SPINACH. 203 



quality no better than some of the pumpkins. Very little in 

 demand for marketing-, but popular in some sections for 

 home use. 



Cocoanut, Perfect Gem and Chestnut are varieties 

 producing- a large number of small squashes of excellent 

 quality and very easily raised. 



SPINACH. ( Spinacia oleracea. ) 



Properly a native of Western Asia. — An annual plant cul- 

 tivated for its leaves, which form a popular spring and early 

 summer vegetable. It has a seed stalk about two feet high. 

 The varieties are divided according to their seeds into round 



and prickly-seeded 

 sorts. The latter have 

 sharp, hard prickles on 

 the seeds. This division 

 is so pronounced that 

 some botanists have 

 treated these classes as 

 distinct species. The 

 prickly-seeded sorts are 

 considered the hardiest, 

 while among the round- 

 seeded kinds are per- 

 haps the most desirable 

 varieties for table use, but this difference is not always very 

 clear. 



Culture. The seed of spinach may be sown in hotbeds or 

 cold frames very early in the spring or outdoors as soon as 

 the ground can be worked. It is of the easiest culture. A 

 supply may be had during the whole growing- season by mak- 

 ing a succession of sowings at intervals of about two weeks. 

 Under good conditions it will be ready for table use six weeks 

 from the time of sowing the seed. In planting it outdoors 

 the rows should be about twelve inches apart. The seed 

 should be covered about one inch deep, and about forty seeds 

 or more sown to the foot of row. It is well to use plenty of 

 seed, and since it often starts poorly in dry weather extra 

 precautious are taken when sow r ing it at that time. The plants 

 may be thinned out when too thick, and, no matter how small, 



Fig. 112. Spinach. 



