634 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



the next ; hence the importance 

 of rich feeding all through the 

 growing season. It is a good plan, 

 in small gardens, to plant Rhubarb 

 near the depot for house sewage, so 

 that it may be nourished with this 

 as well as 'solid manure; 4 ft., at 

 least, of a rich root-run should be 

 provided for it. For new planta- 

 tions the ground should be thor- 

 oughly trenched and manured. Its 

 productive force should be kept up 

 afterwards by an annual dressing, 

 from 2 to 3 in. in thickness. 



No plant is more easily increased 

 and multiplied than Rhubarb ; plants 

 two or more years old seed freely if 

 permitted to do so. Unless seed be 

 required, however, they should not 

 be allowed to do so, as seed-bearing 

 weakens the crowns. The seeds 

 ripen about the end of September, 

 and may be sown at once in shallow 

 drills a yard apart, or they may be 

 sown in February. As soon as 

 they are well up, thin the plants to 

 1 8 in. or 2 ft. asunder, according to 

 the size of the kind and the inten- 

 tion of the cultivator. If intended 

 to remain where they are, a yard 

 apart is close enough indeed, too 

 close for some varieties. Some, 

 however, prefer rows 2 ft. apart, 

 and thinning the plants to i ft. only 

 the first season : then in the October 

 or February following fresh ground 

 is prepared, and the Victoria trans- 

 planted at distances of from 4 to 

 6 ft. by 4 ft., and the Defiance 3 ft. 

 by 1 8 in. or 2 ft. The best plan is 

 to sow Rhubarb where it is to remain, 

 as it forms immense roots that are* 

 easily broken, and to break it is to 

 injure it more or less. Nevertheless, 

 a very common mode of propagating 

 Rhubarb is by root division. The 

 huge stool or fleshy root is sliced into 

 as many portions as there are crowns 

 to it with a sharp knife or spade, 

 and each slice forms a new plant. 



Gathering Rhubarb, and when 

 to cease gathering, are matters 

 which require more attention than 

 they generally receive. In gather- 

 ing, the proper method is to give 

 the leaf-stalk a twist outward, and 

 a sudden jerk down at the same 

 moment. From want of attention 

 to this, many tear off the crown 

 with the base of the leaf-stalk. 

 Again, too many leaves should 

 not be gathered at once. If a 

 plant have only a dozen leaves, 

 do not gather more than six of 

 them, and let these be the lowest. 

 Some prefer Rhubarb when the 

 leaves are freshly unrolled, others 

 when they are half-grown, and 

 others when they are fully grown. 

 Of course there is great waste if 

 the stalks be gathered before they 

 have reached their full length. 

 Rhubarb is at its best just when the 

 leaf has reached full size. It can 

 hardly be too old for preserving, 

 and is seldom gathered till the end 

 of August for that purpose. As 

 to the time of ceasing to gather 

 Rhubarb, it should Certainly be not 

 later than August if the gathering is 

 to be annual : this leaves but little 

 time for the last leaves to ripen 

 good crowns for the next year's 

 crop. All the leaves removed have 

 doubtless been a loss to the plant : 

 they did much to weaken and 

 nothing to strengthen it ; it is only 

 the leaves left on that recoup it for 

 its loss in those taken off. Hence 

 the importance of rich food to 

 replenish the plant, and time for 

 the maturation of the later growth ; 

 and it need hardly be said that no 

 weed must be permitted to grow at 

 the expense of the Rhubarb-plants. 



There are various ways of forcing 

 this useful plant, which may briefly 

 be divided into two distinct 

 methods, No. i consisting of lifting 

 the roots and placing them in arti- 



