CHAPTER IX. 



THE KITCHEN-GARDEN (CONCLUDED). 



IN the last chapter I dwelt somewhat at length 

 on two vegetables for which thorough and 

 enduring preparation is profitable. There is one 

 other very early garden product which requires 

 our attention during the first warm days of spring, 

 rhubarb; sold in some instances under the name 

 of "wine-plant." Wine is made from the juicy 

 stalks, but it is an unwholesome beverage. The 

 people call rhubarb " pie-plant ;" and this term 

 suggests its best and most common use, although 

 when cooked as if it were a fruit, it is very grateful 

 at a season when we begin to crave the subacid 

 in our food. 



Its cultivation is very simple. Those who pro- 

 pose to produce it largely for market will find it to 

 their advantage to raise this plant from the seed ; 

 but for the Home Acre enough plants can be pro- 

 cured, at a moderate cost, from almost any nursery- 

 man. In this instance, also, thorough preparation 

 of the soil is essential, for the rhubarb bed, under 

 good care, will last eight or ten years. A rich, 



