110 GARDENING FOR YOUNG AND OLD. 



SPINACH. 



Spinach is an important crop in the garden, whether 

 grown for home use or for market. It is of most value 

 early in the spring, and for this purpose must be sown 

 the autumn previous, on the richest and best land. You 

 can not work the soil too thoroughly. The seed should 

 be sown in rows from twelve to twenty-one inches apart, 

 the latter distance if a horse-hoe is to be used in culti- 

 vating it. In this section we sow about the first of Sep- 

 tember, and as the ground is apt to be very dry, a good 

 deal of work is sometimes required to break up all the 

 clods and get the soil fine and mellow; but stick to it 

 until the object is accomplished. By bestowing labor 

 enough, you can get the soil into good condition. Do 

 not wait for a rain to help you. Rain will not do much 

 good on the hard, unbroken, or cloddy soil ; but break 

 up the land, crush the lumps, pulverize the soil, and 

 then even a slight shower will penetrate this fine soil, 

 and make it moist enough to start the seed. Sow the 

 seed pretty thick, say three seeds to each inch of row; 

 this is ten times as many as are necessary, but it is very 

 desirable to have plants enough. Certainly it is very un- 

 desirable and annoying to have any gaps in the row. As 

 soon as the plants appear, hoe or cultivate between the 

 rows the more frequently, the better. When the plants 

 are fairly started, thin out, leaving them only four or 

 five inches apart in the row. If desired, the plants may 

 be thinned out with a sharp-pointed onion hoe from one 

 to two inches apart. When large enough, half the re- 

 maining plants may be cut out for use in the fall, or just 

 before winter sets in, at which time, and during the 

 winter, spinach often brings a high price. 



N. B. As I said before, you can not make the land 

 too rich for spinach. It is very desirable to work into 



