March.] THE KITCHEN -GARDEN. 213 
some of their finer parts dissipated thereby; but culinary heat is free 
from that objection, and at the same time possesses all the advantages 
of quick drying. The drying of the roots, without suffering them to 
get mouldy, must be carefully attended to, as a neglect in this point, 
would render all your former industry fruitless, and it is considered 
among the cultivators as a difficult task. 
The marks of the goodness of rhubarb are, the liveliness of its co- 
lour when cut; its being firm and solid, but not flinty or hard; its be- 
ing easily pulverable, and appearing when powdered of a bright yel- 
low colour; on being chewed, its imparting to the spittle, a deep saf- 
fron tinge, and not proving slimy or mucilaginous in the mouth. 
The true officinal or palmated rhubarb, has numerous root-leaves, 
large, rough, of a roundish figure, deeply cut into lobes and irregu- 
larly pointed segments; on long, smooth, round foot-stalks. Stem- 
leaves, one at each joint, issuing from a membranous sheath suc- 
cessively smaller upwards. Flowers surrounding the branches in nu- 
merous clusters, and forming a kind of spike. Corolla or flowers, of 
a greenish white. 
This species cannot be mistaken, if you attend to its superior 
height, the ferruginous or reddish brown colour of the stem branches, 
and petioles or leaf-stalks, the particular palmate form of the leaves, 
and the elegant looseness of the little panniclesof flowers which dis- 
play themselves on erect, round, hollow, jointed, slightly scored 
stems, branching towards the top, and from six to eight feet high. 
The Rheum Rhaponticum, or Common Rhubarb. 
This has a large thick root, which divides into many strong fleshy 
fangs, running deep into the ground; the outside of a reddish brown 
colour, and the inside yellow, from which arise several leaves, in 
number according to the size of the root; those come up folded in 
the spring, and afterwards expand themselves; they are smooth, of 
a roundish heart shape, having very thick foot-stalks of a reddish 
colour, which are little channelled on their lower part, but flat at 
the top When the plant grows on rich land, the foot-stalks of the 
leaves are near two feet long, and thicker than a man's thumb; the 
leaves also are often two feet long and as much in breadth, having 
several strong longitudinal veins, running from the foot-stalk to the 
borders, of a deep green, and waved on their edges, having an acid 
taste, but particularly the foot-stalks, which are very frequently used, 
and much esteemed for tarts and pies. The flower stalks grow from 
two to three feet high, and are terminated by thick close spikes of 
white flowers. Its roots afford a gentle purge, but is of much infe- 
rior quality to the former, and may be cultivated the same way as 
directed for that. 
The Jerusalem Svtichoke. 
The Hdianthus tuberosus, or tuberous rooted sun-flower, com- 
monly called the Jerusalem artichoke; " this root," says Parkinson, 
an ancient English writer, " our ancestors boiled tender, and then 
