandy loams are satisfactory 

 for the early spring crop, and muck soils after being subdued are especially 

 adapted to the early summer or fall crop. Poor soils that dry out can be 

 improved by applications of humus-making material. As this crop is 

 relatively hardy, it can be grown where the temperature falls rather low 

 in the spring. This plant will not grow on a soil that is in a highly acid 

 condition. It is therefore very important that lime should be used. 



Soil for spinach should be plowed deep, and harrowed and smoothed 

 until the topsoil to the depth of four inches is in very fine condition and 

 level on the surface. The more thorough the preparation is, the better 

 will be the crop. Muck soils should be "planked" before the spinach is 

 planted. 



Manures and fertilizers. — Composted manures are of the greatest value 

 with this crop on soils other than muck, as they bring about the best 

 conditions of the soil. These manures should be applied in the spring at 

 the rate of from twenty-five to fifty tons per acre, depending on the con- 

 dition of the soil. 



If the crop preceding has been fertilized very lightly, a fertilizer con- 

 taining two per cent nitrogen, five per cent phosphoric acid, and seven 

 per cent potash, if broadcasted on the soil before the spinach is planted, 

 will give good results. vSpinach requires no additional fertilizer if it is 

 grown in rotation on muck soil and follows a crop that has been heavily 

 fertilized. Care must be taken not to oversupply nitrogen. 



Rotation. — As spinach is a crop that requires only a short period to 

 mature, it can be used advantageously in rotation with other crops. Ail 

 crops preceding spinach should be kept free of weeds. Good rotations 

 are: spinach followed by late celery the same year, onions, and spinach; 

 or spinach and tomatoes; or peas and spinach. On soils other than muck, 

 manure or clover should play an important part in the rotation, on account 

 of the humus that is derived from them. 



