THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 241 



for if it is scattered about amongst the plants many seedlings will 

 come up and injure the plantation. Cat off the whole of the seed- 

 bearing stems close down to the heart of the plant, and lay them on 

 cloths in a sunny greenhouse or wherever else they may be ripened 

 in the full sun without risk of being blown away by the wind. As 

 soon as it falls freely from the stalks it must be sown in drills two 

 feet apart and an inch and a half deep. The ground must be kept 

 clear of weeds, and in spring the rliubarb plants will appear in 

 plenty, varying greatly in size and shape of leaf. 



If you have practised cross breeding with a view to obtain plants 

 of a particular style and quality, it will be well to let the whole 

 remain until they become crowded in the rows, and then carefully 

 transplant them in showery weather into rows three feet apart, 

 putting the plants two feet apart in the row. The soil should be 

 rich, deep, and moist, but not cold, and a sheltered spot should be 

 selected to give the most precious of the seedlings a fair chance for 

 an early start in spring. 



If the object of seed sowing is simply to obtain stock for market, 

 or to fill a plantation, thin the seed bed to six inches asunder, taking 

 care to remove the weakest plants, and especially those that appear 

 to differ from the type required. In the spring look over the 

 plantation two or three times, and carefully lift every plant that 

 pushes early and promises to be suitable for forcing. Piaut these on 

 rich, deep soil, with plenty of manure, putting them at least two feet 

 apart in rows a yard asunder. Let them grow for a year, and then 

 force them. Those that remain should be cai'efully rogued to remove 

 unpromising plants and give more room to the best. 



A Permanent Plantation of Named Sorts will be more 

 useful in a snaall garden than seedlings, because a few plants of the 

 very finest quality can be secured for a trifle, and may be multiplied 

 to any extent required by the simple process of cutting up the 

 roots. The soil best adapted for rhubarb culture is a deep, rich, 

 moist loam, but the plant will thrive more or less, and at least use- 

 fully, on almost any kind of soil, but good living and plenty of 

 moisture it will always appreciate. Our collection of twenty sorts 

 forms a row of about a hundred feet in length, on a border of deep, 

 damp loam, the stools being four and a half feet apart, and a trifle 

 too close even at that, for the growth is tremendous. The border is 

 well sheltered, and we secure usually a very early growth, so that 

 really we do not need to force rhubarb. As soon as the leaves die 

 down in the autumn we take cuttings of such as we require stock of. 

 This is accomplished easily by cutting down by the side of the stools 

 wiUi the spade, aud then carefully slicing off pieces of the root with 

 incipient crowns. If the variety operated on is one of the scarce 

 and valuable kinds, we pot the pieces and put them in a cold pit and 

 plant them out when growing freely in spring. If they are sorts 

 easily obtained, and too cheap to justify the trouble of potting, we 

 plant them at once where they are to remain, for it is of very great 

 importance to have rhubarb plants established as quickly as possible, 

 and in all ordinary cases autumn planting is always to be preferred. 

 Any a'xount of manure may be used in preparing the ground for 



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