years in the countries adjacent to that in which it is found, he was unable to effect the object of his mission, 
yet he obtained sufficient information to convince him that the plant was then unknown to botanists. But 
it was reserved for Dr. Wallich, the zealous superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden, to set this long 
agitated question at rest, by the transmission of seeds and dried specimens of the true Rhubarb plant to 
Europe. Last spring, Mr. Colebrooke received a quantity of the ripe seeds from Dr. Wallich, and presented 
a portion of them to Mr. Lambert, who has been so fortunate as to raise a number of plants of this valuable 
vegetable. The seeds were sown in pots, and, by the aid of artificial heat, soon vegetated. The young 
seedlings were transplanted into several pots filled with rich earth, and the pots were gradually changed as 
the plants increased in size. By this treatment, as might well be imagined, the young plants grew vigorously, 
and, at the end of autumn, the leaves were from fifteen inches to a foot in breadth, and the footstalks nine 
inches long, with half an inch in diameter. The plant, on examination, proved to be identical with my 
Rheum australe, from Gosaingsthan, in the Himalaya Alps. I find Dr. Wallich calls it Rheum Emodi, a 
name which I should certainly have adopted, had I been aware of it before the publication of my work. 
The whole plant is thickly beset with numerous small, bristle-shaped, cartilaginous points, which give it a 
rough feel. The leaves, are of a dull green, and the foot-stalks are red, and deeply furrowed. The native 
samples I have seen appear to be smaller in all their parts, and the leaves, although flowering specimens, 
frequently not more than three or four inches broad ; the footstalks four inches long, and slender, and the 
flowering stem not above two feet high. It is curious to observe how well this description accords with 
what Sievers has given us. The Rheum australe appears to be peculiar to the great table lands of central 
Asia, between the latitudes of 31° and 40°, where it is found to flourish at an elevation of 11,000 feet above 
the level of the sea ; and there is little doubt, therefore, of its proving perfectly hardy in our own country. 
Large quantities of the roots are annually collected for exportation in the Chinese provinces within the lofty 
range of the Himalaya. The best is that which comes by way of Russia, as greater care is taken in the se- 
lection ; and on its arrival at Kiachta, within the Russian frontiers, the roots are all carefully examined, and 
the damaged pieces destroyed. This is the fine rhubarb of the shops, called improperly Turkey Rhubarb. 
We have yet to regret the want of much interesting information respecting the mode of collecting and pre- 
paring the roots, and other details interesting in a commercial point of view. The unfortunate fate of Mr. 
Moorcroft, whose zeal and multifarious knowledge well fitted him for a scientific traveller, has deprived us 
of much valuable information on this as well as on many other subjects.” 
Culture. — Since the introduction of Rheum palmatum, it has been largely cultivated in this country ; 
and we are informed by the.best authority, that the London market is principally supplied from Banbury. 
Fine specimens are worth about six shillings per pound, and resemble Turkey rhubarb in their appearance 
more than they do East Indian ; although it is for the latter that they are principally substituted. The 
article sold at the herb shops under the designation, “English Rhubarb,” is the produce of the R. undulatum; 
the leaf-stalks of which are used for tarts. It may be bought for nine-pence per pound, and from its want 
of power has caused undeserved reproach to be cast on the proper cultivated sort. 
Twenty pounds of English Rhubarb, 
Seven pounds of East India, 
Three pounds of Turkey, 
ground together, are the proportion employed by one of the most fashionable druggists at the west end of 
the town, to form a fine looking article, denominated, and sold as, “ Fine Turkey Rhubarb.” Indeed, so 
strong is prejudice, that we have it from very good authority, that perfectly unadulterated Turkey Rhubarb, 
procured from Apothecaries Hall, has been rejected as bad, when attempted to be vended in a retail shop. 
The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, exerted itself for many 
years to promote the culture of Rhubarb in this country ; and medals and other rewards were voted to Sir 
A. Dick, Mr. Jarman, Mr. R. Davis, Jun. of Minehead, Mr. Ball, of Williton, Mr. Jones, late of Fish Street 
Hill, &c. 
Mr. Davis recommends the seeds to be sown in a very gentle hot-bed, in March, and when the roots 
are about the size of a crow’s quill, they should be drawn up carefully to preserve the taproot, and planted 
in a fine rich earth in a deep soil: if the weather should prove dry, they must be watered. When the 
plants are once in a growing state, all farther care and trouble are at an end, but that of keeping them free 
from weeds. The distance of the plants should be eight feet ; and as they disappear above seven months in 
