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the approach of the new year; its production, too, is easy and 
inexpensive. 
The chief point in successful Rhubarb forcing, is the posses- 
sion of strong roots, which should not have been much gathered 
from, or plucked, in the previous season. Indeed, for very 
early forcing they should remain in the nursery beds, and their 
growth be encouraged, till required to be placed in the pro- 
tector. Some persons lay much stress on the superiority of this 
or that fancy kind, and on the usual degeneracy of seedlings. 
That such are liable to degeneracy may be true, yet we esteem 
this but a secondary consideration, when young plants are re- 
quired merely for forcing. We grow the Victoria kind entirely, 
and doubt whether there is, at present, a better. Sow seed in 
March, in drills, thin the plants, giving abundance of room, and 
keep them free from weeds. In the succeeding February, they 
should be transplanted into well manured drills, eight inches 
apart in the drill, and in the succeeding November they will be 
first-rate plants, admirably adapted for forcing. Our earliest 
crop is generally forced in the mushroom-house, in pots : here, 
however, we will point to their culture in the opaque protector 
of the amateur. 
A bottom heat, of some kind, must be provided : we use tree 
leaves and manure, mixed. From sixty-five to seventy degrees 
must be ensured to them, for about three weeks, or until they 
begin to shoot ; when the sooner the heat declines, the better : 
the bottom warmth, therefore, need be but of a temporary 
character. The roots must be taken up as entire as possible, 
and placed close together, just as explained for Asparagus ; and 
like it, must have some fine old tan or vegetable earth shaken 
into every crevice. Little more is requisite than to keep light 
from the roots; this our opaque protectors will do; and, in 
severe weather, it may be necessary to protect both the walls at 
the side, and also to cover the protector over-head. 
If the heat becomes too strong — that is to say, above eighty 
degrees, cold water must be lil)erally applied until it be suffici- 
ently reduced. Thus a supply of Rhubarb will be secured for 
several weeks, or indeed until a supply is ready to succeed it, as 
before observed, from beneath chimney-pots or other out-of-door 
shelters ; this again will be succeeded by plants on a warm 
slope. 
