HORTICULTURE. 



265 



with them, the radishes, on the other hand, being 

 drawn off in time to give room to the spinach. If 

 spinach be own late in the season, it is done only on 

 moist dayey grounds, the 



promotes the production of leaves, rather retards the 

 _ .- a . .,! tne sowings are repeated 



ing, the leaves are cut over at top, but the roots are not 

 touched ; and the tap root is not fully sunk in the soil, 

 but only so deep as that hall* an inch may project above 



quality of which, while it ground. The root is rather coarse for table use, but 



excellent for cattle. The mid-rib of the leaf, dressed 

 like asparagus, is pretty good. 



Kitchen 



Garden. 



inclination to flower : and 



fortnight Spinach is often sown in shallow 

 drills, about a foot asunder: this mode is more trouble- 

 some at first ; but this is compensated by the facility 

 with which the thinning, cleaning, and gathering are 

 afterwards accomplished : indeed, less thinning is ne- 

 cessary, as drilled spinach U generally cut straight over 

 like crease i When spinach is sown in drills, between 

 rows of other vegetables, the prickly-seeded should be 

 preferred, even in spring, as it does not grow so large, 

 nor spread se> wide. 



When spinach seed is wanted, the plants are thinned 

 out to at least a foot separate. A very few plants with 

 staminiferous spikes are sufficient for fertilizing a con- 

 siderable row of the female or seed-bearing plants. 

 The seed ripens in August ; it should be covered with 

 a net, small birds being very fond of it 



WkUe Beet. 



347. The Mite Bert ( Beta Cicla, L. ; Pentandna 

 Difynta, Alriplicet. Jus*.) is a biennial plant, a na- 

 f Portugal and Spain. This has been known 

 and cultivated in gardens since the daysof Gerarde and 

 Parkinson ; not lor the sake of the roots, which are 

 generally small, seldom larger than a person's thumb, 

 - the lower leave* and their foot-stalks: the leaves 

 are thick and succulent, and are boiled as a spinach, 

 or put into soup*. There is a larger variety, called 

 the great white or sweet beet, of which the stalks and 

 midribs of the leave* are stewed and eaten as aspara- 

 gus, under the name of clarl. 



White beet is sown in the beginning of March, on 

 an open spot of ground. When the plants have put 

 out tour leaves, they are hoed and thinned oat to at 

 least four inches asunder. A month afterwards, a se- 

 cond hoeing is given, and the plants are left perhaps 

 ripht inches separate. The outer leaves being first 

 picked for u*e, a succession is afforded fur the whole 

 season. The plants endure for two years, but it is 

 best to make a (mall towing annuilly. When heet- 

 eharda are wanted, the plants are frequently watered 

 during rummer , they are kept protected with litter 

 over winter, and have earth heaped against then. In 

 th i way the chards may be had Ull the approach of the 



Orache. 



349. Garden Orache, or Mountain Spinach, (AtripUx Oracle. 

 hortentis, L. ; Polygamia Moncecia ; Atrinlicet, Juss.) 

 is an annual plant, a native of Tartary. The stem rises 

 three feet high ; the leaves are various in shape, th:ck, 

 pale green, and glaucous, and of a slightly acid flavour. 

 There are two varieties, the White or pale green, 

 and the Red or purple. Orache was formerly much 

 cultivated as a spinach ; but now it is less frequently 

 sown. Some, however, prefer it to common spinach, 

 and it is much used in France. It U sown in drills, in 

 autumn, soon after the seed is ripe ; and the plants are 

 thinned out, next spring, to four inches asunder. The 

 stalks are good only while the plant is young ; but the 

 larger leaves mav be picked off in succession through- 

 out the season, leaving the stalks untouched, and the 

 -maMer leaves to increase m sice; and .-till the spinach 

 thus procured will be found very tender. 



mid Spinach. 



sidered a 



S48. A variety, by s 

 the red and the white beet, having 



hybrid 

 y targe 



between 



rge roots, as 



well as large leaves, wa introduced into this country 

 about the year 1786, chiefly by the exertions of the late 

 I'.istingmiahed Dr John Coakley I-ettsom. It was called 

 Unguld-Wurzel, or Bert-Root ; but Abb* 

 CoOB&ercll, in recommending it in France, having mis- 

 taken Mangold. t*tt. tat Mangel, iron/, converted the 

 name into Racine de Disette , and in thi country we 

 have sanctioned the blunder, by adopting the name 

 Root of Scarcity. Of this variety most of the roots 

 weigh lOlb. or 12 H> and deep soil, often 



Some which grew in the island of St Helena weighed 

 above 50lb. each. The seed is sown in March ; and 

 the seedlings, when their roots are the sue of gooss 

 , are transplanted into rows a foot and a half distant, 

 and nearly as much apart in the rows. In transplant* 

 VOL. w. FAB.T . 



S50. Wild Spiiuffi, or Good Henry, (Chnopoduim Wild Spi- 

 tornut Hntriau, L. ; Prxtandria D'srvni : ; Atripiicet, Mch - 

 Juts.) is a perennial plant, indigenous to Britain, grow- 

 ing br rol-ide in many places. It is figured in 

 Sowerby's " English Botany," pi. 10.13. The stem rises 

 rather more than a foot high ; it is round and smooth at 

 the base, but upwards it becomes somewhat grooved .an I 

 angular; it is covered with minute transparent powdery 

 globules. The leaves are large, alternate, triangular 

 arrow-shaped, and entire on the edges. While young 

 and tender, it makes no despicable substitute for spi- 

 nach. Curtis mentions, that in some parts of Lincoln- 

 shire it is greatly esteemed, nnd cultivated in gardens 

 in preference to common spinach. Withering observes, 

 that the young shoots, peeled and boiled, may be eaten 

 as asparagus, v resemble in flavour. The 



lures are often boiled in broth, of which they form a 

 vary palatable mgrr 



The seed is sown in March or April, in a small bed. 

 In the coarse of the following September, in showery 

 weather, the seedlings are transpl: nt.-<l into another 

 bed which has been deeply tUijf, or rnther tretu hcd to 

 the depth of a foot and a I nt< being Ion? ami 



i* deep, while at the same time they are Dram : 

 so that each pUnt should have a foot or fifteen me! 

 vpaee. Next season the young ihoot", with thrir leaves 

 ;x, are cut for ur as they spring up, leaving per- 

 haps one head to rich plant, to keep r in vigour. The 

 brd continues productive in this wsy for many succes- 

 sive years. The first spring cuttm? may be got some- 

 what earlier, by taking the precaution of covering the 

 bed with any sort of litter during the severity of winter. 



Herb Patience. 



861. Garden Patience, or Patience Dock, (Rumei Hcrb . 

 Patifnlia. L. ; Heiandria Trigynia ; Polygonca-, JUM.) uenc*. 

 is u perennial plant, a native of Germany. The leaves 

 are broad, long and acute-pointed, on reddish foot. 

 tft 



