MARCH] THE KITCHEN GARDEN. 221 



You must be very circumspect in the choice of ground; particu- 

 larly, that it is Dot subject to lodge wet, for this plant by no means 

 agrees with too much moisture, preferring a rich dry sandy loam to 

 any other Idnd of soil. 



Rhubarb may also be propagated by offsets from the old roots, or 

 by sowing the seed in seed-beds, and transplanting them when a year 

 old into such beds and at the same distances as before directed for 

 sowing the seed; but they always produce larger and better roots 

 when sown where they are to remain. 



The proper time to take up the roots for use in autumn, after the 

 leaves and stalks are totally decayed ; when taken .up, wash them 

 clean, trim off the small fibres, and lay them in an airy place to dry, 

 for four days, then rasp off the outward skin, which greatly obstructs 

 the quickness of drying, from the pores not being laid open for the 

 herbaceous moisture to exhale ; the mere stripping off the bark will 

 not be sufficient, the rasping it off, and the lacerating of the outward 

 part of the root adjoining it will be necessary; for the lateral pores 

 must be opened to permit the confined watery fluid to exude freely. 

 Then cut them in slices, which string on pack-thread so as not to 

 touch, and hang them up in a stove-room, to be kept constantly 

 warm till they are effectually dry. Should the season even prove 

 hot enough for drying them in the sun, the former method would be 

 preferable, for, by exposing them so much to the sun and light, they 

 would be greatly impaired in the color, and perhaps some of their 

 finer parts dissipated thereby ; but culinary heat is free from that 

 objection, and at the same time possesses all the advantages of quick 

 drying. The drying of the roots, without suffering them to get 

 mouldy, must be carefully attended to, as a neglect in this point 

 would render all your former industry fruitless, and it is considered 

 among the cultivators as a difficult task. 



The marks of the goodness of rhubarb are, the liveliness of its 

 color when cut ; its being firm and solid, but not flinty or hard ; its 

 being easily pulverable, and appearing, when powdered, of a bright 

 yellow color ; on being chewed, its imparting to the spittle a deep 

 saffron tinge, and not proving slimy or mucilaginous in the mouth. 



The true officinal or palmated rhubarb has numerous root-leaves, 

 large, rough, of a roundish figure, deeply cut into lobes and irregu- 

 larly pointed segments on long, smooth, round footstalks. Stem- 

 leaves, one at each joint, issuing from a membranous sheath suc- 

 cessively smaller upwards. Flowers surrounding the branches in 

 numerous clusters, and forming a kind of spike. Corolla or flowers 

 of a greenish-white. 



The species cannot be mistaken if you attend to its superior height, 

 the ferruginous or reddish-brown color of the stem branches and 

 petioles or leafstalks, the particular palmate form of the leaves, and 

 the elegant looseness of the little panicles of flowers which display 

 themselves on erect, round, hollow, jointed, slightly scored stems 

 branching towards the top, and from six to eight feet high. 



