THE FORCING PLACE. 9 



to adopt the dark-growing method. He had his house 

 cellar and two large forcing cellars filled ; but as yet used 

 no heat. A row of ten hotbeds were being filled, which 

 were to be held in check until the last of February, when 

 the manure would be applied, and forcing begun. Be- 

 sides this, he had 12 boxes covered in one unbroken 

 mound, six of which were for immediate use, and six 

 to follow in succession. I walked over the mound, and 

 there beneath my feet, shut away from the light and 

 air, and forced entirely by the heat of the manure, the 

 rhubarb was growing and ready for the market. Decem- 

 ber 20, from three of these boxes 6 x 14 feet in size, he 

 picked 31 dozen, which brought, in the wholesale house, 

 75 cents per dozen, or $23.25 for one picking. These 

 boxes were of the Linnaeus variety, and would give two 

 more pickings; the second picking was expected to be 

 best of all. 



This grower is a gardener of over 40 years' experi- 

 ence, and says that this is the best paying crop he can 

 raise, for the reason that the greater part of the labor 

 is done after the other crops are secured, and the sales 

 come at a time when so little else can be grown except 

 by the expensive methods of growing under glass. 



Growing in the Greenhouse.' — The space under 

 greenhouse benches may be used, by closely boarding 

 the sides and ends to exclude the light. This plan 

 has been adopted by greenhouse men to some extent; 

 but while seemingly economical in the matter of heat 

 is open to some objections. The expense of boarding 

 up in such a manner that one side at least, is easily 

 accessible, for placing in the roots and removing the 

 crop will be no small item. Experiments clearly prove 

 that the close warm quarters beneath the benches will 

 give too high a temperature and the product will be 



