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MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL society. 81 
‘The plants should stand in rows three by four feet apart, and be well cov- 
ered with manure in the fall, which must be forked in around the roots in 
the spring. The seed stalks must be pulled whenever they appear, and if 
the leaf stalks are kept moderately thin good rhubarb may be gathered until 
the time of frost. 
Varieties.—The ‘‘ Linneus” is the earliest variety, very high flavored and 
prolific. We consider it the best for family use. 
The Victoria is a larger variety, less acid, but coarser grained than the 
first mentioned. 
‘ 
Horse-Radish. 
This has long been a favorite garnish for roast beef and other fresh meats ; 
it eminently possesses some of the properties which prevent or correct the 
bad effect of an: excess of nitrogenus aliments upon the system. It pos- 
sesses valuable medicinal properties in cases of hoarseness, dropsy, rheu- 
matism and paralytic affections. 
‘As a condiment, it finds a ready market in all large cities, and no kitchen 
garden should be without its bed of horse-radish. 
Soil.—It succeeds best in a damp, rich soil; it never has large roots in 
poor or dry or shallow soil; or in a shady place or in the drip of trees. It 
thrives in the trenched bank of a ditch, where the ground maintains a con- 
stant, regular, considerable moisture. 
Preparation.— Where large beds are to be made the soil should be prepared 
the year before by subsoil plowing and working in a good coat of very old 
manure, if the manure is new or newly applied, too much top and too little 
root will be the result. : 
Propagation.—As seed cannot be relied upon, it is better to use sets, 
which may be had by cutting the roots into lengths of two inches, planting 
in the fall or spring in rows eighteen or twenty-four inches distant each 
way. They should’be dibbled into freshly trenched ground, covering 
slightly. If the ground has been well prepared, there will be fine large 
roots by the second year. 
Planting.—Good roots may be made to grow the first year in the following 
manner: Throw the ground into ridges about eight inches high by turning 
two furrows together, leaving the ridges two and a half feet apart. Into 
these ridges, set, with a dibbling stick, fine roots about the size of a pipe- 
stem and as long as can be procured, say from eight to sixteen inches. The 
best way to get such roots is to save them when digging for market, trim- 
ming off all the long slender ones and packing them in dry sand or sawdust ; 
keep until the following spring. These rootlets should be set at an angle 
of forty-five degrees so that they may not be too deep in the ground. 
Dressing.—But the most important part is what is called ‘‘ dressing the 
roots.” When the plants are well started the earth should be thrown away 
from them first with a plow; following with a hoe until the roots are bared, 
then with a garden trowel scrape all the fibers and rootlets from the main 
root leaving it smooth except at the lower end. 
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