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SPINACH (Spinacia oleracea)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 668 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also:

SPINACH (Spinacia oleracea) , an See also:annual plant, a member, of the natural See also:order Chenopodiaceae,. which has been See also:long cultivated for the See also:sake of its succulent leaves. It is probably of See also:Persian origin, being introduced into See also:Europe about the 15th See also:century. It should be grown on See also:good ground, well worked and well manured; and for the summer crops abundant watering will be necessary. The first See also:sowing of See also:winter spinach should be made See also:early in See also:August, and another, towards the end of that See also:month, in some sheltered but not shaded situation, in rows 18 in. apart—the See also:plants, as they advance, being thinned, and the ground hoed. By the beginning of winter the See also:outer leaves will have become See also:fit for use, and if the See also:weather is mild successive gatherings may be obtained up to the beginning of May. The prickly-seeded and the See also:Flanders are the best for winter; and these should he thinned out early in the autumn to about 2 in. apart, and later of resisting the penetration of the ointment into their substance. See also:Pliny also recommends See also:alabaster for ointment vases. For small quantities See also:onyx vessels seem to have been used (See also:Horace. See also:Carat. iv. 12, lines to, 17). on to 6 in. The See also:lettuce-leaved is a good succulent winter sort, but not quite so See also:hardy.

To afford a See also:

succession of summer spinach, the seeds should be sown about the See also:middle of See also:February, and again in See also:March; after this See also:period small quantities should be sown once a fortnight, as summer spinach lasts but a very See also:short See also:time. They are generally sown in shallow drills, between the lines of peas. If a See also:plot of ground has to be wholly occupied, the rows should be about 1 ft. apart. The See also:round-seeded is the best sort for summer use. The See also:Orach or See also:Mountain Spinach (Atriplex hortensis), a member of the same order, is a tall-growing hardy annual, whose leaves, though coarsely flavoured, are used as a substitute for spinach, and to correct the acidity of See also:sorrel. The See also:white and the See also:green are the most desirable varieties. The plant should be grown quickly in See also:rich See also:soil. It may be sown in rows 2 ft. apart, and about the same distance in the See also:row, about March, and for succession again in See also:June. If needful, See also:water must be freely given, so as to maintain a rapid growth. The New See also:Zealand Spinach (Tetragonia expansar), natural order Ficoideae, is a See also:half-hardy annual, native of New Zealand, sometimes used as a substitute for spinach during the summer months, but in every way inferior to it. The seeds should be sown in March, on a See also:gentle hot-See also:bed, having been previously steeped in water for several See also:hours. The seedlings should be potted, and placed under a See also:frame till the end of May, and should then be planted out in See also:light rich soil.

The See also:

young leaves are those which are gathered for use, a succession being produced during summer and autumn.

End of Article: SPINACH (Spinacia oleracea)

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