136 CULINARY OR KI 



from the 12th of August to the 1st of 

 September, for winter and spring use. 



The seed vegetates in from 10 to 15 

 days, according to the season ; therefore 

 it may be advantageously sown between 

 rows of newly planted pease, beans, cab- 

 bage, or the like, as it will be fit to cut 

 off for use before they either injure it, or 

 it prove an impediment to their growth. 

 And when so sown, the drills should be 

 made nine inches wide and the seed thinly 

 sprinkled in them, to give the plants 

 greater room than if sown in the ordinary 

 manner. The germination of the seed 

 may be hastened by its being steeped in 

 water three or four hours previous to sow- 

 ing; and in sowing during the heat of 

 summer, when the ground is dry, the 

 drills should be soaked with water before 

 the seed is sown. 



It should always be sown in drills, 2 

 inches deep and 18 inches or 2 feet apart 

 for principal winter crops, the plants 

 being, after they come up, thinned to a 

 foot apart in the line. As the object is 

 to have large succulent leaves, the ground 

 cannot be too highly manured. The full- 

 sized leaves should be 8 inches long and 

 4 broad. For summer crops it may ad- 

 vantageously be sown between rows of 

 pease or similar crops, the slight shade 

 afforded them preventing their running 

 so soon to seed ; but during summer the 

 leaves will not attain the size stated above. 

 If sown broadcast, 2 ounces of seed will 

 sow a bed of 120 square feet. If sown in 

 continuous rows, a foot between the sum- 

 mer crops will be sufficient. One ounce 

 will sow 150 feet of a single drill. 



Subsequent cultivation. — The summer 

 crops should be abundantly supplied with 

 water during dry weather, the plants 

 only moderately thinned, as their dura- 

 tion is short. In November it will be 

 well to thin the plants intended for a 

 winter and spring crop to the above dis- 

 tance in the lines, to clear the ground 

 completely of weeds, and to cover the 

 spaces between the rows with finely-sifted 

 coal-ashes, to counteract damp and to 

 render the ground more comfortable to 

 tread upon during the process of gather- 

 ing the crop. This also saves the large 

 lower leaves from being splashed with 

 mud during heavy rains. 



It is seldom the spinach crop is injured 

 by frosts in Britain, particularly in mo- 



CCHEN GARDEN. 



derately good situations. There are many 

 places, however, in upland and cold dis- 

 tricts, where it suffers much. In such 

 the soil should be less enriched, as the 

 less succulent the leaves are the better 

 they will resist the frost. A more shel- 

 tered and warmer place should also be 

 chosen for the winter crop. In some 

 parts protection is necessary, and this, 

 if even of a very temporary nature, will 

 be found sufficient. Sticking the plan- 

 tation pretty thickly with branches of 

 broom, old pea-sticks, or indeed branches 

 of any kind, so as to break the force of 

 the wind and arrest perpendicular frosts, 

 will, in most situations, be found suffi- 

 cient ; and in such situations, covering 

 the ground between the rows with coal- 

 ashes should be carefully attended to. 

 Still such coverings should not be had 

 recourse to unless in extreme cases, neither 

 should they be applied too early or con- 

 tinued too late in the season. The ground 

 should also be kept clear of weeds, and in 

 gathering the crop the leaves should be 

 pinched or cut off by the foot-stalk, and 

 not plucked or lacerated as is so frequently 

 done, as every leaf so torn and mutilated 

 will almost certainly rot off. 



Soil and manure. — In light sandy soils 

 spring crops come into use soonest, but 

 they equally soon shoot up to seed and 

 become useless. In strong retentive soils 

 they are later, and continue longer. In 

 medium good garden soils, abundantly 

 manured, the crops succeed best ; and it 

 is of importance, particularly for crops to 

 come in during winter and to continue 

 on till spring, that the situation chosen 

 be open and well exposed. The ground 

 cannot be too highly enriched for this 

 crop, and much benefit has arisen from 

 watering the plants with ammoniacal 

 liquor from the gas-works. Pigeons' dung 

 has been used with much advantage, and 

 so also has guano in a liquid form. 



Taking the crop. — The larger and lower 

 leaves should be gathered first, and these 

 should either be cut off with a knife or 

 pinched off between the finger and thumb 

 close to the bottom of their foot-stalks. 

 It is wasteful and untidy to pluck tjie 

 leaves off by the middle, and it is equally 

 so to take the heart ones out. The sum- 

 mer crops, as they grow so rapidly, may 

 be cut close to the ground with a knife. 

 When the former is carried to the vege- 



