SPINACH. One of the species of this genus, the S. oleracea, the common spinach, is well known on account of its use in the kitchen. It has an herbaceous stem one or two feet high, branched, and hollow ; arrow-shaped leaves ; male flowers in long spikes, abounding with pollen ; female flowers on another plant, axillary, herbaceous, and small. The fruit is a small round nut, which is sometimes very prickly.
There are two principal varieties cultivated in gardens, the prickly fruited, with triangular, oblong, or sagittate leaves, and the smooth fruited, with round or blunt leaves. The former is considered the hardiest, and is therefore employed for winter culture; the latter is used for summer crops. Of these varieties there are several sub varieties, varying in the size, thickness, and shape of their leaves.
For the winter crop the seed is sown at the beginning of August. A light, dry, rich soil should be preferred, and, if possible, in a sheltered situation. When the plants have put forth two pair of leaves, the ground should be hoed and the plants thinned. By October or November the outer leaves of the spinach are fit for use. In February, when fine weather occurs, the plants should be again attended to, cleaned, and thinned out, and in this way it may be made productive till April or May, by which time the summer sort will be ready. The first sowing of the round-leaved spinach or smooth-fruited should take place at the end of January in some sheltered border. This crop should be successively thinned out till the plants are eight or ten inches apart. Successive sowings may be made, in order to ensure a constant
supply in February, March, and April, and, if desirable, these sowings may take place between rows of cabbages, &c.
Spinach is often sown iu narrow drills, which is rather more trouble some at first, but this is made up for by the facility with which clearing, thinning, and gathering are afterwards accomplished.
For preserving seed, those plants which are of the most stocky growth should be selected. The winter crops run up soonest, but seed may be obtained from spring crops in July and August. The new seed is the best for sowing, although it will keep very well for a year. When the plants are saved for seed, the male plants, which are easily distinguished by their flowers, may after fertilisation be drawn and thrown away.
Spinach is sometimes grown by the farmer for the purpose of obtaining a crop of seed for the uses of the gardener. In the selection of land for this purpose, care should be taken that it is finely prepared by ploughing and harrowing in the early spring, and some well-rotted dung should be ploughed in where the soil is not of the best quality. When the spinach has blossomed, the male plants should be drawn out, which serve at this time as excellent food for pigs, and might be given to other animals with advantage. There is much uncertainty about this kind of crop; sometimes, however, it turns out very advantageous.