108 The Garden. 



From ten to twenty plants will be sufficient for a moderate 

 family, and these may be had by dividing one or two good 

 roots, leaving an eye on each set. The ground should be pre- 

 pared in October, by spading it at least eighteen inches deep, 

 digging in a large quantity of well-rotted manure, and breaking 

 it up thoroughly in the process. Allow it to settle, and then 

 plant out your sets two feet apart in the row, and four feet 

 between the rows. The crowns or eyes of the sets should be 

 about two inches below the surface, and should be immediately 

 covered with four or five inches of litter, leaves, or straw, to 

 prevent the frost from throwing them out during the winter. 

 In this way a crop may be obtained the first year after plant- 

 ing. The only after-culture required is to cover the ground 

 with a few inches of manure every fall, digging it in with a 

 fork in the spring, and keeping the ground free from weeds. 

 If you wish to raise it from the seed, sow in the spring, trans- 

 plant in the fall, and treat as just directed. You will get new 

 varieties. It will be ready for the table in three years. 



To make the edible leaf-stems of your rhubarb grow long 

 and tender, place barrels, pots, boxes, and so forth over them 

 when they begin to grow in the spring ; but the air and light 

 should not be entirely excluded, unless you wish to obtain a 

 very mild flavor. 



Pwhubarb may easily be forced by inverting boxes, pots, or 

 half barrels over the plants in the autumn, and afterward cov- 

 ering the whole with leaves and hot stable manure. The 

 boxes, etc., should be placed over the plants before the ground 

 shall be frozen, covering the ground with eight or ten inches 

 of litter. The mixture of leaves and manure may be applied 

 about the middle of January or the first of February. By 

 merely covering your plants with six or eight inches of litter, 

 leaves, or almost any dry material, you may forward them from 

 seven to ten days, M'ithout further trouble. 



To gather, remove a little earth, and, bending down the leaf 

 you would remove, slip it ofl:' from the crown without breaking 

 or using the knife. The stalks are fit to use when the leaf is 



