RHUBARB 



RHUBARB (Rheum hybridum) is among the most use- 

 ful of plants, and certainly one that cannot be called 

 rare. My excuse for including it in this book is that 

 it did not find a place amongst the ordinary vegetables 

 and it is too valuable to omit. 



There has been more interest taken in the cultivation 

 of this plant of late years, some valuable introductions 

 have been distributed, and there is a great breadth 

 of land occupied by these roots near London and the 

 larger towns in the kingdom ; indeed from Christmas 

 to June, by forced produce and the open ground supply, 

 a large trade is done, and the leaf stalks that are the 

 edible portion both in a blanched and natural state 

 make an excellent substitute for fruit in tarts, and a 

 delicious preserve, and by no means an inferior wine. 

 The plant will be found in all gardens, large and small, 

 but it is not always given the best cultivation. It is a 

 native of Central Asia, and has been cultivated in this 

 country for over three hundred years. It does best in 

 good soil and well repays for food given, but clayey or 

 wet soils are not suitable. It is propagated readily 

 by division, and doubtless that is a good way to get a 

 true stock of any good kind, but I have been very 

 successful with seed, and I find it comes remarkably 

 true from seed, and excellent produce may be secured 

 in less than two years from the date of sowing, that is 

 the plants the second year produce freely. The plant 

 requires a deeply dug, well manured soil, and when 



raised by seed, April is the best time to sow, and by 



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