SPINACH 



663 



broader and rounder, and are remarkable for the thickness of the 

 parenchyma. In cooking they lose nearly all their savour, but 

 keep their green colour. When growing, these leaves form a 

 rosette, from the centre of which the flower-stem makes its appear- 

 ance more or less speedily, according to the variety. The Spinach, 

 being dioecious, bears only male flowers on some plants and only 

 female flowers on others. The seed, which, of course, is only found 

 on the female plants, varies very much according to the variety, 

 that of some kinds being armed with three very sharp points, while 

 in other kinds the seed is round and without points. 



Culture. — The seed is best sown where the plants are to stand, 

 in drills 10 or 12 in. apart. It is advisable, in order to have a con- 

 tinuous supply, to make successional sowings every fortnight, or at 

 least every month, especially in spring and summer, when the plants 

 run to seed quickly. Frequent and plentiful waterings are indis- 

 pensable to ensure an abundant growth and good quality in the 

 leaves. The market-gardeners around Paris have for a long time 

 preferred the Prickly-seeded varieties for spring sowings, reserving 

 the Round-seeded kinds for late summer and autumn sowings. At 

 the present day, however, we have Round-seeded varieties which 

 are quite as hardy and as slow in running to seed as any of the 

 Prickly-seeded kinds. 



The first sowing for summer use 

 should be made early in March, as 

 a rule ; but in warm soils and situa- 

 tions a small sowing maybe made 

 in February. 



Summer Spinach. — Owing to the 

 Summer Spinach being so liable to 

 run to seed, it is advisable to make 

 small sowings often rather than to 

 make large sowings at long inter- 

 vals — as by the former plan a 

 regular supply of fine young leaves 

 is ensured, whereas in the latter case 

 small tough leaves have often to be 

 used in consequence of successional 

 crops not being sufficiently advanced 

 to give a supply. It is therefore 

 obvious that a sowing should be 

 made once a fortnight, or at 

 longest every three weeks, during 

 the summer months. These sow- 

 ings may consist of the Round 

 Spinach for the first two or three 

 sowings, and the Flanders or the 

 Lettuce-leaved varieties for sowing 



through the summer. These two 

 last-named kinds are far superior, 

 both in quality and cropping, to the 

 Round Spinach. For summer sow- 

 ings it is best to choose as shady 

 and moist a situation as possible, 

 to save watering, as well as to pre- 

 vent the plants from running to 

 seed too quickly. All Spinach seed 

 is benefited by being soaked in 

 water for a few hours previous to 

 sowing, inasmuch as it germinates 

 more quickly and the growth is often 

 stronger. Sowing in drills is by far 

 the best mode of sowing the seed, 

 as then the crop is more easily 

 kept free from weeds, and watering 

 or mulching can be effectually done 

 when desired, as well as rendering it 

 much easier to gather the crop. The 

 drills should be about i ft. apart, 

 and the plants, after thinning, at 

 least 6 in. asunder. The Lettuce- 

 leaved and Flanders require even 

 more room than this, if the produc- 



