256 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES 



SPINACH or SPINAGE (Spmacia oleracea) is a 

 short-seasoned plant which bolts in heat, and therefore 

 grown chiefly as a fall or spring crop, for its leaves, 

 served boiled. Spinach comes to maturity in from six 

 to eight weeks, is very hardy to frost, and may be kept 

 over the winter in the North, under a mulch, though in 

 New England not all of the plants will live. It may 

 also be wintered in frames, and brought into growth 



Fig. 117. Spinach seedlings. Two-thirds natural size. 



very early, or even made to give a winter yield under 

 favorable conditions. Spinach was formerly forced, in 

 great quantities, but the southern crop has now almost 

 crowded forced Spinach from the northern markets. 

 Varieties are under two heads, the prickly-seeded and 

 the round-seeded, the former the hardier, the latter the 

 more heat-resistant. Diseases and pests are sometimes 

 troublesome. 



Soil. For early crop, rich, light and quick. For a 

 later, cool and moist. Manure may be dug in, and the 

 commercial fertilizer should be rich in nitrogen. At 



