212 SPINACH. 



side of the drill, for keeping the dung from contact, 

 and which at no cost answers perfectly well; loose 

 boards laid on the top of the boxes or across the 

 bars, admit of insepection; and light is easily ex- 

 cluded by having the litter more copious. It may 

 be observed, that the art of cultivating this plant 

 is an invaluable acquisition to a high climate, where 

 the garden yields so little in winter and spring, and 

 where the coldness, so hurtful to other things, is 

 no hinderance to this, as more or less stable dung 

 will compensate all the varieties of temperature 

 from the seacoast to the height of a thousand feet. 

 Spinach. As convenient to the sower as it is 

 agreeable to the eater. It comes early in spring, 

 when there is no great plenty. It is not nice as 

 to soil, and suits all seasons. It fills up odd cor- 

 ners; and as it soon arrives at maturity, it serves 

 to occupy for a time those blanks which necessarily 

 occur in crops of larger growth and longer duration. 

 It is sown in shallow drills as wide between as to 

 admit the hoe. The summer crops do no good 

 after the first cutting, and may therefore be allowed 

 to grow as thick as grass ; but plants that have 

 to stand the winter, and sprout again after the 

 spring cutting, must have a certain strength of 

 root and thickness of stem. The sort having 

 prickly seed and a triangular leaf, being the more 

 hardy, is the fittest for winter ; that which has 

 smooth seed and a blunt round leaf is the best for 

 summer crops. The winter crop is sown in the 

 beginning of August, and by the end of autumn so 



