HINTS AND HELPS. 127 



sis made at Storrs experiment station, 1891, shows that 

 the stems contain 92.7 per cent of water, leaving only 

 7.3 for the nutritive and flavoring constituents. There 

 is only eight-tenths of one per cent protein, 1.2 per cent 

 fat, 4.4 per cent glucose and nine-tenths of one per 

 cent mineral matter. It is considered as a food no more 

 nutritive than an equal weight of turnips, but its value 

 as a strong tonic and appetizer is well known and de- 

 pends on the stimulating and corrective qualities of the 

 oxalic acid which the plant contains. 



Fertilizing Constituents of Rhubarb. — Ehubarb con- 

 tains considerable nitrogen and phosphoric acid, which 

 explains the good results of using nitrate of soda and 

 wood ashes as fertilizers. The lime in the ashes also 

 sometimes produces important effects by sweetening the 

 soil. Analyses of the root as published by the U. S. de- 

 partment of agriculture show a composition of 91.67 per 

 cent moisture. There is 00.55, or about one-half of one 

 per cent of nitrogen and practically the same amount of 

 potash (00.53), while of phosphoric acid there is only 

 00.06 per cent. The stems and leaves are more watery 

 than the roots, with 92.7 per cent moisture. They also 

 hold 00.13 per cent nitrogen, 00.02 per cent phosphoric 

 acid, and 00.36 per cent potash. 



Irrigation has been tried with good success at Iowa 

 station, the plants being set 4 x 3 feet in rich soil, and 

 the water applied to the surface. The result was a 

 rapid and very crisp growth. Varieties tested were 

 Linnaeus and Victoria. Montana experiment station has 

 also succeeded with rhubarb under irrigation, "the yield 

 being large and the quality all that was to be desired." 

 Ehubarb is grown successfully under irrigation at Colo- 

 rado experiment station. 



Field Jottings. — Too much crowding in the field 



