ABOUT FRUITS, FLOWERS A>'D FARMING. 171 



wholesome plant is to arise from open cultivation. The 

 roots may be gained from seed or from division of old 

 roots. Eastern writers recommend sowing the seed in 

 autumn ; but in the West spring sowings have vegetated 

 much better than an autunmal planting. In April sow the 

 seed in deep mellow and rich beds. Keep the plants free from 

 weeds and in a growing state during the summer. They 

 may require a little shading during the hottest days of sum- 

 mer. The next spring we transplant them to a trial-bed ; 

 for, it is to be remembered, that the seed does not neces- 

 sarily give a plant like its parent. Let them be set two 

 feet apart every way, and during the season it can be seen 

 which are the largest and best ; these are to be raised in the 

 fall, divided and transplanted, and the rest thrown away* 

 Out of a hundred plants, not more than two or three may 

 be worth keeping. In the spring of 1842 we planted seed 

 obtained in New York, for the Victoria Rhubarb (a new 

 kind), which had been imported but a few months. Of 

 fifty plants only three proved worth keeping — one of these 

 for its earliness and the others for size. 



When you have secured roots from which you Avish to 

 form a bed for your main supply, divide them either in the 

 fall or spring into as many pieces as there are buds on the 

 crown, each piece having, of course, a bud. The smallest 

 slice of root will live, although a large portion is preferable. 

 Do not be too timid in dividing ; the plant is exceedingly 

 tenacious of life — it can hardly be killed. We have had 

 roots lying in the open air for weeks, and when replanted 

 growing with xmdiminished vigor. Every one who has, for 

 a single season, tended a garden, knows what dock is, and 

 how tenacious of life, so much so, as to make it quite a 

 trouble. The rhubarb is a full-blooded vegetable brother, 

 belonging to the same family of plants. 



This plant thrives most luxuriantly in a rich, sandy loam ; 

 the earth should be spaded and mellowed to at least twenty 

 inches depth. We prepare ground for it as follows : Mark 



