‘Jhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
V 23 
reach the market. The growing of rhubarb may 
not be so profitable in all parts of the country, but 
the demand seems to be increasing, and pays well. 
Massachusetts. e. l Farrington. 
Those Cheap Eastern Farms 
f STING OPPORTUNITIES.—'The editor 
said 
project of farms. We should all get busy at it. 
Those New York and Eastern farms generally are 
such fine chances for men to get busy in farm- 
lthubarb Clumps Being Frozen for Forcing. Fig. 191 
Rhubat*' a* ~ <■ unmet are 1 Vinter Crop 
How ts Grown n ?3sachusetts 
F orcing cond cio «.—1 -a spite of the sugar 
shortage the demand fo rhubarb the past sea¬ 
son was e\er greater than usual. Growers, who had 
expected th crop to .all flat, had to work overtime 
cc supply .ueii customers. Cranberry growers have 
had this situation repeated to some extent, the 
.dying eing much heavier than had been antici¬ 
pated. Rhubarb is generally considered a Spring 
crop, but in some sections around Boston large 
Quantities are forced for the Winter market. The ing. I can't help mentioning some of them that 
more extensive growers are in the historic town of have just come to my notice. In the first place, the 
Concord, where the business has 
been carried on for many years. As 
a rule, the forcing is done in lean-to- 
houses attached to larger green¬ 
houses in which cucumbers or toma¬ 
toes are grown. The forcing of 
rhubarb is not at all difficult, and 
the profit, year in and year out. is 
decidedly satisfactory. Commonly 
forcing is done by market gardeners, 
who also devote considerable land 
to rhubarb as an outdoor crop. Al¬ 
though the forcing is not done until 
after the beginning of (lie year, the 
roots are dug before the ground 
freezes. These roots are piled in long 
rows out of doors, the piles being 
about three feet high. The roots 
are allowed to freeze solidly before 
they are taken indoors. As long as 
they are kept frozen, they can be 
stored without loss. 
EARLY MARKETING.—The first 
crop is usually marketed in about 
four weeks after the plants are set. 
A second and larger planting is 
usually made about the first of Feb¬ 
ruary. Although it is not necessary 
to have very much heat in order to 
force rhubarb, the ground must be 
very rich, and a large amount of 
water must be used. The fact that 
the Winter crop can be turned so 
quickly is an item which appeals to 
the growers. Roots to be forced 
must be several years old. They 
are usually taken from the field, 
where they have been grown with 
the special purpose of using for a 
Winter crop. Well-matured roots 
are divided into three parts, two of 
which are used to plant new fields, 
while the third goes into the green¬ 
house. 
HOTBEDS.—Several growers who 
do not force rhubarb by artificial 
heat get it on the market before the 
field-grown crop is ready by the use 
of hotbed sash. There are two ways 
of doing this. One is to dig the 
field plants and set them close to¬ 
gether in a frame. The other is to 
place frames over the plants where 
they are growing. Naturally plants 
do not grow quite as rapidly when 
a cold frame is used as they do 
when forced in a greenhouse, but • 
they come into the market early, 
and the stalks command a good 
price. 
HEAVY FERTILIZING NEEDED. 
—One of the largest farms devoted 
to the production of rhubarb in the 
town of Concord is that of the 
Anson Wheeler estate. Several 
acres of fine market garden land is 
given to the rhubarb, and a large 
amount of stable manure, supplemented by com¬ 
mercial fertilizer, is used to keep the crop growing. 
The result is an annual yield which averages 300 
bushels per acre. It is useless to try to grow 
rhubarb unless it can be fertilized heavily, and 
manure is the best fertilizer. The soil must be 
kept well cultivated, too. On the Wheeler place 
horse power is depended upon as long as possible, 
after which hoeing is resorted to. The variety 
grown is Victoria. 
