SPI 



[ 840 ] 



SPI 



Soil. For the round-leaved variety, 

 a rich, light, moist loam in an open 

 situation is preferable ; but for the 

 triangular-leaved, and other winter va- 

 rieties, a light moderately fertile and 

 dry border. The earth should always 

 be well pulverized at the time of dig- 

 ging, and the soil for the summer crops 

 cannot be too rich. Liquid manure is 

 highly beneficial to them, and when 

 made of blood and the most fertilizing 

 matters, the greater the benefit. 



Sow of the round-leaved variety at 

 the close of January, in a warm situa- 

 tion, to be repeated in larger, but still 

 small breadths, at the commencement 

 and end of February, and to be con- 

 tinued every three weeks, until the 

 middle of April, when it must be per- 

 formed once a week until the close of 

 May, and then once a fortnight till the 

 end of July. In August sow at inter- 

 vals of three weeks, until the early part 

 of September. Sow thinly in drills 

 half-an-inch deep and a foot apart. 

 The sowing should be in showery 

 weather, otherwise an occasional water- 

 ing must be given ; for if there is a 

 deficiency of moisture during the first 

 grades of vegetation, not half of the 

 seedlings will come up ; the triangular- 

 leaved plants must be thinned to four 

 or five inches apart, and the round- 

 leaved to eight. Thin by degrees, 

 separating them at first only an inch 

 or two, as the plants of the several 

 thinnings are fit for use. The thin- 

 ning ought to commence when they 

 have attained four leaves about an inch 

 in breadth. Eegular gathering pro- 

 motes the health of the plants. The 

 outer leaves only should be gathered 

 at a time, the centre being left unin- 

 jured to produce successional crops. 

 This direction applies chiefly to the 

 winter standing crops, those of the 

 summer may be cut off close to the 

 root. 



To obtain Seed. A sowing of each 

 variety may be made in February or 

 March, according to the openness of 

 the season, or of the round-leaved va- 

 riety some plants of a regular crop may 

 be allowed to run up in April or May ; 

 and of the triangular-leaved, some 

 plants of the winter standing crops 



may be transplanted in March. Set 

 them twelve inches apart. Spinach is 

 dioecious, and many ignorant persons, 

 perceiving some of the plants to have 

 no appearance of bearing seed, advise 

 these to be pulled up, but they are 

 the male-bearing plants, without which 

 the others would be unfruitful. If, 

 however, they are very numerous, some 

 of them may be removed with benefit 

 to those that remain, care being taken 

 that some are left in every part of the 

 bed. When the seed is set the male 

 plants may be entirely removed. When 

 the seed is ripe in July or August, the 

 plants ought to be pulled up and laid 

 to dry thoroughly on a cloth, previously 

 to its being beaten out and stored. 



SPINA'CIA. Spinach. (From spinet, 

 a prickle ; seeds prickly. Nat. ord., 

 Chenopods [Chenopodiacea?]. Linn., 

 22-Dicecia 5-Pentandria.) 



Hardy green-flowered annual. See Spinach. 

 S. olera'cea (potherb). l. June. 1568. 



gla'bra (smooth-seeded) . l. June. 



spino'sa (prickly -seeded). l. June. 



SPINDLE -TKEE. Euo'nymus. 

 SPIRE'A. (From speira, anything 

 wreathed ; the flowering branches used 

 in garlands. Nat. ord., Eoseworts 

 [Rosaceaj]. Linn., l'2-Icosandria 2-Di- 

 pentagynia.) 



All white-flowered, except where otherwise 

 mentioned. Herbaceous and tuberous, by 

 division of the plant, in spring ; shrubs, by 

 cuttings, layers, and suckers ; good garden soil. 



HARDY TUBEROUS-BOOTED. 

 S. filipe'ndula (Dropwort). 2. September. 

 Britain. 



mi' nor (smaller). l. August. 



Europe. 



I pube'scens (downy). 1$. August. 



France. 



HARDY HERBACEOUS. 



S. aru'ncus (Goafs-beard). 4. June. Siberia. 

 1633. 



America'na (American). 4. June. 



North America. 



barba'ta (bearded). 4. June. Nepaul. 



J835. 



denuda'ta. (naked). July. South Europe. 



digita'ta (hand - leaved). 2. Red. July. 



Siberia. 1823. 



loba'ta (lobed). 2. Red. July. North 

 America. 1765. 



palma'ta (h&nd-leaved). 2. Red. July. 



China. 1823. 



rotundifo'lia (round-leaved) . June. Cash- 



mere. 1840. 



Ulma'ria (Meadow Sweet). 2. August. 



Britain. 



