118 THE NEW RHUBARB CULTURE. 



wide and 13 feet, six inches long, leaving three feet 

 passageways around and between the tables, and spaces 

 six feet and nine feet, respectively on each side. Cur- 

 tains should shade the windows enough to keep out part 

 of the light. A stove for keeping a fire in cold spring 

 weather is desirable, and a well and pump or other 

 source of water supply is a great convenience for wash- 

 ing the vegetables. Shelves over the tables are handy 

 for tools and twine. 



The rhubarb is brought in and piled in the nine foot 

 space against the wall. The root ends are scraped and 

 it is transferred to the table, where one packer sizes the 

 bunches, another ties them and a third cuts the leaves. 

 It is then piled on the other side of the tables until 

 loaded for market. To avoid heating, it should not be 

 shipped in too large packages. 



Insects and Blights. — The rhubarb grower is fortu- 

 nate in being obliged to contend with only one insect 

 pest of any consequence. During the spring and early 

 summer, he is likely to notice some stalks with a gummy 

 substance about a puncture near the leaf, although it 

 sometimes appears quite close to the root. The gummy 

 substance is partially dried sap which leaks out from 

 the puncture produced by the work of the rhubarb 

 curculio shown in the illustration: a is the grub worm 

 which does the actual damage. The grubs feed upon 

 the root as well as the stalk : b shows the pupa form and 

 c the full developed curculio which hatches from the 

 pupa. The grubs are about three-quarters of an inch 

 long, white in color with a brown head. The pupa is 

 whitish and about half an inch long. The grown beetles 

 are brownish and covered with yellowish dust. The 

 pictures are somewhat magnified and the exact size is 

 shown by the accompanying lines. Eggs are laid during 



