ASPARAGUS. RHUBARB. HORSERADISH 71 



spring; or in the fall, well mulched. An acre set 

 3x4 feet, requires 3,630 roots. No stalks should be 

 pulled the first summer ; a light crop the second 

 season ; a full crop the third. 



Cultivation begins in the early spring and con- 

 tinues until fall, when a heavy coat of manure should 

 be applied. Seed-stalks should be cut off whenever 

 seen, so as to throw all the force of the plants into 

 themselves. A plantation is good for about twenty 

 years, but after a few years the roots develop into 

 big "clumps" that need to be severely trimmed with 

 a spade. Don't be afraid; cut straight down, all 

 around ; many of the trimmings can be used for new 

 plantations or sold to neighbors. Each strong "eye," 

 with roots attached, will, if removed and set in good 

 soil, make a new plant; in fact, this is the common 

 method of propagation (Plants may be grown from 

 seed, planted the same as asparagus, but this requires 

 the loss of a year's time.) 



Marketing rhubarb : Methods, markets and ship- 

 ping-packages vary in different localities. Some Illi- 

 nois growers begin pulling rhubarb as soon as the 

 stalks are six or eight inches long, and ship in third- 

 bushel climax baskets ; they claim to get more out 

 of it in this way. It is a question whether in the 

 long run this is better 

 than to let the stalks 

 get full length before 

 beginning to pull. 

 Later on, the large, 

 fifty-pound crate is 



r, i What A LONG ' L W, WELL-BANKED SHED 



eu. w ndi FQR FO RCING RHUBARB IN WINTER 

 ever plan is adopted, 



it is well to bear in mind that it does not pay to 

 fill the packages with small stringy stalks, and top 



