212 THE KITCHEN GARDEN. [March. 



ward part of the root adjoining it will be necessary; for the lateral 

 pores must be opened to permit the confined watery fluid to exude 

 freely. Then cut them in slices, which string on pack-thread so as 

 not to touch, and hang them up in a stove-room, to be kept con- 

 stantly warm till they are effectually dry. Should the season even 

 prove hot enough for drying them in the sun, the former method 

 would be preferable, for by exposing them so much to the sun and 

 light, they would be greatly impaired in the colour, and perhaps 

 some of their finer parts dissipated thereby; but culinary heat is 

 free from that objection, and at the same time possesses all the 

 advantages of quick drying. The drying of the roots, without 

 suffering them to get mouldy, must be carefully attended to, as a 

 neglect in this point would render all your former industry fruit- 

 less, and it is considered among the cultivators as a difficult task. 



The marks of the goodness of rhubarb are, the liveliness of its 

 colour when cut; its being firm and solid, but not flinty or hard; 

 its being easily pulverable, and appearing when powered of a 

 bright yellow colour; on being chewed, its imparting to the spittle 

 a deep saffron tinge, and not proving slimy or mucilaginous in the 

 mouth. 



The true officinal orpalmated rhubarb has numerous root-leaves, 

 large, rough, of a roundish figure, deeply cut into lobes and irregu- 

 larly pointed segments on long, smooth, round foot-stalks. Stem- 

 leaves, one at each joint, issuing from a membranous sheath 

 successively smaller upwards. Flowers surrounding the branches 

 in numerous clusters, and forming a kind of spike. Corolla or 

 flowers of a greenish- white. 



The species cannot be mistaken if you attend to its superior 

 height, the ferruginous or reddish-brown colour of the stem branches 

 and petioles or leaf-stalks, the particular palmate form of the leaves, 

 and the elegant looseness of the little pannicles of flowers which 

 display themselves on erect, round, hollow, jointed, slightly scored 

 stems branching towards the top, and from six to eight feet high. 



The Rheum Rhaponticum, or Common Rhubarb. 



This has a large thick root, which divides into many strong fleshy 

 fangs, running deep into the ground 3 the outside of a reddish-brown 

 colour, and the inside yellow, from which arise several leaves, in 

 number according to the size of the root; those come up folded in 

 the spring, and afterwards expand themselves; they are smooth, of 

 a roundish heart shape, having very thick loot-stalks of a reddish 

 colour, which are a little channelled on their lower part, but flat at 

 the top. When the plant grows on rich land, the foot-stalks of the 

 leaves are near two feet long, and thicker than a man's thumb; the 

 leaves also are often two feet long and as much in breadth, having 

 several strong longitudinal veins running from the foot-stalk to the 

 borders of a deep green, and waved 011 their edges, having an acid 

 taste, but particularly the foot-stalks, which are very frequently 

 used, and much esteemed for tarts and pies. The flower stalks 

 grow From two to three feet high, and are terminated by thick close 



