136 VEGETABLE GARDENING, 



free from weeds and loose, and to use plenty of manure, Id 

 gathering rhubarb the stalks should be removed from the crown 

 by a jerk downward and sideways, and care should be taken not 

 to be so rough about it as to pull the buds from the crown at 

 the same time. There is little danger of pulling more leaves 

 than the plant can stand without injury, but in the case of a 

 young plantation it would not be well to remove more than one- 

 half of the leaves at any one time. The stalks are most in de- 



Figure 5^ — Pieces of rhubarb roots cut off for planting- out. 



mand early in the spring, but there is more or less call for 

 them all summer. The seed stalks should be cut off as soon 

 as they appear, so as to throw their strength into leaves and 

 to prevent the formation of seed, if the largest amount of stalks 

 is wanted. 



Forcing Rhubarb. — For winter and spring use rhubarb is 

 often forced in greenhouses and cold frames. The roots of any 

 age are taken up in autumn, crowded together under the benches 

 in greenhouses or placed in boxes or barrels with a little soil be- 

 tween them, and put in any convenient place in the greenhouse 

 01 a warm light room or cellar where they start into growth in 

 February. They are also planted out in warm sheds. Still an- 

 other way of forcing rhubarb is by putting a cold frame over the 

 plants in the early spring where they are growing in the open 



