300 SPINACEOUS PLANTS. 



form varying in the different varieties. The fertile and 

 barren flowers are produced on separate plants, the for- 

 mer in groups, close to the stalk at every joint ; the latter in 

 long, terminal bunches, or clusters. The seeds vary in a 

 remarkable degree in their form and general appearance, 

 those of some of the kinds being round and smooth, while 

 others are angular and prickly ; they retain their vitality five 

 years. An ounce contains nearly twenty-four hundred of the 

 prickly seeds, and about twenty-seven hundred of the round 

 or smooth. 



Soil and Cultivation. Spinach is best developed, and 

 most tender and succulent, when grown in rich soil. For 

 the winter sorts, the soil can hardly be made too rich. 



It is always raised from seeds, which are sown in drills 

 twelve or fourteen inches apart, and three fourths of an inch 

 in depth. The seeds are sometimes sown broadcast ; but the 

 drill method is preferable, not only because the crop can be 

 cultivated with greater facility, but the produce is more con- 

 veniently gathered. For a succession, a few seeds of the 

 summer varieties may be sown, at intervals of a fortnight, 

 from April till August. 



Taking the Crop. " When the leaves are two or three 

 inches broad they will be fit for gathering. This is done 

 either by cutting them up with a knife wholly to the bottom, 

 drawing and clearing them out by the root, or only cropping 

 the large outer leaves, the root and heart remaining to shoot 

 out again. Either method can be adopted, according to the 

 season or other circumstances.'' Rogers. 



To raise Seed. Spinach seeds abundantly ; and a few of 

 the fertile plants, with one or two of the infertile, will yield 

 all that will be required for a garden of ordinary size. Seeds 

 of the winter sorts should be saved from autumn sowings, and 

 from plants that have survived the winter. 



Use. The leaves and young stems are the only parts of 



