3 .auil made about the miiUlle of June, will ensure .a succession of leaves ; but tiio succnlcncy of these
will of course depend a good de.al on the ricliness and moisture ot the soil. _
3738. To save seed. Leave a few plants of the m ost tender and succulent constitutions to blossom, and
they will produce abundance of seeds in August.
S u b s e c t . 4 . Wild Spinach. — Chenopòdium Bònus Henricus L . (Eng. Bot. 1 0 3 3 . ) ;
Pent. Dig. L. nnd Chenopodeoe B. P. Amerine, Fr. ; Gansefuss, or Meldenartige,
Gcr. ; Gansevoet, Dutch ; aud Anserino, Ital.
3739. The wild spinach is au iudigcuous perennial, common by way-sidcs in loamy
soils. Tho stem rises 1J ft. high, is round and smooth at the base, but upwards it
Iiccomes grooved and angular. The leaves are largo, alternate, triangular, arrow-shaped,
and entire on the edges. The whole plant, but especially the stalks, is covered with
minute transparent powdery particles.
3740. Use. While young and tender, th e leaves are used as a substitute for spinach, for which purpose,
Curtis observes, it is cultivated in Lincolnshire, in preference to the garden sort. Withering states, that
the young shoots, peeled and bailed, may bo eaten as asparagus, which they resemble in flavour.
.3741. Culture. T h e plant m ay b e propagated by dividing the roots ; or the seed m ay b e “ sown in
March or April, in a small bed. În thè course of the following September, in showery weather, tho seedlings
are transplanted into another bed which has been deeply dug, or ra the r trenched to th e depth of
U ft., th e roots being long and striking deep, while a t the same time th e y a re branched; so th a t each
plant sliould have 1 ft. or 15 in. of space. Next season, th e young shoots, with their loaves and top.s,
are cut for use as they spring up, leaving, perhaps, one head to each plant, to keep it m vigour. Ih o
bed continues productive in this way for mauy successive years. The first spring cutting may be got
somewhat earlier, by taking the precaution of covering th e bed with any sort of litte r during th e seventy
of winter.” (N e ill.)
S ubsect. 5. New Zealand Spinach. — Tetraghnia expansa (Plant, grass. 113.) ; Icos.
Di-Pentag. L. and Picdideoe J.
3742. New Zealand Spinach is a lialf-Iiardy annual, with flesliy leaves, and niimcrons
branches, round, succulent, pale green, thick, and strong, somewhat procumbent, but
elevating thcir terminations. The flowers are sessile in tlic aloe of the leaves, small and
green, and, except that they show tlicir yellow antlieræ when they expand, they arc very
inconspicuous. The fruit when ripe has a dry pericarp of a rude shape, with four or five
liornlikc processes enclosing the seed, which is to be sown in its covering. It is a native
of New Zealand, by the sides of woods in bushy sandy places ; aud thougli not used hy
the inhabitants, yet being considered by the naturalists who accompanied Captain Cook,
as of the samo natiu-c as the Chenopòdium (sec Foster, Plant, esculent, &c.), it was served
to the sailors, boiled, every day at breakfast and dinner. It was introduced into England
J)y Sir Joseph Banks in 1772, and treated as a greenhouse plant; but has since been
found to gi-ow in the open garden as freely as the kidneybean or nasturtium. As a
summer spinach it is as valuable as the orache, or perliaps more so. Every gardener
knows tho plague that attends the frequent sowing of common spinach through the warm
season of the year ; without that trouble it is impossible to have it good, and with the
utmost care it cannot always be obtained exactly as it ought to be (particularly when the
weather is hot and dry), from the rapidity with which the young plants run to seed The
New Zealand spinach, if watered, gi-ows freely, and produces leaves of the greatest succulency
in the hottest weather. Anderson, one of its earliest cultivators, had only nine
plants, from which, he says, “ I have been enabled to send in a gathering for the kitchen
every other day since the middle of June ; so that I consider a bed vsdth about twenty
[liants quite sufficient to give a daily supply, if required, for a lai’ge tabic.”
