RHUBARB. 135 



RHUBARB OR PIE PLANT. (Rheum rhaponticum.) 



The cultivated varieties of rhubarb are generally supposed to 

 have come from Mongolia, though it is quite possible that some 

 varieties may have sprung from a North American species. The 

 plant is an herbaceous perennial whose leaf stalks are used for 

 sauce, pies, etc. It sends up a flower stalk often four feet high, 

 and produces a large amount of seed each year. It is perfectly 

 hardy in gardens, even in very severe situations, and when once 

 planted continues to yield abundant crops for many years. The 

 seeds are large and triangular. 



Culture. — Rhubarb is readly increased from the seed, which 

 germinates quickly. Seedlings vary considerably but not enough 



to prevent this method of 

 propagation from being 

 the one most commonly 

 practiced. They attain 

 good transplanting size in 

 one year. It is customary 

 to sow the seed in rows 

 three feet apart early in 

 the spring, and set out the 

 plants when one year old 

 where they are to grow; 

 the plants may also be 

 thinned out and a few al- 

 lowed to remain where 

 the seeds are sown. When 

 Figure 58.— Rhubarb plant in flower, it is desired to propagate 



the specially valuable 

 qualities of individual plants, it is done by dividing the roots, 

 using care to take at least one good bud with each piece of root. 

 This is the only sure way of getting the best plants. 



It is preferable to set the plants out in the fall where they 

 are to grow, but spring planting is often followed. They should 

 be set in the richest of land four feet apart each way. The 

 stalks should not be pulled up until the spring of the second 

 year and then only to a small extent; the third year they should 

 give a good crop. The only culture needed is to keep the ground 



