FORWARDING RHUBARB. 135 



*jttfe*/< 



FORWARDING RHUBARB. . 



THOSE who may desire to have this excellent substitute for 

 fruit at an early season, may procure it without much trouble. 

 It is customary with some persons in the southern parts of 

 England, to keep this plant growing in their kitchens, so that 

 they may have it for use at any time. They have strong 

 neat boxes, made for the purpose, about three feet deep and 

 two wide, and in length according to the demand, from four 

 to eight feet ; these being kept clean, have the appearance 

 of flour-bins, and they are sometimes so contrived as to have 

 shelves over them in imitation of a kitchen dresser. The 

 plants being taken up out of the garden towards winter, are 

 placed as close at the bottom of the box as they can be, with 

 their crowns level : and some sand being thrown over, suf- 

 ficient to fill up the interstices, and to cover the crowns 

 about half an inch, finishes the operation. No farther 

 trouble is necessary, except to give a little water, just to keep 

 the roots moist, as they need no light at all ; and if the roots 

 be planted in the garden when spring opens, they will, after 

 having taken root, vegetate as strongly as before they were 

 removed. 



Roots of Rhubarb taken up in the autumn, packed in sand, 

 and deposited in a warm cellar, will produce stalks earlier 

 than if kept in the garden ; and if placed in hot-beds they 

 will yield abundantly, and that at a very early season. 



t The consumption of this plant in the British metropolis 

 may be judged of by the following extract from the London 

 Gardener's Magazine : " Rhubarb, which has for some years 

 been cultivated, is still a subject of increasing interest, and 

 more extensively in demand than ever. On the fifth of May, 

 no less than eight wagon loads, each weighing at least a ton, 

 with an equal quantity in smaller proportions, were sold in 

 Covent Garden market alone. One cultivator, Mr. Myatt, 

 of New Cross, Deptford, had three wagon loads ; he has, I 

 believe, nearly twenty acres of it under culture." This plant 



