1832 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OP PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



lished is allowed to stand four or five 

 years, when the crowns are taken up 

 and divided and a new planting made. 

 The crowns become very large after a few 

 years and the stalks tend to become small 



Some growers plow or dig trenches 

 where the rows are to run, placing a few 

 inches of rotted manure m the bottom 

 below the plants, and allow the plants to 

 remain eight to ten years, but this in- 

 creases the expense, and ordmanly the 

 other method is to be preferred. 



Under favorable conditions the leaves 

 and stalks grow to enormous size, and 

 at the distances named almost complete- 

 ly shade the ground, crowdmg out weeds 

 Cultivation, however, should be given one 

 way to keep the soil from becoming hard 

 and dry No cropping should be allowed 

 till the third year. Each fall there should 

 be a broadcast application of ten to 

 twelve cords of manure. This should be 

 cultivated into the soil, and the ground 

 thoroughly worked over again in the 

 spring. Manure along the rows should 

 be forked under. Cultivation is sus- 

 pended during the bearing season. Hence 

 the importance of thoroughness in the 

 early working. After the bearing season 

 is past cultivation should be resumed. 



Harvesting and Marketing 



The leaves are gathered by pullmg 

 them off. This operation requires care 

 to avoid unnecessary injury to the young 

 leaves and crowns, and to have the stalks 

 come off at the very base two or three 

 inches below the ground. The leaves are 

 gathered up and taken to a shed where 

 they are tied in bundles, cutting off the 

 leaf proper a couple of inches from the 

 stalk. In forced rhubarb the undevelop- 

 ed leaf is not removed, its bright yellow 

 color adding to the attractiveness of the 

 bundles. For local market the stalks are 

 cleaned of hulls and washed, but for 

 shipment the stalks are cleaned by 

 simply brushing off the dirt. The stalks 

 are tied at bases and near the tops with 

 ordinary binding twine or raffiia, into 

 bunches of three or four stalks, and these 

 again formed into bundles of a dozen 

 bunches. This method is a convenience 

 for the retail merchant. For shipment, 



these bundles are wrapped in paper and 

 boxed six or more bundles to a box. 

 Again the single stalks are tied nearly 

 at top and base, into bundles of twenty- 

 five to thirty pounds, or loose packed 

 in boxes of about a barrel capacity. 

 Weights are marked on the package or 

 on attached tag at the time. In such 

 matters one must be governed by the re- 

 quirements of the market. Neatness m 

 packing, and a good article, however, are 

 always m order. 



Growers dispose of their crops in var- 

 ious ways— in the local market, to gro- 

 cers, hotels or private families, or to 

 dealers in more or less distant cities, and 

 commission merchants. Care must be 

 taken that the rhubarb is not frozen in 

 shipment. Express shipment consumes 

 much of the profit, but is the only safe 

 way for small quantities. 



Common yields are from 16,000 to 20,- 

 000 pounds per acre in the open air. The 

 price varies according to the season, 

 market, etc. It seldom brings less than 

 one cent per pound The forced and 

 early pickings bring the best prices, from 

 five to fifteen cents per pound being fre- 

 quently realized. 



Forcing 



Rhubarb is readily forced, the expens- 

 ive appliances needed in the case of many 

 other crops when brought in out of 

 season being wholly unnecessary The 

 business is carried on to a considerable 

 extent in the neighborhood of many of 

 the large cities of the country. This 

 early product finds a ready market at 

 good prices. 



Cold frames, the cellar, or cheap forc- 

 ing houses may be used for the purpose. 

 Sash and glass are unnecessary, as the 

 crop does not require light — warmth and 

 moisture only being needed. For use in 

 forcing only strong well-grown roots two 

 or three years old are used. At the low 

 temperature commonly furnished when 

 the plants are forced in cold frames or 

 cellars, it is important that the roots 

 used shall have been frozen. Here they 

 should be dug with what earth adheres 

 to the roots, and left on the surface of 

 the ground until they have been solidly 



