ono PERENNIAL 



^^ CROPS 



best strains of rhubarb will not produce good 

 stalks if the land be hard or the sub-soil high and 

 hard. The rows should be four feet apart to 

 allow of horse tillage. The plants may be from 

 three to four feet apart in the row. During 

 the growing season they require the same sort 

 of surface tillage that you would give to corn or 

 potatoes. If you are making the most of your 

 rhubarb bed, you will give it quite a heavy coat 

 of manure in the fall, to act as mulch to keep 

 the soil from freezing too deep, and also to pre- 

 serve its texture. During the storms of winter, 

 the manure leaches away somewhat and fer- 

 tilizes the roots, so that they are prepared to 

 make an early growth in the spring. 



The season for selUng is short, as early in the 

 summer the demand for rhubarb gives place to 

 strawberries and other small fruits. It is the 

 grower who has it early in the market who reaps 

 profit from rhubarb. 



By means of the New Rhubarb Culture, rhu- 

 barb may now be . forced for market out of 

 season, and then it brings the best prices of 

 all. Roots are left in the garden until they 

 have been frozen and are then transplanted 

 to specially prepared beds and forced for the 

 Christmas trade. These beds may be in the 

 open field if one has a system of heating by 



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