^ TRY ho 
^^PHaro'E"t«Q' 
Vol. LVIII. No. 2556 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 21, 1899 
FORCING RHUBARB IN THE DARK. 
AN ACCOUNT OF A LITTLE-KNOWN INDUSTRY. 
Part III. 
Some Objections Answered.—A recent article 
somewhat introductory to the present series, was the 
text for some of the eastern growers to pass judgment 
upon the methods of dark growing. The idea was 
brushed aside as with a wave of the hand, and the 
opinion freely offered that it would not pay for the 
extra labor. Forcing extensively as carried on here 
by the methods described on page 855, last year, would 
be a task from which the growers would shrink. The 
sash to cover 
acres of roots 
as many have 
here, would 
bankrupt an 
ordinary man. 
Then, too, it 
only hastens 
the growth a 
few days at 
best, and pro¬ 
duces a far in¬ 
ferior article. 
It is, however, 
by no means 
new here, and 
has been quite 
extensively 
practiced, but 
is now almost 
entirely dis¬ 
carded for the 
cheaper method 
and superior 
product of dark 
growing. The 
glass-forced 
rhubarb, like 
open-grown, 
gives a full 
green leaf, 
while the dark- 
forced gives 
very little, if 
any, and that, 
a beautiful 
golden color, 
and a flavor as 
far superior as 
properly grown 
and blanched 
celery has to 
that left to 
grow and wan¬ 
der at will. 
Growing 1 in 
Hotbeds. — A 
method not yet 
described, but which gives the earliest and best pay¬ 
ing crop of all, is to set the root in hotbeds, remov¬ 
ing, of course, the old manure and soil to sufficient 
depth to admit the full growth of the stalks. There 
is no extra expense, as the hotbeds are already on 
hand, and later on are used for starting the cabbage, 
tomato, egg and other plants. The boxes are covered 
with two layers of boards, breaking joints, to avoid 
as far as possible the leaching of Enow and rain ; ma¬ 
nure to the thickness of a foot or 18 inches is placed 
around the boxes, and covered on top to the depth of 
six inches. No heat other than that generated by the 
manure is used; should a higher temperature be re¬ 
quired, fresh manure that has been piled until heated, 
is put on, and the forcing is thus hurried at will. 
-December 21, I visited the grounds of N. Michels, 
one of the pioneer growers of this section, and the 
first, I think, to adopt the dark-growing method. He 
has his house cellar and two large forcing cellars 
filled ; but as yet uses no heat. A row of 10 hotbeds 
were being filled, which will be held in check until 
the last of February, when the manure will be ap¬ 
plied, and forcing will begin. Besides this, he had 12 
boxes covered in one unbroken mound, six of which 
were for immediate use, and six to follow in succes¬ 
sion. I walked over the mound, and there beneath 
my feet, shut away from the light and air, and forced 
entirely by the heat of the manure, the rhubarb was 
growing and ready for the market. December 20, from 
three of these boxes 6x14 feet in size, he picked 31 
dozen, which brought, in the wholesale house, 75 
cents per dozen, or $23.25 for one picking. These 
boxes were of the Linnaeus variety, and will give two 
more pickings; the next picking is expected to be 
best of all. 
While the ordinary and safe plan is, to freeze the 
roots before forcing, these roots were started without 
freezing. Placed in the boxes in November, with no 
watering or other care, in 45 days, he is getting a re¬ 
turn of $23 25 for 252 square feet of ground, with two 
pickings yet to hear from. Mr. Michels is a gardener 
of over 40 years’ experience, and says that this is the 
best paying crop he can raise, for the reason that the 
greater part of the labor is done after the other crops 
are secured, and the sales come at a time when so little 
else can be grown except by the expensive methods 
of glass growing. 
Preparation for Market. —The photographs [too 
dim for reproduction.— Eds J, show the rhubarb as it 
appears in the wholesale market. As received from 
the gardeners, the rhubarb is tied in bundles; the 
bunches are wrapped in paper, and packed in any 
sized boxes. Prices are always quoted by the dozen, 
and the bunches are put up by the growers all ready 
for the retail trade. The stalks are tied with ordinary 
bunching twine at top and base, in bunches of three ; 
12 of these bunches are tied together, also at top and 
base, and the bundle really containing 36 stalks is 
called a dozen. 
In the retail 
trade, the 
bundles are 
opened, andthe 
bunches sold 
out in any num¬ 
ber required. 
Messrs. Rush 
& Sons, whole¬ 
salers, inform¬ 
ed me that they 
handle tons of 
the product 
every Winter, 
and last seafeon, 
they shipped to 
27 of the prin¬ 
cipal cities of 
the United 
States, includ¬ 
ing New York 
and Boston. 
Many other 
dealers buy and 
ship in large 
quantities, and 
some of the 
growers ship 
direct to vari¬ 
ous points in 
the country. 
As to Labor. 
—That need be 
no bugbear, as 
two men with 
team and plow 
will turn out 
and trim up 
from 500 to 1,000 
roots per day. 
The freezing 
costs nothing, 
as the roots will 
attend to that 
themselves if 
left alone. The 
labor of setting 
in the cellar is quickly done, as when nicely trimmed 
and frozen, they can be handled as roughly as stones. 
No storing of roots is necessary, except in case of 
growing two crops in the same cellar ; and then not 
necessarily so, as in most sections, there is no month 
in the Winter when they could not be plowed out, un¬ 
less excessive frost was unusually continuous. 
Nuts to Crack. —The scientists will have a nut or 
two to crack in telling us why, when shut away 
entirely from the light, the roots will produce a full 
crop of stalks with no leaf worth mentioning, and 
that shut away from the light and air, too, as in hot¬ 
bed forcing, the results will be essentially the same. 
The stalks will have a beautiful coloring ; and the leaf, 
what little appears, will be a beautiful golden color. 
Detroit, Mich. j. e. m. 
SMALL-LEAVED HEMLOCK AT THE RURAL GROUNDS. Fig. 14. See Rurai.isms, Page 40. 