RACKING.—When the rhubarb is prepared for 
market, the leaves are commonly stripped off in the 
fields. Then the stalks are cut a uniform length 
and packed in market boxes, which are partially 
headed over. Some growers like to turn the hose 
on the boxes before loading them into the wagon, in 
order to have the stalks crisp and fresh when thev 
Market Hardener Sear Boston Boding Rhubarb. Fig. 192 
A Sheltered Xeic York Farmstead Faring Field of Clover. Fig. 190 
result of the teachers’ undertaking to list our farms 
has resulted in getting some two or three times as 
many as have been found before; 3.500 of them, in 
addition to what had been listed before, and that 
does not take in more than perhaps half. Probably 
not nearly as large a proportion as that have been 
listed yet of those that could be bought at a bar¬ 
gain. The other day a farm of 150 acres sold for 
$2,200. and the house is a fine one, bathrooms above 
and below with running water. The house could 
hardly be built for $3,000. The buyer bought the 
house and was paid a thousand dollars to take the 
barn and the land. Good land. too. only not kept 
up well for a few years on account of poor health. 
The buyer is a hustling young man with a farm 
that he has already developed adjoining this one. 
He has a herd of purehreds, and if T figure rightly 
he will make this new farm pay l'ur itself in less 
than five years. It is not near town, either, and it 
will pay just the same. It is the farm and the 
farmer that does the job. A man from town would 
hardly make a living there, it seems to me. It 
needs someone who knows farming and can work 
and will do so. 
A GOOD CHANCE.—It is only a few days since 
I heard another farmer talking about his farm. It 
is nearer town and is in first-class condition. It is 
well stocked, and has a full equipment of machinery 
and tools. It will cost more than the other farm 
and is worth more to anyone who wants to move 
on the farm and work it. This one has about the 
same number of acres as the other 
and the buildings as a whole are 
much better. The owner says that 
he is not able to work it much 
longer and will sell. There is a good 
start with purehreds and the cows 
are selected ones. “If I could do 
the work that my father did 40 or 
50 years ago I could make a thou¬ 
sand dollars a year besides a good 
living.” said the owner. I do not 
think that he meant he could do 
that and pay interest on the whole 
valuation besides. If he had to pay- 
interest it might take him 15 years 
to pay for the place, instead of 
eight or 10. according to his figur¬ 
ing. It is not a place for a man 
with no money, but with a few thou¬ 
sands. say four or five, or maybe less, 
lie could do nicely on such a farm, 
there is more cheap land adjoining 
as in the case mentioned first. It 
is just such a place as a man in the 
Vest who likes dairy farming and 
understands it. and who has some 
money, but not enough to enable 
him to buy high-priced land there, 
might like to find. There are many 
such cases, some with more costs 
and some with less, all through the 
East. It would not answer for an 
inexperienced man to undertake 
such a farm unless be had close to 
ten thousand dollars to commence 
with. He would need a good bit of 
leeway, for he would run behind 
doubtless while he gained his ex¬ 
perience. l^aui not one who ad¬ 
vises such men to risk money in 
these or any other farms unless 
they have enough to swing with, 
and then I do not advise, just let 
them do as they like. 
STARTING WITH SMALL CAP¬ 
ITAL.—For a man with a few hun¬ 
dred dollars a farm can be had. ami 
if he knows the work he can pay 
for it in c-ase lie has good health 
and is willing to work. All through 
the East in various sections there 
are good farms begging for buyers 
with a few hundred or a few thou¬ 
sand dollars. What folly to try to 
open up more lands now. especially 
those that will pay nobody for years 
to come, and the opening of which 
will make Eastern farmers suffer 
as in the seventies, the eighties and 
well into the nineties. If T had 
$30,000 or more and «were not 
especially anxious to make good in¬ 
terest on it. I am somewhat of the 
opinion that I might buy a farm in 
the West. I have never been there. 
. but pictures make me think I might 
like it there. I am not trying to 
get farmers from the West to come here unless 
they desire to do so for the sake of getting farm 
homes that they can pay for with less money than 
it takes to buy there. There are tracts here of many 
farms in a group that might develop into large 
sheep ranches if that were desired, but one might 
have to look a little further for the 100 to 200-acre 
farm. 
THE OTHER SIDE.—While we are talking about 
the good chances to buy farms we may as well think 
of one or two other sides of the case. Are there 
now as many farmers as there should be for the 
good of farmers and of the public? Buyers of foods 
think there are not nearly enough, but we will not 
consider their view just now. It seems as though 
there are fully as many a< are needed. Prices are 
tending rather low. anyway. Iu this case here we 
