286 GARDENING FOR PROFIT. 



spring, "will give a heavy crop of leaves in June and 

 July ; when the flower-stalk of the Sorrel starts to grow, 

 it should be cut out, which will add greatly to the devel- 

 opment of the leaves. The crop may be left two sea- 

 sons, but is more tender when annually raised from seed. 



SPINACH. (Spinacia oleracea.) 



This is a very important crop in our market gardens, 

 hundreds of acres of it being cultivated in the neighbor- 

 hood of New York. It is one of the most manageable 

 of all vegetables, requiring but little culture, and may be 

 had fit for use the entire season. 



In our market gardens it is sown in early spring as an 

 auxiliary crop, between the rows of Early Cabbage ; it 

 comes to perfection usually in four or five weeks after 

 sowing. At this season, it sells at a low price, usually 

 about fifty cents per barrel ; but it requires but little 

 labor, and generally pays about 150 per acre of profit. 

 The main and important crop is sown in drills one foot 

 apart, in this section from 1st to 15th September, or late 

 enough in fall to get about half grown before cold 

 weather sets in. It is sometimes covered up in exposed 

 places with straw or salt hay during winter, whi^h pre- 

 vents it being cut with the frost ; but in sheltered fields 

 here there is no necessity for covering. 



Any soil that will grow a good Corn crop will grow 

 Spinach, though, as is the case with all other vegetables 

 in which the leaf or stem is the part used, the land can 

 hardly be made too rich. Our practice is to grow it on 

 our best soils, applying not less than fifty tons of well- 

 rotted stable manure to the acre, or in lieu of stable 

 manure, one ton of bone dust ; or about 1,200 pounds 

 of guano sown after plowing, and deeply harrowed in. 

 The rows are made with the ordinary garden ( ' e marker," 



