228 MAKING HORTICULTURE PAY 



KIND OF STALKS IN DEMAND 



" If we want nice, straight, pink, plump rhubarb, 

 we shake up this coarse litter in the spring as soon 

 as the stalks begin to show, and pile it around and 

 over the hills. If the work is well done, the results 

 are remarkable. Instead of a green stem 4 or 5 

 inches long, and with a broad leaf, we have a pink 

 stem 8 or 10 inches long and a small leaf similar to 

 that grown in a rhubarb house. 



" This very early rhubarb is the product that we 

 work for. A pound of early rhubarb is worth as 

 much as five pounds later, and sells much better. 

 We begin to sell outdoor rhubarb as soon as it gets 

 6 or 8 inches high, and continue as long as there 

 is a sale for it. This varies according to the supply 

 and abundance of fruit, etc. The sales greatly 

 diminish as soon as strawberries and cherries be- 

 come plentiful. The prices vary from 2 to 10 

 cents a pound according to season. The first is 

 bunched in pound bunches and sold at 10 cents 

 retail. A little later it is sold at 8 cents and then 

 as low as 5 cents. As the rhubarb grows, the 

 bunches are gradually increased in size, until at 

 canning time they weigh 2 or 2^2 pounds and are 

 sold at 5 cents or six for 25 cents. At this time, 

 the rhubarb is 12 to 24 inches high, and is very 

 little work to prepare. 



" One year the sales from about one-half acre 

 reached $158.30. That season opened March 21, 

 which is very unusual in central Pennsylvania. 

 The following year the season opened April 20 and 

 sales from about the same area reached only 

 $103.60. The third year, with the aid of a dozen 

 sash, sales reached $163.75. In the winter of the 

 fourth year we fitted up an old greenhouse 20 by 38 



