Spinach 



55 



other crops. In the South it is marketed from late 

 November to March and early April. 



Since spinach is prized for its crisp tender leaves, it is 

 a crop that profits by an application of soluble nitrogenous 

 fertilizers. It is. customary, in some parts of the country, 

 to sprinkle the ground early in the spring with a weak solu- 

 tion of nitrate of soda or sulfate of ammonia, nsing 

 50 to 75 pounds of the fertilizer to the acre at each of two 

 or three successive applications. These applications may 

 be made at intervals of ten days to two weeks. The appli- 



17. Fruits of the smooth- 

 seeded spinach (X about 



Prickly-seeded (-fruited) spinach 

 (X2). 



cations are often applied by means of a street sprinkler or 

 similar arrangement. Other growers apply dry fertilizer, 

 broadcast, in liberal applications, as much as 1,000 to 1,500 

 pounds or more to the acre, depending on soil and season. 

 Sometimes the beds are top-dressed with manure in the 

 fall, and the leaehings from the manure start the plants 

 quickly ia spring. Hen-manure is sometimes used. 



For home use, and sometimes for market, plants are 

 started in spring in a warm position, the seed usually being 

 sown where the plants are to remain. It is more easy to 

 secure a good stand by this spring sowing, but the plants 



