SPINACH. 299 



^. Round-seeded, or Summer Spinach : prefer- 

 able for summer crops. 



3. Flanders Spinach : a newly introduced va- 

 riety, sent a few years ago to the Horticultural 

 Society in London. It is said to be superior to the 

 common winter spinach from its not being so apt 

 to run to seed prematurely : the leaves are also 

 much larger, thicker, and more succulent, being of 

 a dark green colour, and very luxuriant in growth. 

 The seeds are like those of the summer spinach, 

 but larger. The qualities of this sort must, there- 

 fore, be excellent, and will no doubt answer their 

 character in a highly cultivated soil ; for in such a 

 soil the author has even had the old well-tried 

 English sorts of an uncommonly large and fine 

 growth. 



Culture. The raising of these plants, which are 

 annuals, can only be effected by sowing the seed 

 every year. For an early summer crop the seed 

 should be sown in drills, not too thick, in the begin- 

 ning of February; and for a succession, once in 

 every succeeding month till July. If a large sow- 

 ing is required, the drills should be drawn a foot 

 apart; but, as the season advances, there will be 

 room for a drill between various other crops (for 

 such as may be called temporary sowings). For 

 the principal winter and early spring crops two 

 sowings will be necessary ; the first in the beginning 

 of August, the second at the end of that month or 

 early in September. 



Spinach succeeds in any common garden soil ; 

 but the more it has been previously enriched with 

 dung the better, and, for winter spinach especially, 



