CHAPTER XXX. 

 RHUBARB. 



Rhubarb or Pie Plant. Rheum sp. 



French, rhubarbe; German and Danish, rhabarber; 

 Dutch, rabarber; Italian, rabarbaro; Spanish and Por- 

 tuguese, ruibarbo. 



Rhubarb attains grand size and quality in California if 

 due attention is paid to the requirements of the plant, and 

 it should have a place in every house garden. It enjoys 

 very rich soil and will thrive on a great variety of soils, 

 even from heavy clay to light peat, providing ample mois- 

 ture is afforded it. On heavy, retentive soils it must have 

 good cultivation or thick mulching to prevent loss of 

 moisture and surface baking : on light, coarse soils either 

 ample irrigation or natural sub-irrigation will keep the 

 plant thrifty and vigorous. It does not enjoy high heat 

 and drought, and the old varieties reach best estate and 

 are chiefly commercially produced in the coast valleys or 

 on the river bottom lands of the interior, but can be very 

 satisfactorily grown for home use on interior plains and 

 mesas providing constant moisture is supplied; partial 

 shade is also grateful to the foilage in the interior, but is 

 not necessary on the coast. Since the wide introduction 

 of winter growing rhubarb, which defies the frost and en- 

 joys the ample moisture of the rainy season, the range of 

 the plant has vastly increased in California and its com- 

 mercial importance has greatly advanced. 



Culture. Rhubarb is grown from seed or propagated 

 by division of the roots: the latter insures reproduction 

 of the identical characters of the parent, while from seed 

 there is always a chance of variation. 



Rhubarb plants may be grown from seed by preparing 



