RHODE ISLAND— RHUBARB 



XooX 



The total quantity of orchard fruits 

 produced in 1909 was 246,000 bushels, 

 valued at $198,000. Apples contributed 

 about seven-eighths of this quantity; 

 peaches and nectarines and pears most 

 of the remainder. The production of 

 grapes amounted to 153,000 pounds, val- 

 ued at $10,000, while that of nuts and 

 of tropical fruits was relatively unim- 

 portant. 



Small fruits: 1909 and 1899. Straw- 

 berries were by far the most important 



of the small fruits grown in Rhode 

 Island, with cranberries ranking next in 

 quantity, and raspberries and logan- 

 berries next in value. The total acreage 

 of small fruits in 1909 was 281 and in 

 1899, 581, a decrease of 51.6 per cent. The 

 production in 1909 was 438,000 quarts, as 

 compared with 580,000 quarts in 1899, and 

 the value $43,000, as compared with 

 $51,000. 



The following table shows data with 

 regard to small fruits on farms: 



CROP 



Number 



of farms 



reporting 



1909 



Acres 



Quantity 



(quarts) 



1909 



Value 





1909 



1899 



1909 



Small Fruits, total 





281 



140 



16 



34 



12 



8 



70 



1 



581 



»154 



17 



57 



26 



5 



300 



22 



437,560 



326,540 



17,875 



32,871 



17,110 



8,251 



34,688 



225 



$43,033 



Strawberries 



Blackberries and dewberries 



545 

 69 



154 



130 

 43 



127 

 2 



31,712 

 1,927 



Raspberries and loganberries , 



Currants 



Gooseberries 



Cranberries 



Other berries , 



4,197 



1,564 



852 



2,734 



47 







Rhubarb 



Rhubarb has been used in medicine 

 from very early times, being described 

 by the Chinese herbal Pen-king, which 

 is believed to date as far back as 2700 

 B. C. In the 14th century the plant ap- 

 pears to have found its way to Europe 

 by way of the Indus and the Persian 

 gulf, to the Red sea and Alexandria, and 

 was described as E3ast Indian rhubarb. 

 Some also came by the way of Persia 

 and the Caspian sea to Syria and Asia 

 Minor, reached Europe by the way ol 

 Aleppo and Smyrna, and became known 

 as Turkey rhubarb. Subsequently to the 

 year 1653, when China permitted Russia 

 to trade on her frontiers, Chinese rhu- 

 barb reached Europe by the way of Mos- 

 cow, and in 1704 the rhubarb trade for 

 Europe became a monopoly of the Rus- 

 sian government, in consequence of which 

 Russian or "crown" rhubarb was the 

 name applied to it. 



Propagation 



Plants are easily grown from seed, but 

 can be obtained in much shorter time 

 by division of the root. Divisions or 



seedlings are planted about three feet 

 apart in ground which has been deeply 

 trenched and manured, the crowns 

 being kept slightly above the surface. 

 Rhubarb grows freely under fruit trees, 

 but succeeds best in an open situation 

 in rich, rather light soil. The stalks 

 should not be pulled during the first sea- 

 son. If a top dressing of manure is given 

 every autumn, the plant should be good 

 for several years. 



Planting 

 *When sown in the open ground the 

 seeds are placed in drills one inch deep, 

 the drills being from one foot to eighteen 

 inches apart. When the plants appear 

 they are thinned to stand three or four 

 inches apart. A good, well-prepared soil 

 should be chosen for the purpose, and 

 good cultivation given subsequently, and 

 the rows kept free of weeds. The fol- 

 lowing spring the young plants are set 

 out in their permanent places, the usual 

 distance between plants allowed being 

 four feet each way, with crowns three 

 to four inches deep. Deeper plant- 

 ing is not desirable. A planting estab- 



* E. Walker, Arkansas Experiment Station. 



