POT HERB CROPS 237 



better able to withstand winter's cold, and are commonly 

 planted in autumn for wintering over. Prickly or Winter 

 Spinach is a good variety of this type. 



The so-called New Zealand Spinach is an entirely different 

 plant, which is able to withstand the heat of summer, and 

 consequently is often used for greens in this season. It is 

 sometimes called the New Zealand ice plant. It thrives best 

 in a good, rich, garden soil, and individual plants attain so 

 large a size that they require to be set two feet apart in the 

 row. The seedlings should be started early in-doors and 

 transplanted out of doors when the ground is in condition to 

 work. They may also be sown out of doors in rows and 

 severely thinned as the young plants reach a size large 

 enough to eat. 



The mustard is another quick-growing pot herb crop, 

 which is excellent for home and school gardens. The plant 

 thrives best in a rich, moist, loamy soil that can be worked 

 early in the season so that the seeds may be planted as early 

 as possible. They should be sown at a depth of about one- 

 half inch, in rows a foot apart, and the young seedlings 

 thinned to about four or five inches apart. 



The mustard commonly grown for use as a pot herb is 

 Brassica Japonica. The White Mustard and the so-called 

 Chinese Mustard are often used for salad plants as well as 

 for greens. Care should be taken not to allow any of the 

 mustards to go to seed in the garden, because these plants 

 readily become noxious weeds where they escape from culti- 

 vation. 



Perhaps no plant is more generally used for greens than 

 the dandelion. Almost everywhere, the dandelions that 

 grow wild are cut in early spring for this purpose. The cul- 



