BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



them out with nice large ones. Better make two 

 grades, and pack honestly. See that the stalks are 

 large enough and that they are properly cleaned 

 and trimmed. In some markets the leaves may be 

 left on; in others they must be cut off. Some mar- 

 kets require bunching and tying ; others do not. The 

 best-known varieties are : Linnaeus and Victoria 

 the former being the earlier kind. There are no in- 

 sects or fungous diseases that are troublesome. 



Forcing rhubarb : This is often done in the gar- 

 den in a small way, by placing a barrel or tall box 

 (without top or bottom) over a strong clump of 

 "pieplant," and then banking up around it with 

 manure. Do this just before growth starts, and the 

 stalks will be ready to use much earlier than usual. 

 Matters may be hastened still more, I will add, by 

 placing a piece of glass over the top for a while or 

 during bad weather or cold nights. Or clumps of 

 rhubarb may be forced in an ordinary coldframe. 



Rhubarb may be forced, commercially, in special 

 houses. Isaac Ridgeway of New Jersey does it as 



follows : He has a 

 long, low, well-banked 

 shed, plastered on the 

 inside and heated by 

 stoves (see illustra- 

 tions). Into this he 

 hauls and plants, 

 about December ist, 

 frozen clumps of rhu- 

 barb. Fires are not 

 started, however, until 

 about the middle of 



February. Pulling begins early in March, and is 

 done twice a week. He receives about five cents for 



PULLING OF RHUBARB BEGINS IN 

 MARCH IN THIS FORCING SHED 



