302 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



December, 1907 



and address plainly and prominently 

 on the package. If it is a bunch, tie 

 a label or tag to it. If the goods are 

 right the consumer will want more of 

 them and will soon insist on having 

 yours and yours only. Not only this, 

 but they will also be sure to tell their 

 friends the satisfaction they have had 



since they have been getting your labelled 

 goods of first quality and even grade. 

 These suggestions when followed will 

 be found helpful in many other ways. 

 They will have a tendency to bring the 

 business into better system, will help 

 the grower to estimate the value of each 

 crop, and will be found a strong incentive 



to grow the best and nothing but the 

 best. They will stimulate the quality, 

 so often lacking, of pride in the business, 

 the first and best God ever gave to man. 

 Wake up fellow-gardeners to your 

 opportunities! Along these lines, your 

 business will increase and success will 

 follow. 



Forcing RKubarb -witK E^tKer 



J. Haton Howilt, M.S., Ontario Agricultural College, GuelpK 



RHUBARB is a plant that is being 

 forced for winter use more and 

 more every year. The method of 

 forcing is very simple. Good, strong, 

 thoroughly established, three or four- 

 year-old clumps are dug in the fall. 

 These are stored in boxes or cold frames 



were also a great many more of them. 

 Four cuttings were taken from these 

 two lots of rhubarb, and a comparison 

 made between the weights of the edible 

 stalks produced by the etherized and 

 unetherized lots. The results were de- 

 cidcdlv in favor of the etherized lots. 



Rhubarb— Unetherized shoots on left, Etherized on right 



until required for use. They are then 

 taken into the forcing house and placed 

 close together in boxes or in beds under- 

 neath the benches. Soil is thoroughly 

 packed between the clumps and a cov- 

 ering of from two to six inches of soil 

 placed over thern. The temperature of 

 the house is kept between fifty and sixty 

 degrees Fahrenheit and water applied 

 when necessary. In about four or five 

 weeks' time, the rhubarb is ready to cut. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH ETHER 



In the experiments at Cornell on the 

 forcing of rhubarb by the use of ether, 

 the usual methods of culture were prac- 

 tised. The experiment was started on 

 December 26, when three clumps of 

 etherized and three clumps of unether- 

 ized rhubarb were placed in boxes in a 

 dark mushroom house. Care was taken 

 to have both lots as nearly the same 

 weight as possible. The effect of the 

 ether was very pronounced, the shoots of 

 the etherized clumps being ready to cut 

 fully five days before those of the un- 

 etherized clumps. Not only were the 

 shoots of the etherized clumps earlier 

 than those of the unetherized, but there 



The first cutting was made on January 

 20, when the etherized clumps yielded 

 three pounds, one ounce of edible stalks 

 and the unetherized clumps one pound, 

 six ounces. At the second cutting, which 

 was made on January 26, the etherized 

 lot yielded two pounds, nine ounces, and 

 the unetherized two pounds, two and a 

 half ounces. The third cutting, made 

 on February 3, showed no gain in 

 favor of the etherized lot as both lots 

 yielded one pound, thirteen ounces. In 

 the fourth cutting, made on February 

 10, there was once more a slight in- 

 crease in yield in favor of the etherized 

 lot, it yielding one pound, ten ounces, 

 and the unetherized lot one pound, seven 

 and a half ounces. There was, there- 

 fore, from the four cuttings, a total 

 gain of two pounds, four ounces in favor 

 of the etherized lot, which is equal to an 

 increase of about thirty-three per cent, 

 due to etherization. 



COST OF ETHERIZATION 



The expense of etherization is not as 

 much as might be expected. The in- 

 itial cost for a thoroughly air-tight box 

 need not be great. Any well-made box 



may be used if the cracks are covered 

 over with felt paper and the cover made 

 to fit as closely as possible. Such a box 

 can be made by any handy man at a verv 

 slight cost. Commercial sulphuric ether, 

 such as is required for etherization, costs 

 about seventy-five cents a pound, which 

 quantity is sufficient to etherize thirty 

 good-sized clumps of rhubarb. Thus 

 the cost of the process is so little that 

 it is more than covered by the five days' 

 gain in time, which means a considerable 

 saving of labor, and often a better price 

 for the rhubarb. The extra quantity 

 of rhubarb produced by etherization is 

 clear gain. 



Asparagus and Ginseng 



Last summer I cut the foliage of my asparagus 

 bed for use in floral work. Will this influence 

 the crop next year? Give some informatioo 

 about ginseng? — E.G.F., Shediac, N.B. 



The condition of the roots of your 

 asparagus will depend largely upon the 

 quantity of foliage that was removed 

 during summer. After cutting in spring, 

 the plants should be allowed to grow all 

 summer and in fall until the tops die 

 down. This is necessary so that large 

 quantities of plant food may be stored 

 in the roots for use next spring. When 

 a portion of the tops is removed during 

 summer, it disturbs the equilibrium be- 

 tween top and root, and lessens the 

 amount of food that will be stored. 



Ginseng is to the Chinese more than 

 quinine or any other drug is to America. 

 It commands a high price in China. 

 •While not particularly diflRcult to grow, 

 it requires some care in protecting it and 

 considerable patience before the crop 

 can be harA'ested. No returns can be 

 expected from a plantation until it is 

 three or four years old. Write Mr. W. 

 T. Macoun, horticulturist at the Central 

 Experimental Farm, Ottawa, for further 

 details. 



In solid benches the board bottom is 

 more desirable than that of tile, as it 

 forces the crops best. Tile bottoms are 

 too quickly dried out. 



The leek is closely allied to the onion, 

 which it resembles in flavor. It does 

 not form a bulb, but a straight bimch of 

 leaves that are used almost entirely in 

 a fresh or uncooked condition. 



