358 Pie -Plant. 



PIE-PLANT. 



Rhubarb, or Pie-Plant as more commonly called, is one of the most 

 luxuriant of the garden vegetables ; starting before the frost is fairly out of 

 the ground in the spring, and yielding an amount which will surprise those 

 who have made no estimates. It is one of the many vegetables which 

 the nineteenth century has added for our comfort, coming to us from 

 Turkey, and working its way to general favor slowly, on account of the 

 prejudice against its medicinal name ; the root of the rheum, or rhubarb, 

 being originally known only as part of the materia jfiedka of the apothecary. 

 So great was the prejudice against the name of rhubarb, that market-gar- 

 deners have generally discarded it, and substituted the more tempting one 

 of pie-plant. The prejudice is entirely groundless, as the experience of 

 half a century has shown it to be one of the most healthful of vegetables ; 

 the acid being particularly beneficial to those of bilious tendency, acting 

 much like acid fruits. When Mr. Joseph Myatts first introduced it to the 

 English market, in 1810, he found it difficult to dispose of the product of 

 a few roots : now many acres in the vicinity of every large city are devoted 

 to its cultivation, and the demand is rapidly on the increase. Coming early 

 in May, it fills the vacuum between the fruits of one season and those of 

 another, and is used not only for making pies and tarts, but is an excellent 

 substitute for apple-sauce. 



Pie-plant may be propagated both from the seed and the roots. The 

 former is comparatively a slow mode, and is unreliable as to the variety 

 of the product. A division of the roots is no damage to the plant, and is 

 the only sure way of propagating the same variety. Whether cultivated 

 from the seed or the root, a deep, rich, moist soil is essential to its perfect 

 development. The ground should be trenched to the depth of two or three' 

 feet, and filled with mould from the forest, chip-manure, or some similar 

 substance, which will keep it light, and retentive of moisture. There is no 

 danger in cultivating too deeply or richly, for the size and tenderness of 

 the leaf-stalks depend much on the rapidity of growth ; and the successive 

 croppings which the plant undergoes must make heavy drafts on the soil. 

 The after-culture consists merely in keeping the ground free from weeds, 



