RHUBARB 
Rhubarb {Rheum hybridum) is among the most use- 
ful of plants, and certainly one that cannot be called 
rare. My excuse for including it in this book is that 
it did not find a place amongst the ordinary vegetables 
and it is too valuable to omit. 
There has been more interest taken in the cultivation 
of this plant of late years, some valuable introductions 
have been distributed, and there is a great breadth 
of land occupied by these roots near London and the 
larger towns in the kingdom ; indeed from Christmas 
to June, by forced produce and the open ground supply, 
a large trade is done, and the leaf stalks that are the 
edible portion both in a blanched and natural state 
make an excellent substitute for fruit in tarts, and a 
delicious preserve, and by no means an inferior wine. 
The plant will be found in all gardens, large and small, 
but it is not always given the best cultivation. It is a 
native of Central Asia, and has been cultivated in this 
country for over three hundred years. It does best in 
good soil and well repays for food given, but clayey or 
wet soils are not suitable. It is propagated readily 
by division, and doubtless that is a good way to get a 
true stock of any good kind, but I have been very 
successful with seed, and I find it comes remarkably 
true from seed, and excellent produce may be secured 
in less than two years from the date of sowing, that is 
the plants the second year produce freely. The plant 
requires a deeply dug, well manured soil, and when 
raised by seed, April is the best time to sow, and by 
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