SPINACH

«a vegetable cultivated in many varieties which is becoming in ere a singly popular both boiled as greens and in soups. When well cooked, it is about as health-giving an article as can be imagined. It is rendered sweeter and more delicate (and thus almost universally liked) by cooking with a fair proportion of lettuce—the generally discarded outside leaves of the latter ean thus be very profitably used (this suggestion appearing also in the article on Lettuce.) Broad, thick leaves are the style generally preferred, and it is e ential that only young leaves be purchased, for the old are coarse and not very palatable except after long and careful cooking. The best varieties include the Broad-leaved, the Savoy (a very crumpled leaf), and the Prickly. The title of the last-named, a very hardy and productive type, refers to its seeds, not to its leaves. Much of that sold in northern stores during the winter comes from the southern states. “New Zealand spimach’’ has no botanical relation to the ordinary spinach but its leaves are sold under the same general title and are used in the same way. Its ereater coarsene is overlooked because of the advantages it offers to the grower (whether commercial or private)—it is much larger, withstands the summer heat (which usually spoils the quality of ordinary spinach), produces well in dry loealities, and gives a sue ce ion of crops of the young shoots and leaves. Its spreading branches frequently exceed three feet in length. TF'resh spinach needs very thorough cleansing before cooking, as its rough, low lying leaves generally collect a good deal of sand and other soil particles. Canned spinach should always be cooked before eating. The French eall spinach ‘‘helly broom’’ because of its value as ‘‘roughage’’ and also ‘‘death of the butter’’ beeause (as best liked in France) of the large amount added to it in cooking. ‘‘Hrench spinach,’? or ‘‘Mountain-spinach,’’ is Oracn (which see), SPINAGE-DOCK. See the article on Sorrets anp Docks.: SPOT (fish). See Larayerte.