66 SpmOfCh and Other Greens 



do not mature so early. Spinach is sometimes started 

 under glass and transplanted to the open; and it is fre- 

 quently grown to edible maturity in frames. Sometimes 

 beds of fall-grown spinach are covered with sash in Feb- 

 ruary or March to hasten the plants. There is always more 

 or less loss of fall-grown plants in the Northern States. 



Two general classes of spinach are familiar to garden- 

 ers, the smooth-seeded and the prickly-seeded. The latter 

 tends to fall into disfavor because of the trouble of sow- 

 ing it, owing to the very sharp spines on the fruit (or 



" seed ") ; it has been 

 preferred for autumn 

 sowing because very 

 hardy, but smooth- 

 seeded kinds are 

 coming to be popu- 



19. Seedlings of spinach (X about %). ^^^ 1°^ thlS purpOSe. 



The savoy - leaved 

 spinaehs (smooth-seeded) are valued for the large and 

 wrinkled leaves. Strains or varieties of spinach have been 

 developed that run tardily to seed ; they are known as the 

 long-standing kinds; they are specially useful for spring- 

 planting. The figures (17 and 18) show the two kinds 

 of seeds, and Pig. 19 the seedlings. 



In its undeveloped state, both types of spinach bear 

 relatively- narrow halberd-shaped or spear-shaped leaves, 

 having strong spreading lobes at the base. The modern 

 purpose in the selection of stock is toward -"round-leaved" 

 types, those in which the leaves are broader and lack the 

 basal lobes. Even in varieties developed with this pur- 

 pose, lobed leaves usually appear freely, even on the same 



