SPINACH 407 



be propagated from seed, from cuttings of the roots, or by division. 

 The seeds, or pods, of which there are about 600 in an ounce, 

 retain their vitality for three years. 



Cultivation. The seed bed should be well enriched and deeply 

 tilled. If the seed is sown where the plants are to mature, the 

 rows must be laid off at least 3 feet apart, and the young plants 

 thinned to stand 18 inches apart in the row. The first year the 

 plants may be grown in the seed bed, and the following spring 

 transplanted to the permanent field. The season for seed sowing 

 in the latitude of New York is April. The seed bed as well as 

 the permanent plantation should be given clean cultivation, all 

 seed stalks should be nipped off as they appear, and the plants 

 induced to make a robust growth. At the close of the season the 

 dead leaves are cleared away, and the crowns of the plants covered 

 with a good mulch of compost or stable manure. Before growth 

 begins in the spring the winter cover is removed, and the earth is 

 raked, care being taken not to injure the crowns. The crowns are 

 covered with sand or compost for blanching unless the blanching 

 is to be accomplished by the use of a regular sea-kale pot. A large 

 flowerpot, with the hole in the bottom plugged, will serve the 

 purpose of the regular kale pot. 



Harvesting. The young shoots are cut when from 3 to 4 inches 

 tall and used in much the same manner as asparagus. The season de- 

 pends upon the climate and varies in length from three to six weeks. 



SPINACH 



Distribution. Spinach, while an important truck and market- 

 garden crop in certain sections of this country, is too often miss- 

 ing from the kitchen garden. It is far superior to any other salad 

 plant grown for boiling. As a truck crop its zone is limited by 

 shipping facilities and freight rates. Spinach is bulky and seldom 

 sells for a high price per barrel, and for these reasons growers beyond 

 the range of low freight rates cannot afford to grow it. Norfolk, 

 Virginia, with its mild winter conditions and reasonable freight 

 rates has come to be the great center for the production of both 

 spinach and kale. Other localities with favorable climatic and 

 market conditions also produce these crops, but less extensively. 



