POSSIBILITIES OF ML'CK SOIL 



175 



away. The only thing that made it possible for this car to arrive 

 in good condition was that the day we harvested this spinach the 

 temperature was thirty-two, and the spinach was chilled. They told 

 me heat hadn't even started in the center of the crate when it ar- 

 rived. A few days later a similar shipment was made with the 

 temperature at fifty. It made better time, but arrived in bad condi- 

 tion. 



We sow from fifteen to twenty-five pounds of seed per acre accord- 

 ing to germination qualities. Last year seed was very poor. Some 

 growers had to sow as high as forty pounds per acre. It is very 

 important to know just what per cent of your seed will grow. Seeds 

 should be tested. Why run the risk of not having a good stand? 

 I always make a practice of knowing just what per cent of my seed 

 I have reason to expect will produce a sound, strong, healthy plant. 

 We sow in rows eight, ten and twelve inches apart, which is plenty 

 close enough. Some say we can grow it as close as eight. Some 

 even say sow broadcast, but it does better when cultivated. 



There are sei'eral kinds of spinach. Some will go to seed much 

 more ciuickly than others. This year we are going to try to grow 

 two or three crops of spinach. We can grow two crops on the same 

 land. We are going to sow one crop extremely early, and have it 

 come into the market before peas, then follow with one crop which 

 would come late in the fall. For this there is always a wide market. 

 A good many times I have seen good spinach grown after onions. 



Last year I produced spinach on a piece of land on which I had 

 harvested early celery about the middle of July, and I sold from 

 that bed one hundred eighty dollars worth of spinach after having 

 received a very fine crop of celery. It made a very nice second crop. 



Me. Work: How large was the bed.^ 



Me. Geeffrath: An acre and one-eighth. That is the size of 

 all my beds. As high as eleven tons per acre have been grown by 

 weight at South Lima. We will say an average yield of spinach 

 would be se^-en tons on good land. I don't believe it is possible for 

 any man to grow spinach on new muck land. Your land must be 

 weU subdued and clean. If you have chickweed, don't try spinach, 

 Several acres of ground at South Lima sown to spinach came up so 

 thick with chickweed that the canneries rejected it. You cannot 

 sort it out. All the labor you can afford to put on it is what you do 

 with a wheeled hoe. It is safe to say that, under ordinary conditions, 

 twenty-five dollars per acre should furnish the seed, prepare the 



