3206 



SPILANTHES 



SPINACIA 



prostrate: sts. red: Ivs. linear to linear-lanceolate: rays large, bright 

 yellow. Known from states of Jalisco and Michoacan, Mex. One 

 of the few very conspicuous-fid, species. S. poliolcpfdica, A. H. 

 Moore. Erect: rays golden yellow: plants hairy. Costa Rica. 



ALBERT HANFORD MOORE. 



SPINACH (Spinacia oleracea, which see) is an annual 

 crop grown as a pot-herb, or for "greens." Fig. 3659. 

 It is a cool-season plant, and therefore it is grown in fall 

 to spring. It is a plant of easy culture, thriving in any 

 good garden or field soil, although for quick results and 

 for tender succulent foliage, land that has an abun- 

 dance of available plant-food, and particularly of nitro- 

 gen, is most desirable. The plant is hardy, and when 

 the land is well drained, it will ordinarily stand the 

 winter climate as far north as the city of New York, 

 and still farther in somewhat protected places. 



Spinach is grown both as a fall and spring crop. The 

 fall crop is raised from seed that is sown in August; in 

 eight weeks the leaves may be large enough for eating. 



3659. Spinach. 



The spring crop is grown from seeds sown in autumn, 

 or from those sown in winter in hotbeds or cold- 

 frames, or from those sown directly in the open ground 

 as soon as it is fit in the spring. If the plants for spring 

 use are to be started in the fall, the seeds should be sown 

 about six to eight weeks before hard freezing weather 

 is expected. Then the plants will have attained suffi- 

 cient size and roothold to enable them to pass the winter. 

 It is advisable to cover the plants, just before winter 

 sets in, with straw or loose litter or dry manure. Even 

 though the plants will withstand the winter, they never- 

 theless thrive better if given this protection, particu- 

 larly in soils that are likely to heave. It is customary to 

 grow this fall-sown spinach on wide ridges or beds that 

 are made by plowing several furrows together, leaving 

 a dead-furrow between them. This allows of surface 

 drainage. These beds may be from 5 to 10 feet wide. 

 On these beds, the seeds are sown hi rows running 

 lengthwise, the distance between the rows being from 

 10 to 20 inches, depending on the methods that are 

 employed for tillage. If hand tillage alone is to be 

 given, the plants may be placed closer. In the spring 

 the cover is removed from the plants at the earliest 

 opportunity, for spinach is most desired very early in 

 the season. Unless the land is in extra good "heart," it 

 is well to make a surface application of a soluble fer- 

 tilizer early in the spring in order to start the plants 

 into growth. A fertilizer that is very rich in nitrogen 

 gives best results ; in fact, it is customary in some places 

 to use a solution of nitrate of soda or sulfate of ammonia, 

 applying the material with a sprinkling-cart. From fifty 

 to seventy-five pounds of the fertilizer may be used to 

 the acre with very good results at each of two or more 

 applications. 



For home use, spinach is sometimes carried over the 

 winter in frames, the plants having been transplanted 

 to the frames or raised in them during the late fall. 

 These frames are protected from severe freezing 

 weather by mats or shutters. Whenever it is desired to 

 bring the plants into growth, sash is placed over the 

 frame, and extra protection is given in very cold 



weather. The plants will soon become green and begin 

 to make new leaves. Different frames may be covered 

 at different times as the season advances, thereby pro- 

 viding a supply for home use. Sometimes the seed is 

 sown in hotbeds that are made late in winter or very 

 early in spring, and the plants are secured in advance of 

 the ordinary season. The growing of spinach in frames 

 is less frequent than formerly, owing to the fact that 

 the market is now supplied with the product grown in 

 the middle South. 



Spring spinach may be grown from seeds that are 

 sown as soon as the land can be worked in spring. If 

 the land has been plowed and manured in the fall, 

 quicker results may be secured. Two or three sowings 

 may be made in the home-garden for spring use, but 

 after the middle of June spinach is likely to become 

 tough and is in little demand. If spinach is wanted 

 during the summer, it is better to use the New Zealand 

 spinach, which is a warm-weather plant. This plant 

 has no relationship with the ordinary spinach (see 

 Tetragonia). It is usually best to sow spinach seed 

 where the plants are to stand, although it is sometimes 

 transplanted into frames for home use. Care must be 

 taken that the plants do not become checked or stunted, 

 else they will tend to run to seed. If the seed is sown too 

 late in spring, when hot weather is approaching, the 

 root-leaves will be very few and the plant will quickly 

 throw up flower-stalks. Spinach is always grown as a 

 succession or companion crop, as it occupies the land 

 for a small part of the year. There are very few insects 

 and diseases that are generally troublesome. 



Spinach is usually transported to market in barrels 

 or crates. Plants are usually cut so that an inch or 

 so of the root is left with them. All dirt is removed, as 

 also all broken and dead leaves. The plants are packed 

 tight. It is essential that the plants be dry before they 

 are shipped. 



There are several important varieties of spinach. The 

 large broad-leaved varieties are most popular in the 

 markets, such as the Viroflay and the Round-leaved. 

 The prickly spinach is considered to be the most hardy 

 and is chiefly recommended for fall sowing. L. jj. B. 



SPINACIA (from spina; alluding to the spiny fruit). 

 Chenopodiaceas. SPINACH. SPINAGE. According to 

 Volkens (in Engler & Prantl's "Pflanzenfamilien"), there 

 are only two species of Spinacia, S. oleracea, Linn., the 

 common spinach, and S. tetrandra, Stev., although 

 Bentham & Hooker had made the genus to include four 

 species. S. tetrandra is an anual herb of the Asia Minor- 

 Persian region, and is not in cultivation. S. oleracea, 

 the spinach, is probably native to southwestern Asia, 

 and it is now widely cultivated. It is an annual herb, 

 developing rather large arrow-shaped root-leaves, and 

 these leaves are eaten for ' ' greens . ' ' Later in the season it 

 sends up a branching flower-stem 2 to 3 feet high, bearing 

 axillary clusters of seed-like fruits. In one type these 

 fruits are spiny: this is the form once described as S. 

 spinosa, Moench, but which is not now considered to be 

 specifically distinct. Whether the round-seeded or the 

 prickly-seeded type is the original form of the spinach is 

 not known, but as a matter of nomenclature, Linnaeus' S. 

 oleracea, which is the oldest name, is held to include all. 



Spinacia belongs to the Atriplex tribe. The genus is 

 distinguished from Atriplex in the fact that the pistil- 

 late flowers are bractless, whereas those of Atriplex are 

 inclosed in a pair of enlarging calyx-like bracts. Spina- 

 cia is dioecious, bearing the flowers in small axillary 

 clusters; stamens 4 or 5, in a 4- to 5-lobed calyx; ovary 1, 

 with 4 to 5 styles or stigmas, in a 2- to 4-toothed calyx, 

 this calyx hardening and inclosing the achene and often 

 becoming horned on the sides and giving rise to "prickly- 

 seeded" spinach. The cultivated forms have developed 

 much thicker and broader radical leaves, which are used 

 for greens, often showing little of the halberd or sagit- 

 tate shape. See Spinach. L. H. B. 



