ows.

* * * * *

SPINACH.

Spinacia oleracea.

Spinach is a hardy annual, of Asiatic origin. When in flower, the plant
is from two to three feet in height; the stem is erect, furrowed,
hollow, and branching; the leaves are smooth, succulent, and oval-oblong
or halberd-shaped,--the form varying in the different varieties. The
fertile and barren flowers are produced on separate plants,--the former
in groups, close to the stalk at every joint; the latter in long,
terminal bunches, or clusters. The seeds vary in a remarkable degree in
their form and general appearance; those of some of the kinds being
round and smooth, while others are angular and prickly: they retain
their vitality five years. An ounce contains nearly twenty-four hundred
of the prickly seeds, and about twenty-seven hundred of the round or
smooth.

_Soil and Cultivation._--Spinach is best developed, and most tender and
succulent, when grown in rich soil. For the winter sorts, the soil can
hardly be made too rich.

It is always raised from seeds, which are sown in drills twelve or
fourteen inches apart, and three-fourths of an inch in depth. The seeds
are sometimes sown broadcast; but the drill method is preferable, not
only because the crop can be cultivated with greater facility, but the
produce is more conveniently gathered. For a succession, a few seeds of
the summer varieties may be sown, at intervals of a fortnight, from
April till August.

_Taking the Crop._--"When the leaves are two or three inches broad, they
will be fit for gathering. This is done either by cutting them up with a
knife wholly to the bottom, drawing and clearing them out by the root,
or only cropping the large outer leaves; the root and heart remaining to
shoot out again. Either method can be adopted, according to the season
or other circumstances."--_Rogers._

_To raise Seed._--Spinach seeds abundantly; and a few of the fertile
plants, with one or two of the infertile, will yield all that will be
required for a garden of ordinary size. Seeds of the winter sorts should
be saved from autumn sowings, and from plants that have survived the
winter.

_Use._--The leaves and young stems are the only parts of the plant used.
They are often boiled and served alone; and sometimes, with the addition
of sorrel-leaves, are used in soups, and eaten with almost every
description of meat. "The expressed juice is often employed by cooks and
confectioners f