56 



Spinacli 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 Avith 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 



spinachs (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 Fig. 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 



19. Seedlings of spinach (X about 



" seed ") ; it has been 

 preferred for autumn 

 sowing because very 

 hardy, but smooth- 

 seeded kinds are 

 coming to be popu- 

 lar for this purpose. 

 The savoy - leaved 



