VEGETABLES SPINACH. 287 



at the distance of twelve or fifteen inches apart. The 

 seed is sown rather thickly; we prefer to do it always by 

 hand, using from ten to fifteen pounds per acre ; when 

 thickly sown the plants can be thinned out, so that a 

 much larger yield will be given. We sow here from the 

 5th to the 15th of September, and quite frequently sell, 

 by thinning out, fifty or seventy-five barrels from an 

 acre, which usually in October and November sells for 

 $1 per barrel. This thinning out, which is done by cut- 

 ting out the plants where thickest with a knife-, if care- 

 fully performed, does not at all injure the main crop, 

 which is to stand over winter until spring, I may here 

 caution the inexperienced of the necessity of treading 

 down the soil on the seed, if the land is dry ; the crop is 

 often ruined by the want of this precaution, in continued 

 hot, dry spells that are frequent with us during Septem- 

 ber. If the soil is left loose, the hot air shrivels up the 

 seed so that it will never germinate. The best way is 

 to tread in each row with the feet, and in addition to 

 use a roller. Probably one-half of all Spinach seed sown 

 in fall fails to germinate, and from no other cause than 

 the failure to thus firm the seed. The same precaution 

 is necessary in the sowing for Cabbage and Lettuce 

 plants ; at this season these are often lost from the same 

 cause. 



Fair crops give a yield of 200 barrels per acre (average 

 price, $2 per barrel); at a high estimate the expenses will 

 not exceed $250 per acre, so that it is safe to claim a net 

 profit of $150, although extraordinary crops often do 

 much more than this. The ground can be cleared early 

 enough in May to follow the Spinach with a crop of 

 Flat Dutch or Early Summer Cabbage. Spinach is 

 hardy enough to grow in almost any part of the country ; 

 but in districts Avhere the thermometer falls below zero, 

 it is necessary to cover it up about Christmas with hay, 

 straw, or leaves, to the depth of two or three inches ; it 



