RHEUM UNDULATUM. ORD. XL. Holeracee. 83 
surface by this means being preserved from weeds, and rendered finer by re- 
peated hoeings, and the bottom kept light and open.* 
In the choice of situation, the aspect is not very material, provided it be 
not too much towards the south or west. The indispensable points are, the 
depth and quality of the soil, which should be light, loamy, and:rich, but 
not too much so, lest the roots should be too fibrous ; it cam scarcely be too 
dry, for more evil is to be expected from a superabundance of moisture, than 
from any actual want of it. A declivity is. very eligible for the plantation. 
When a plantation does not possess this: material adyantage, narrow beds 
and deepened trenches are among the-artificial means that should he adopted; 
but most situations will require some care to prevent the ill effects of water 
remaining on the crowns of the plants; therefore, when the seed-stalks are 
cut off (which ought always to be done on the withering of the radical leaves) 
they should be covered with mould in the form of a hillock. This will an- 
swer two good purposes,—that of throwing off the rain, and keeping open 
the trenches, by taking the earth from them. 
Mr. R. Davis, Jun. of Minehead, recommends the seeds to be sown in a 
very gentle hot-bed during March, and when the roots are about the size of 
a crow’s quill, they should be drawn up carefully, to preserve the tap-root, 
and planted in a fine rich earth in a deep soil; if the weather proves dry, 
they must be watered. When the plants are once in a growing state, all 
further care and trouble are at an end, but that of keeping them free from 
weeds. The distance between the plants should be eight feet. Weare told 
by Mr. Salisbury of the Fulham Road, Middlesex, that “ Rhubarb grows 
well in light, loamy soils; it blooms at the age of three years, and ripens 
abundance of seeds, by which the plants are raised. The propagation, re- 
quiring particular care and-attention; should be considered more the work 
of a nurseryman than that of the farmer; and if a sale were found for a 
quantity, they could be raised, fit for planting out, at five shillings per hun- 
“ The land intended for this crop should be trenched as deep as it will 
bear, without throwing up a bad. under-soil, and the plants set at exact 
squares, three feet apart; so that 4,840, will just plant: an English acre. 
During the Summer season the land must be frequently hoed, and at the 
Autumn or Wiuter it should be every season dug, and particular care paid 
* Trans. Art. 15, 167. 
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