194. VEGETABLE FORCING 
of forcing, the sash are removed and the plantation is 
fertilized and cultivated so that the roots will become 
large enough to be forced again the following season. 
Portable, cheaply constructed houses are sometimes 
used in the forcing of rhubarb. Such houses may be 
moved from place to place in the field, whenever the roots 
fail to yield satisfactory cuttings. 
Forcing transplanted roots.—The more general practice 
is to transplant the roots to suitable places for forcing. 
A common plan is to use the cellar or basement of the 
residence. Fig. 63 shows a small bed which the writer 
grew near the hot water furnace in the cellar. It re- 
quired very little attention and produced more rhubarb 
during the period of production than could be used on the 
home table. There is no reason why thousands of cellars 
should not produce, with scarcely any trouble, a delicious 
supply of rhubarb that would be available from No- 
vember until April or May, when cuttings can be made 
from plants in the field or garden. 
It is a simple matter to grow rhubarb in deep cold- 
frames (as seen in Fig. 64). They should be excavated 
to a depth of about 2 feet in order to allow ample space 
for the growth of the stems. The roots are planted close 
together in the bottom of the pits and glass is placed on 
the frames. This method of forcing is satisfactory when 
the beds are started any time after the first of March, or 
perhaps earlier in some parts of the North. More rapid 
growth will be secured if hot manure is banked around 
the outside of the frame, or a coil of pipe for the use of 
steam or hot water is placed inside of the frame. Some- 
times the roots are planted in the fall inside of high 
frames placed on the surface of the ground. The roots 
freeze when the weather gets cold, and later they are 
forced by placing sash on the frames and banking them 
with horse manure. This is a practical commercial 
proposition. 
