VARIETIES OF RHUBARB 279 



to trust to cultivation and irrigation in most situations. With the 

 fall rains the surface should be liberally dressed with manure and 

 covered in as deeply as possible without injury to the roots. Shal- 

 low cultivation should follow before the weeds advance too far, to 

 be repeated as necessary to keep the field clean. 



Winter growing varieties, planted out in the spring and sum- 

 mer, irrigated, establish themselves so strongly the first summer that 

 some pulling can be done upon them the following winter. Even 

 without irrigation, spring set plants will receive a new impulse with 

 the first rain, grow riotously with the autumn heat and give large 

 leaf stems by the holidays in the warmer parts of the state. 



Manuring and cultivation should be followed year after year 

 to keep the soil rich and in good tilth. Some soils are, however, 

 so rich naturally that such liberal manuring may not be necessary. 

 The plant should not be too fully stripped of its leaves nor should 

 the pulling be continued too late in the summer. The following 

 crop depends upon adequate leaf action consequently the plant 

 must have foliage and summer moisture to maintain it. 



Varieties. The Monarch is largely grown. It has a very wide, 

 flat stem. The Victoria has red, long stems, rather sharp acid, but 

 a very productive sort and popular. Linnaeus is early, large, thick 

 stems, of excellent flavor and less acid. 



The Crimson Winter, introduced from Australia by Luther 

 Burbank about 1895, and sold by him to the trade in 1900, has 

 revolutionized rhubarb growing in California by completely re- 

 versing the market season. This variety and its improvements by 

 Mr. Burbank and by others who have practiced selection since he 

 sold it out, notably by J. B. Wagner, of Pasadena, has multiplied 

 the rhubarb acreage of the state and vastly increased the servicea- 

 bility and commercial suitability of the plant. It has precluded 

 forcing in California and promises to render forcing unprofitable 

 even in the wintry parts of the country because of the large sup- 

 plies of open air rhubarb which are available for shipment from this 

 state at all times of the year when the summer varieties grown in 

 wintry climates are unproductive. 



