THE RHUBARB, ANGELICA, ETC. 677 



the garden of the cottager. The other plants of this section occupy 

 but a very small space in the herb-ground. 



The Rhubarb. 



The Rhubarb (Rheum, L.) is a polygonaceous perennial, a native of 

 Tartary and other countries of the East, of which there are several 

 species, hybrids and varieties, in culture for the petioles of the radical 

 leaves. These are peeled, cut into small pieces, and put into tarts and 

 pies, in the manner of gooseberries and apples, or, like them, baked 

 whole in a dish. A wine is also made from them, and they are also 

 pickled and preserved. There are a great many different kinds in 

 cultivation, and every year produces some new sort ; but those con- 

 sidered the best at the present time are : For an early crop, Linnaeus, 

 Myatt's Crimson Perfection, Scarlet Defiance, New Crimson; and 

 for a main crop, Myatt's Victoria, which is also the best for forcing. 

 To ensure the flavour in pies and puddings, a portion of the stalks 

 should always be put in without being peeled. 



Propagation and Culture. By division is the most common method, 

 and the most certain for continuing particular varieties. The flower- 

 stems should be cut down as soon as they appear, unless seed is 

 wanted. Some persons prefer the leaves partially blanched, and for 

 this purpose place a sea-kale pot over each plant, but without the 

 cover ; others have grown it in chimney-pots for the same purpose, 

 and find also an increased produce from the greater length of stalk. 

 It can readily be forced into use even as early as January, by apply- 

 ing hot dung or leaves around such pots, and greatly accelerated in 

 spring by covering each plant with a common hand-glass, or such like 

 contrivances. In gathering the leaves, remove a little soil, bend them 

 down, and slip them off, without injuring the buds at their base, and 

 without bruising the stalks. The stalk is fit to use when the disk of 

 the leaf is half expanded ; but a larger produce and a fuller flavour 

 are obtained by waiting till the leaf is fully grown. One plant allowed 

 to run will produce abundance of seed, which ripens in August, and 

 will keep a year. 



Substitutes for the tart rhubarb may be found in every other 

 species of the genus, not even excepting the so-called medicinal spe- 

 cies, R. palmatum ; in the stalks of the oxalis crenata, of the sorrel, 

 and of the different species of dock, which, according to Cobbett, are 

 sent to market for that purpose in America. 



The Angelica, Elecampane, Samphire, and Caper. 



The Angelica (Angelica, Archangelica, L.) is an umbelliferous bien- 

 nial, a native of England, in moist situations in good soil, but rare, 

 and cultivated in gardens for their leaves, and the tender flower-stalks, 

 which were formerly blanched like celery. They are now chiefly 

 candied with sugar, and in Sweden and Norway, the leaves and stalks 

 are eaten raw, or boiled with meat and fish ; and the seeds are used 

 to flavour ardent spirits. The time for gathering the stalks LJ May, 



