292 SPINACEOUS PLANTS. 



are put forth quite early in spring. They should be cut 

 while they are young and tender, and about a fourth part of 

 Common Sorrel mixed with them. In this way, Patience 

 Dock is much used in Sweden, and may be recommended as 

 forming an excellent spinach dish. 



QUINOA (WHITE). Law. 

 White-seeded Quinoa. Goosefoot. Chenopodium quinoa. 



An annual plant from Mexico or Peru. The stem is five 

 or six feet in height, erect and branching ; the leaves are 

 triangular, obtusely toothed on the borders, pale green, 

 mealy while young, and comparatively smooth when old ; 

 the flowers are whitish, very small, and produced in com- 

 pact clusters ; the seeds are small, yellowish-white, round, 

 a little flattened, about a line in diameter, and, on a cur- 

 sory glance, might be mistaken for those of millet ; they 

 retain their vegetative powers three years ; about twelve 

 thousand are contained in an ounce. 



Sowing and Cultivation. It is propagated from seeds 

 which are sown, in April or May, in shallow drills three feet 

 apart. As the seedlings increase in size, they are gradually 

 thinned to a foot apart in the rows. The seeds ripen in 

 September. In good soil, the plants grow vigorously, and 

 produce seeds and foliage in great abundance. 



Use. The leaves are used as Spinach or Sorrel, or as 

 greens. In some places, the seeds are employed as a substi- 

 tute for corn or wheat in the making of bread, and are also 

 raised for feeding poultry. 



Varieties. 



Black-seeded The stalks of this variety are more slender, 

 Quinoa. 



and the leaves smaller, than those of the White- 



