SPINACH. 301 



the plant used. They are often boiled and served alone ; and 

 sometimes, with the addition of sorrel-leaves, are used in 

 soups, and eaten with almost every description of meat. 

 " The expressed juice is often employed by cooks and confec- 

 tioners for giving a green color to made dishes. When eaten 

 freely, it is mildly laxative, diuretic, and cooling. Of itself 

 it affords little nourishment. It should be boiled without the 

 addition of water, beyond what hangs to the leaves in rinsing 

 them ; and, when cooked, the moisture which naturally comes 

 from the leaves should be pressed out before being sent to 

 the table. The young leaves were at one period used as 

 a salad." Mclnt. 



Varieties. 



This is a winter Spinach, and is considered Flanders 



Spinach, 

 superior to the Prickly or Common Winter Trans. 



Spinach, which is in general cultivation during the win- 

 ter season in our gardens. It is equally hardy, perhaps 

 hardier. 



The leaves are doubly hastate or halberd-shaped, and 

 somewhat wrinkled ; the lower ones measure from twelve to 

 fourteen inches in length, and from six to eight in breadth. 

 They are not only larger, but thicker and more succulent, 

 than those of the Prickly Spinach. The whole plant 

 grows more bushy, and produces a greater number of 

 leaves from each root ; and it is sometimes later in run- 

 ning to seed. The seeds are like those of the Round or 

 Summer Spinach, but larger; they are destitute of the 

 prickles which distinguish the seeds of the Common Win- 

 ter Spinach. 



For winter use, sow at the time directed for sowing the 

 Large Prickly-seeded, but allow more space between the 

 rows than for that variety ; subsequent culture, and treat- 

 ment during the winter, the same as the Prickly-seeded. 

 26' 



