RHUBARB 



229 



heating manure; the plants may be picked until the 

 unforced plants begin to yield, and no ill results will 

 follow. 



Or Rhubarb may be forced by taking up the roots 

 and allowing them to freeze thoroughly. Preferably, 

 keep frozen for a month or more, though with thawing 

 and freezing good results have been obtained. They 

 should then be placed in a dark and cool cellar (tem- 

 perature at 55 to 60), and packed closely in good rich 

 earth. Cover three to four inches, keep moist; water 

 but slightly until the shoots 

 appear, when give more 

 water. Forced in the dark 

 and in not too hot a place, 

 the best results are gained. 



Ether forcing is the 

 same as the above, but the 

 plants are first treated with 

 the fumes of ether in a 

 close box, ten cubic centi- 

 meters of liquid ether being 



, i /> , Fi S- 112 - Stalks of forced Rhubarb, 



used to a CUblC foot of (The leaves do not develop.) 



space. Expose forty-eight hours, and then pack in 

 earth. Much greater results are thus obtained. 



Plants not too much forced by the ordinary method 

 may be put back in the field and used again after two 

 or more years. Ether forcing exhausts them entirely. 

 Three or four pickings are usual from forced roots. 



