398 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



vegetables, often in seasons when nearer fields have perished 

 with the frost. I might mention incidentally that we have also 

 of late years imported Cauliflower largely from Italy. 



FORCED VEGETABLES. 



Besides the efforts that have been made to improve and 

 extend naturally grown vegetables, our more advanced market 

 gardeners are turning their attention largely to forced goods. 



The earlier climatic conditions on the other side of the 

 English Channel, together with the increased facilities for 

 transit of produce, have enabled the French competitor to secure 

 great advantages over the English grower in the market for early 

 spring salads and vegetables. Efforts are being made to mini- 

 mise this by forcing certain vegetables in England, though up to 

 the present the success has not been very marked. There are, 

 however, a few things being very successfully done, and this may 

 lead to more serious attempts in other directions. 



Rhubarb. — The present system of forcing Rhubarb is a most 

 marked advance on the old methods. There is a popular notion 

 that the forced Rhubarb, so abundantly supplied to the London 

 market from the Leeds district of Yorkshire, is in some mys- 

 terious way produced by waste factory steam. This is merely a 

 humorous fable, as a visit to one of our local growers who are 

 adopting its cultivation will clearly testify. A field of Rhubarb 

 is first cultivated in the ordinary way. Large sheds, usually 

 100 ft. long, 30 ft. wide, 5 ft. high at the eaves, and 8 ft. high in 

 the centre, are erected at a convenient spot, generally in the field 

 or closely adjacent. These sheds are perfectly dark when closed, 

 and the Rhubarb roots are lifted from the open ground and 

 placed very thickly in these sheds, which are artificially heated 

 and kept at the proper temperature and moisture. The Rhubarb 

 is periodically pulled, bunched, and packed for market, and when 

 the forcing season is over the roots can be removed and returned 

 to the open ground for recuperation and future use. A shed of 

 the size named will hold about an acre of Rhubarb, and the 

 varieties grown are chiefly Champagne and Victoria. The season 

 during which it is marketed extends from the latter end of 

 January to May. In the height of the season — February and 

 March — it is estimated that over thirty tons a day are brought 

 into London alone. 



