120 THE CULTURE OF VEGETABLES 



middle of June to render it unnecessary to keep up the supplies of 

 Spinach, and it is best to dispense with it if possible during July and 

 August. 



The sowing of Winter Spinach should commence in July, and be 

 continued until the end of September, subject to the capabilities of 

 the place. In gardens near towns, where the land is at all heavy, it 

 ! s generally useless to sow after August, as the autumnal fogs are 

 likely to destroy a plant that is only just out of the seed-leaf. But in 

 favoured localities, with a warm soil and a soft air, the seed may be 

 sown up to the very end of the year with but little risk of loss. The 

 winter crops are sometimes sown broadcast, but drilling is to be 

 preferred, and the rows must be fully fifteen inches apart. Thin at 

 first to three inches, and afterwards to six inches, and leave them at 

 this distance, for Winter Spinach may be a little crowded with ad- 

 vantage, because the weather and the black bot will now and then 

 remove a plant. Should ground vermin be found worth serious 

 attention, the best way to proceed will be to scratch shallow furrows 

 very near the plants, taking care not to injure them. This may be 

 done with the hoe, but if time can be spared it will be better to do it 

 with a short pointed stick, having at hand, as the work progresses, a 

 vessel into which to throw the grubs as they come to light when the 

 earth is disturbed. Where small birds are in sufficient numbers, 

 they will observe the disturbance of the earth, and diligently search 

 for the grubs at hours when the cultivator is no longer on the search 

 himself. 



The July sowings will be useful in the autumn and throughout 

 the winter, as the weather may determine ; the later sowings will be 

 useful in spring. Leaves only should be taken when the plant is 

 large enough to supply them, and previous to this plants should be 

 drawn only where they can be spared to make room for the remainder. 

 But upon the symptoms of bolting being visible in the spring, cut 

 the plants over at the collar, and at once prepare the ground for 

 another crop. 



NEW ZEALAND SPINACH. (Tetragonia expansa.) Gardeners are 

 only too well acquainted with the difficulty of maintaining an unbroken 

 supply of true Spinach during the burning summer months. But the 

 weather which makes it almost impossible to produce a satisfactory 

 crop of Spinacia okracea brings New Zealand Spinach to perfection. 

 And the latter is prized by some persons because it lacks the peculiar 

 bitterness of the former. The plant is rather tender, and therefore 

 to obtain an early supply the seed must be raised in heat. It 



