THE WINTER RHUBARB 109 



that were secured by selection from the pure New 

 Zealand stock. 



Nor did this New Zealand stock, even when 

 developed into my new all-the-year bearer, prove 

 capable of sure propagation from the seed. It 

 can readily be propagated by dividing the 

 roots or by cutting out little sections of the 

 root containing a bud, so there is small neces- 

 sity of development from the seed. But in 

 this case, as with so many other cultivated 

 plants, it is essential to use this method of 

 propagation if we wish to have an absolutely 

 fixed variety. 



An obvious explanation would be that the 

 original New Zealand rhubarb was of mixed 

 racial strains. This, indeed, would account for 

 its tendency to vary, and to contribute to its suc- 

 cessful development in California. The inter- 

 breeding which produced the winter-bearing 

 strain may have been done quite by accident in 

 New Zealand, the plants that came to me em- 

 bodying the germs of possibilities of develop- 

 ment without further hybridizing. 



PERPETUAL BEARING Now FIXED 



It should be added, however, that even when 

 grown from seed, the new winter rhubarb always 

 manifests the tendency to perpetual bearing. 



