RHUBARB. 615 



ant, and the variety is much esteemed by those to whom the 

 more pungent kinds are objectionable. When prepared in the 

 same form, it makes a pickle equally as fine as the Large Bell. 

 The Sweet Spanish Pepper succeeds well if sown in the 

 open ground in May. Make the rows sixteen inches apart, 

 and thin the plants to a foot apart in the rows. 



Fruit similar in form to the Squash-pepper. Yellow 



Squash- 

 but 01 smaller size, erect or pendulous ; orange- Pepper, vn. 



YELLOW TOM ATO- 



yellow at maturity. FOBMED. 



The variety is later than the last named, much less pro- 

 ductive, and, for pickling, is comparatively not worthy of 

 cultivation. 



RHUBARB. 



Pie-plant. Rheum sp. et var. 



This is a hardy, perennial plant, cultivated almost exclu- 

 sively for its leaf-stalks. Its general character may be de- 

 scribed as follows : Root-leaves large, round-heart-shaped, 

 deep green, and more or less prominently blistered ; leaf- 

 stems large, succulent, furrowed, pale green, often stained or 

 finely spotted with red, varying from two to three inches in 

 diameter at the broadest part, and from a foot to three feet 

 in length. The flower-stalk is put forth in June, and is from 

 five to seven feet in height, according to the variety ; the 

 flowers are red, or reddish-white, in erect, loose, terminal 

 spikes ; the seeds are brown, triangular, membranous at the 

 corners, and retain their germinative properties three years. 



Soil and Cultivation. Rhubarb succeeds best in deep, 

 somewhat retentive, soil : the richer its condition, and the 

 deeper it is stirred, the better, as it is scarcely possible to 

 cultivate too deeply, or to manure too highly. 



It may be propagated by seeds, or by a division of the 



