Occupations > Abercrombie's improved practical gardener; with a monthly calendar for the flower garden

ORACH.
rotted dung, just so as to leave the crowns of the
bulbs seen. They will require no further care till
they have shot up their tops two or three inches
high, when they will require to be hoed up the
same as potatoes, and kept clear from weeds,
until they are taken up. The smallest Onions
swell to a large size, as well as yield off-sets, but
the middle-sized and larger bulbs always produce
the greatest clusters. It is a custom in the West
of England to plant on the shortest day, and take
up on the longest.
ORACH.
This is a hardy annual, rising three or four feet
high, with oblong variously shaped leaves, cut on
the edges, thick, of a pale-green colour, and of a
slightly acid flavour. It produces its flowers in
July and August, which are of the same colour as
the foliage. There are two varieties, the White
and the Red.
The leaves and tender stalks are used as Spi¬
nach, but the stalks are good only while the
plant is young; yet the larger leaves may be
picked off in succession throughout the season,
and the Spinach thus procured is very good and
tender.
This plant requires a light, rich soil. It is
propagated by seed, which should be sown in