RHUBARB 403 



Rhubarb is a popular home- and market-garden plant, but has 

 formed a small part of the truck-farm products. It is naturally a 

 Northern crop and is therefore not well suited to truck farming. 

 Large, well-grown rhubarb stalks are heavy and deteriorate rapidly, 

 and as a result are not well adapted for long-distance shipments. 

 Within recent years forcing the crop has grown to be an important 

 industry in the vicinity of some of the older cities of the North. 



Botany. Botanically, rhubarb is known as Rhettm (hybridum) 

 rhaponticum, and is a native of Mongolia. The docks, to which the 

 pie plant is most closely related, are among our worst weeds. In 

 fact, none of its close kin are "desirable citizens." Buckwheat 

 belongs to the same family but to a different genus and species. 

 Rhubarb, therefore, stands alone as a useful representative of the 

 genus to which it belongs. 



Propagation. Rhubarb is easily propagated from seed, but the 

 seedlings show a diversity in habits in growth some producing 

 many large leafstalks, while others have only a few slender ones. 

 The value of a plantation depends upon the uniformity and the 

 character of the product. The best plants are secured from the 

 vegetative reproduction of the most desirable seedlings. There are a 

 few so-called varieties, but in order to keep them true, propagation 

 by root cuttings or by division is essential. In fact, the best market 

 growers of rhubarb practice division rather than seed propagation. 



Preparation of the soil. Strong roots are necessary to success 

 either for a garden or a forcing crop, but to produce such roots 

 requires the most careful and thorough preparation of the soil. 

 The cuttings should be placed in soil which has been trenched to 

 the depth of 1 8 or 20 inches and thoroughly enriched by the use 

 of composted stable manure. The soil cannot be made too rich for 

 the greatest success with this plant. If the roots are to remain as 

 a permanent plantation, they should be planted deep, but the 

 crowns should not be covered with more than 2 or 3 inches of soil. 

 A slight depression over the crowns is often necessary to bury 

 the roots as deep as desired without covering the crown too much. 

 The rows should be from 4 to 6 feet apart, and the individual 

 plants 2 or 3 feet apart in the row. For forcing roots the heavy 

 enriching of the soil is essential, but the rows may be as close 

 as 3 feet and the plants from 15 to 18 inches apart in the row. 



