Gro^ng RKubarb Indoors 



RHUBARB forcing is a simple oper- 

 ation, provided two or three essen- 

 tials are observed; first, good, 

 tlirifty, vigorous roots not 

 more than three years old ; r~- 

 second, the best varieties, i 

 which are Linneaus and Vic- | 

 toria: third, propagate by 

 dividing tested roots, as rhu- 

 Ijarb varies so much from 

 seed that it does not pay to 

 waste time with seedlings. 

 The writer has a batch now, 

 three years old, containing 

 perhaps 20 distinct varieties, 

 and not one of the lot as good 

 as either of the old varieties 

 aforementioned. 



When rhubarb is forced it 

 is not fastidious as to the 

 place it grows in. Under 

 benches in the greenhouse, an 

 empty root house, or a house 

 built for storing celery in the 

 early part of the winter will 

 do, provided the atmosphere 

 be humid and the temperature 

 not less than 45 degs. ; it may 

 go up to 75 or 80, but 45 to 

 60 is perhaps most desirable. 



Many growers prefer total 

 darkness. From my experience, I do 

 not think that it is important so long 

 as the stalks are protected from the 

 direct rays of the sun. On the other 

 hand, light is not necessary. 



THos. Del-wortH, "Weston, Ont. 



Forcing rhubarb in the cellar under 

 a dwelling house is, perhaps, the latest 

 fad in amateur gardening. ' ' Put a 



A Mammoth Squash Vine 



A corner of a vine thai sprang fr;>m one seed and cf>vered about 800 square feet of 

 area. An old standard winter variety, the Large Manimt-th Yellow Squash, grown on 

 the trial grounds of J. A. Simmers, Toronto. 



few rhubarb roots in your cellar and pull 

 your own rhubarb all winter," they 

 say. Market gardeners also are told, 

 "Your cellar is pretty empty by the 

 iniddle of Februarv, fill up with rhubarb 



roots, get a good crop, no expense, and 

 so on." It goes without argument that 

 it would not work while other vegetables 

 were stored there. Conditions 

 that would make rhubarb 

 roots grow would also make 

 other roots, such as potatoes, 

 carrots, and parsnips, grow 

 and spoil them. 



I have a poor opinion of 

 the sanitary condition of a 

 house cellar that is "ad- 

 mirably suited for rhubarb 

 forcing" (humid atmosphere 

 and a temperature of 45 degs. 

 and upwards). If I had to 

 live in such a house, I would 

 want to open the windows and 

 ventilators and make it un- 

 suitable just as soon as pos- 

 sible. 



A cellar for use as a store 

 room for vegetables should be 

 kept dry and cool, to say 

 nothing of similar conditions 

 being necessary for warding 

 off the odor from decaying 

 roots. Rhubarb roots decay 

 quickly when forced. For 

 several years I have forced 

 several thousand roots every 

 winter. They decay so quickly that I 

 never attempt to make use of them 

 after forcing. I throw them in a heap 

 to make humus. An expensive feature 

 is keeping up a supply of roots. 



TKe Value of Selection in Horticulture 



T. G. Raynor, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa 



THE accompanying cuts were repro- 

 duced from a photograph sent to 

 Mr. C. H. Clark, vSeed Commis- 

 sioner, Department of Agriculture, Ot- 

 tawa, by Mr. G. A. Robertson, a prom- 



The Ordinary Earliana 



inent fruit grower, who lives near St. 

 Catharines in the Niagara peninsula. 

 Mr. Robertson is enthusiastic about 

 the value of selection in seeds as well 

 as in live st(3ck to the farmers of Canada. 

 He beheves that much of the farmer's 

 success in future will be based on his 

 ability to select and follow up that 

 selection to its logical conclusion. We 

 are just touching the fringe of discov- 

 ery in the application of this principle 

 to the development of farm crops, 

 fruits and vegetables. 



The conclusions f)f Mr. Robertson 

 are based on his experience in growing 

 tomatoes for a number of years. For 

 commercial purposes he divides to- 

 matoes into two classes, early and late. 

 The late varieties have been well de 

 veloped ; they are heavy yielders and 

 good in type, color and flavor. In 

 these essential points, the late varieties 

 excel the early kinds. The ideal that 

 Mr. Rob?rtson has been aiming tt) 

 achieve is to secure these virtues in 



279 



an early variety, knowing that if this 

 could be done such a variety would 

 prove a money-maker. 



It is well known that late tomatoes 

 usually bring 25 cents to 30 cents a 



Improved by Selection 