3743. Use. It is dressed in the same manner us common spinach.
3 ^ 4 . Culture . “ The seed should be sown in the latte r end of March, in a pot, which must be placed in
a melon-frame ; the seedling plants while small should be set out singly, in small pots, and kept under
tb e shelter of a cold-frame, until about the 20th of May, when the mildness of th e season will probably
allow of their being planted out, without risk of being kiilcd by frost. At th a t time a bed must be prepared
for the reception of th e plants, by forming a trench 2 ft. wide, and 1 ft, deep, which must be filled
level to the surface with rotten dung from an old cucumber-bed ; th e dung must be covered with 6 in. of
garden-mould, thus creating an elevated ridge in th e middle of th e bed, th e sides of which must extend
3 ft. from the centre. ' T h e plants must be put out 3 ft. apart ; I planted mine a t only 2 ft. distance from
each other, but they were too near. In five or six weeks from the planting, their branches will h.ave
grown sufficiently to allow the gathering of the leaves for use. In dry seasons th e plants will probably
require a good supply of water. They put forth their branches vigorously as soon as they have taken
to the ground, and extend before the end of the season 3 ft. on each side from the centre of the bed.”
3745. I n g a th e r in g io r “ th e young leaves m ust be pinched off the branches, taking care to leave the
leading shoot uninjured ; this, with the smaller branches which subsequently arise from the alæ of tho
loaves which have been gathered, will produce a supply until a late period in th e year, for th e plants are
sufflciently hardy to withstand the frosts which kill nasturtiums, potatoes, and such tender vegetables.”
(A n d e r so n , in H o rt. T ra n s ., vol. iv. p. 492.)
374G. To sa v e seed. Place a plant or two in a poor soil, or train one up a wall, or stunt one or two m
lime rubbish, or in pots sparingly watered. Or a few cuttings may be struck in autumn, and preserved
through the w inter in the greenhouse.
S ubsect. G. Son'el.—Rw»ic.r L. ; Hex. Trig. L. a n d Volygoneæ J. Oseille, Fr. ;
Sauerampfer, Gcr. ; Vcldzuuring, Dutch ; Acetosa, Ital. ; and Acedera, Span.
3747. French sorrel, Roman sorrel, or round-leaved sorrel, is the R. scutàtus L. ; a
perennial plant, a native of Franco and Italy, and cultivated in tliis country since 1596.
The leayas are somcwiiat hastate, Wuiit, and entire ; glaiicous, smootli, soft, and fleshy,
ailpipee atrrt umli nJgu nset eamnsd rJiusely f. rom 1 ft. to ft. higli; and the flowers,■ of a bg reenish wliitme,,
d ow fm d ( f ' S - A ’“ - P; >27-). ™ indigenous perennial, common in meawita
two » t l f r e l t a '" ' ‘“ ’8 f f “'-»«“'!!*. arrow-shaped, blunt, and m.arked
ro tie tta fh b . 8 m i ‘hn t a s e ; the upper leaves are sessile and acute. Tliere .are sever,al
ta I,*: ■ 1 ta™. “ teeiucd th em o st succulent; the long-lcavcd; and tho green
tau p e iS de^tafoitaddTty ‘ ‘“tanness and succulency of its leaves, .andlhcir
3749. Use. Both sorts are used in soups, sauces, and salads; and very generally bv the French and
used along with herh-"pitie„ce. lljie^'£treg"S!’es“¥ !
h/^Stl„“ « s " i .lo 'r f s ¥ l¥ r ^ ^ ^
meadows and san d j pastures: their roots strike deep, t h e trailing round-leaved re q u ire ra d r y V o r '
3751. R y seed. ^^ow in any of th e spring months, best in March. Drop the seed in small drills
to * plants are I in. or 2 in. high, thin them to 3 in. or 4 in. apa rt: when
a d v ^ ^ d to ^ a h tt e stocky, m summer or autumn, transplant a quantity into another bed, from 6 in.
to 12 in. a p ^ t . If of the first two so rts ; leaving those m the seed-bed with the same intervals. But leave
y t Z ” distance for the round-leaved creeping kind. They will come in for use the same
¿ 5 2 . B y offsets, ¿ r t the rw ts in spring or autumn. Either detach a quantity of offsets, or divide
full plants mto rooted shps: plant them at a foot distance, and water them.
