228 THE BOOK OF VEGETABLES 



Fertilizer. Dig manure around the plants in spring, 

 and dress with a good general fertilizer in midsummer. 

 Besides this, dress monthly with nitrate of soda or 

 liquid manure. 



Pick lightly from roots in the second year. "Pull- 

 ing 1 ' the stalks is a special knack, and care should be 

 taken not to tear the crown. Pull downward and out- 

 ward with a quick pull or jerk. After the second year 

 the stalks may be pulled, moderately, all through the 

 summer, or cropped more heavily until about the mid- 

 dle of June. Do not exhaust the plants. For summer 

 use choose the smaller stalks. 



Cutoff all seed-stalks. 



Protect in fall by a mulch, three to four inches 

 thick, of coarse or fine manure, compost, or earth. 

 Level this in spring and work the fine manure into the 

 ground. The plant will live through the winter with- 

 out the mulch, or with only the protection of its own 

 leaves, but the mulch prevents deep freezing and so 

 allows an earlier start. 



Rhubarb from seed is scarcely profitable. Plant the 

 seed in drills twelve to eighteen inches apart, at a depth 

 of about one inch. Thin to six inches or more and give 

 good culture. In the fall or spring take up the promis- 

 ing plants and set in their permanent positions. 



Forcing. Rhubarb may be forced in the field by 

 placing over each plant a barrel, half-barrel, tub, or 

 box, having no top or bottom, and piling around it 



