THE 
GARDEN YARD 210 
steam forced through trenches, or they may be 
in specially constructed forcing houses; or, sim- 
plest of all, they may be in the house cellar, 
even though the floor be of concrete. 
Rhubarb requires but little moisture and when 
it is being forced, it need not go deep to find its 
food, if the soil it has is rich enough. Three 
inches of earth will give it all the hold it needs, 
and if the light is completely excluded, the growth 
will all go to stalk. 
If you have a cellar bed, screen it off from 
the rest of the cellar so that no light can reach 
it; a small kerosene-oil lamp with a chimney 
that has been thoroughly smoke-blackened, will 
give all the heat necessary to start growth. 
The stalks begin to shoot up looking for light 
and will do almost nothing in the way of 
leaf-growth because of its lack. In this way 
the whole energy of the plant is diverted into 
profit-making stalks.* The roots that have been 
forced for the Christmas market cannot be used 
again the following season. They need a sea- 
son’s rest. (Read J. E. Morse’s “New Rhu- 
barb Culture.’’) 
But this absence of leaf, which is so desirable 
* Note.—You can get long stalks in the garden by putting a small 
cask, or half-barrel, with the ends knocked out, over the plant, 
The stalks will grow to the top and blanch some while growing. 