3753. G ene ral tr ea tm en t. As these herbs, however originated, run up in stalks in summer, cut them
£ /c ® little fresh mould, to encourage the production of large
leaves on th e new stem. Fork and clean th e ground between tho plants every autumn or soring • and
f o r i i iZ ’b T s i r e d Z t y a
i n Z t o i S summer : they will ripen seed
SuBpCT. 7. Herh-Patience, or Patience-Dock.— Rime x Patientia L. (Blackw. 349.);
Hex. Dig. L. and Rohjgonece J. Rhuharhe des Moines, F r.; Enylische, or Wintcr-
Spinat, Ger.; ajid Romice, Ital.
3755. The herb-patience is a hardy perennial plant, a native of Italy, introduced in
1573. The leaves ai’e broad, long, and acute-pointed, on reddish foot-stalks; the stems
where allowed to spring up, rise to the height of 4 ft. or 5 ft. It produces its whitish-’
green flowers in June and July.
375G. Use. “ In old times, garden patience was much cultivated as a spinach. It is now very much
neglected, partly perhaps on account of the proper mode of using it not being generally known. The
leaves rise early m the spring ; they are to be cut while tender, and about a fourth part of common
sorrel is to be mixed with them. In this way patience-dock is much used in Sweden, and may be safely
r^ om m e n d ^ as forming an excellent spinach dish.” (N e ill.) The Germans call it winter spinach.
(See L ip p o ld 's Taschenbuch, p. 293.)
3757. Cu ltu re . Garden patience is easily raised from seeds, which maybe sown in lines in the manner
ot common spinach, or white beet, and thinned out and treated afterwards like the la tte r plant. If the
plants be regularly cut over two or three times in th e season, they continue in a healthy productive state
S e c t . V . Alliaceous Plants.
3758.^ The alliaceous esculents arc of great antiquity and universal cultivation. No
description of useful British garden is witliout the onion ; and few in other parts of the
world, without that bulb, or garlic. Tliey require a ricli, and ratlicr strong soil, and
warm climate, tlwiving better in Spain and Fi’ance than in England. The onion and
leek crops may occupy a twentieth of the open compartments iu most kitchen-gardens ;
and a bed of 5 or 7 square yai’ds in those of the cottager.
S u b s e c t . 1 . Onion.— A'llium Cepa L. ; Hexándria Monogÿnia L. Asphodèleoe J.
Oignon, Fr. ; Zwiehel, Ger. ; Uijen, Dutch ; Cipolla, Ital. ; Cebolla, Span. ; and
Alho, Port.
3759. The common bulbous onion is a biennial plant, supposed to be a native of Spain ;
though, as Neill observes, “ neither the native country, nor the date of its introduction
into tliis island, are correctly known.” It is distinguislied from other alliaceous plants
by its lai’ge flstular leaves, swelling stalk, coated bulbous root, and large globular head
of flowers, which expand the second year in June and July.
3760. Use. T h e use of the onion, in its different stages of growth, when young, in salads, and when
bulbing and mature, in soups and stews, is familiar to every class of society in Europe ; and for these
purposes has been held in high estimation from time immemorial.
3761. The varie tie s ascertained to be best deserving of culture are as follow:__
green, has few leaves, ripens early,
and keei)s well ; o:ie of tlie best for
pickling.
True 1 \
1. The siUei'-skinntd; flat, middle-sized,
and sbining; chiefly used for pickling.
2. Early silver-skinned; a subvariety of
the other, smaller, and excellent for
pickling.
3. YeUow; small, globular, strong flavoured,
and good for pickling.
4. Two hladed; flat, small, brownish-
. . . 1‘ortugal onion of tho fruiterers;
large, flatly globular, mild; docs not
keep weli.
C. Spanish, Heading, white Portugal,
Cambridge, Evesham, or s.uiciy
oniou; large, flat, white tinged with
green, mild, but does not keep very
well; good for a general crop, much
cultivated round Reading,
7. Sirasburgh, Dutch, or I'landers onion,
tlic seed being generally procured
from thcncc; or Essex onion, when
the seed is saved in tliat comity ;
oval, largo, and liglit red, tinged with
green, liardy, keeps well but of
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