122 

 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 gar- 

 den towards Winter, are placed as close at the bottom of 

 the box as they can be put, with their crowns level : and 

 some sand being thrown over sufficient to fill up the inter- 

 stices, and to cover the crowns about half an inch, finishes 

 the operation. No further 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, vege- 

 tate as strongly as before they were removed. 



Roots of Rhubarb taken up in the Autumn, and packed 

 in sand deposited in a warm cellar, \v '^ '* Uice stalks earlier 

 than if kept in the garden, and if a hot-beds they 



will yield abundantly, and that at a . .'Ay season. 



The consumption of this plant in ._o British metropolis 

 may be judged of by the following extract from a London 

 Gardener's Magazine. " Rhubarb, which has for some 

 years past 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 waggon 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 

 waggon loads ; he has, I believe, nearly twenty acres of it 

 under culture. This plant contains an acid as fine as the 

 Gooseberry, for pies and tarts ; a square rod of ground will 

 supply a family ; and it maybe used till midsummer or later. 

 For fuller explanations, see article Rhubarb. 



