480 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  November  30,  1899. 
useful  for  buttonholes  duiing  hard  frosty  weather  when  the  grower  is 
unable  to  take  the  covering  from  the  frames.  I  annually  grow  about 
400  for  this  purpose. — Wm.  Jas.  Penton,  Bowden  Hill  House, 
Chippenham. 
FORCING-  RHUBARB. 
Time  flies !  How  quickly  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  realise 
during  the  days  which  come  and  pass  so  swiftly,  crowded  as  they 
are  with  stirring  events,  which  bring  out  the  nation’s  enthusiasm 
and  kindle  into  active  life  a  great  spirit  of  generosity  which  unfail¬ 
ingly  sweeps  over  the  land  “  in  the  hour  of  need.”  Under  the 
influence  of  such  patriotic  fervour  the  details  of  the  ordinary  round 
of  duty  are  sometimes  overlooked ;  but  the  gardener,  above  all  others, 
must  be  on  the  alert  to  watch  that  the  feeling  of  the  moment  does 
not  interfere  with  future  supplies.  Christmas  will  soon  be  here,  and 
with  it  the  usual  demand  for  fresh,  crisp,  brightly  coloured  Rhubarb, 
which  is  looked  upon  as  a  much-prized  delicacy  at  the  festive  s  ason. 
Those  who  have  a  supply  of  good  strong  roots  at  command  may 
by  lifting  and  placing  some  of  them  in  heat  during  the  next  week 
have  Rhubarb  in  plenty  at  Christmas.  Three-year-old  roots  are 
preferable  to  either  older  or  younger  ones  for  forcing,  though  old 
clumps  will  do  fairly  well ;  but,  as  a  rule,  they  neither  start  so 
quickly  or  produce  such  fine  sticks.  The  operation  of  forcing  is  one 
of  the  simplest  matters  connected  with  gardening  in  those  instances 
in  which  a  Mushroom  house  exists.  The  roots  simply  require  to  be 
packed  closely  together  with  some  light  rich  soil  worked  between 
them  so  as  to  cover  all  up  to  a  level  with  the  crowns.  A  thorough 
watering  should  then  be  given,' the  house  darkened,  and  a  temperature 
of  from  65°  to  60°  be  maintained.  These  temperatures  are  more 
suitable  than  higher  ones,  which  cause  the  crowns  to  start  unevenly, 
and  the  roots  sometimes  to  rot.  After  the  first  watering  the  soil 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  become  fairly  dry  before  more  is  given,  as 
constantly  moist  soil  causes  the  fleshy  roots  to  rot  b  idly.  I  like  to 
use  the  water  at  a  temperature  of  80°,  as  the  sticks  then  seem  to 
grow  more  quickly  than  when  water  at  a  lower  temperature  is  given. 
It  is  not  every  gardener  who  can  afford  to  devote  space  in  a 
Mushroom  house  for  the  above  purpose.  An  excellent  substitute  may 
be  found  in  deep  heated  or  unheattd  pits.  If  the  latter  are  employed, 
S  or  4  feet  of  fermenting  material,  formed  of  leaves  and  stable  manure, 
ought  to  be  placed  in  the  bottom,  each  layer  being  beaten  firmly  with 
the  back  of  a  fork  as  the  work  proceeds.  The  rank  heat  will  pass  off 
in  a  few  days.  A  6-inch  layer  of  soil  should  then  be  placed  over  the 
fermenting  material  before  the  roots  are  packed  upon  it,  and  surrounded 
with  soil.  When  this  is  done  give  water,  close  the  lights,  and  cover 
with  mats  to  keep  out  light.  It  is  quite  possible  to  produce  Rhubarb 
by  Christmas  in  an  unheated  shed,  but  to  do  so  fermenting  material  is 
necessary.  Roots  placed  in  boxes  in  comparatively  warm  cellars  often 
grow  very  quickly,  and  supply  good  sticks  during  January.  Vineries 
which  have  been  started  also  afford  many  odd  corners  in  which  a 
few  roots  may  be  placed,  always,  of  course,  taking  the  precaution  to 
darken  such  positions. 
In  cases  where  this  delicious  esculent  is  in  great  demand  large 
quantities  may  be  forced  underneath  the  stages  in  forcing  and  plant 
houses  without  costing  a  penny  in  extra  fire  heat.  Market  growers 
adopt  this  plan  largely,  as  Rhubarb  forcing  under  such  conditions  is 
profitable  if  one  grows  their  own  roots,  but  it  does  not  pay  to  buy 
roots  for  the  purpose,  except  as  a  means  of  working  up  a  stock  as  well. 
I  have  a  low  span-roofed  house,  in  which  the  temperature  ranges 
from  55°  to  65°,  according  to  the  weather.  The  stage  is  formed  of 
slates,  covered  with  ashes.  Under  the  stage,  on  either  side  of  the 
walk,  are  two  hot-water  pipes,  and  between  these  pipes  and  the  outer 
wall  is  a  space  of  2  feet;  we  are  now  by  degrees  filling  this  space  with 
roots.  A  board  is  placed  against  the  pipes,  the  roots  packed  in  closely, 
surrounded  with  soil,  and  well  watered.  Mats  are  then  fastened  from 
the  stage  to  the  ground  to  shut  out  light,  and  I  shall  be  much 
mistaken  if  the  results  are  not  excellent  in  every  way,  as  Uctmsider 
the  position  to  be  an  ideal  one  in  which  to  force  Rhubarb. 
I  orcing  in  the  open  ground  should  commence  in  January  by  placing 
large  drain  pipes,  barrels,  or  boxes  over  the  roots,  and  surrounding 
them  with  fermenting  material  to  a  depth  of  3  or  4  feet,  covering  the 
tops  of  “  the  wooden  or  earthenware  walls  ”  also.  If  such  are  not  at 
command,  a  few  strong  green  stakes  driven  firmly  into  the  ground, 
and  fastened  together  at  the  points  to  form  a  cone,  will  serve  the 
purpose  ot  keeping  the  rough  materials  from  the  crowns,  and  answer 
almost  as  well  as  barrels — not  quite,  though,  for  there  will  be  greater 
difficulty  in  pulling  the  produce  when  ready.  ‘ 
Roots  which  have  been  forced  in  houses  or  sheds  should  be  placed 
in  a  cool  structure  lor  a  week  or  ten  days  before  being  planted  in  the 
open  air  again,  mild  weather  being  selected  for  the  latter  operation. 
Divide  each  clurnp  into  a  number  of  single  crowns,  and  plant  a  yard 
apart  in  rich  deeply  dug  soil.  When  a  good  stock  of  roots  has  been 
secured,  those  lifted  for  forcing  should  be  consigned  to  the  rubbish 
heap,  as  they  do  not  form  into  fine  plants  so  quickly  as  divided  roots 
from  the  open  air.  I  have,  however,  on  many  occasions  planted  out 
forced  roots  to  increase  the  stock  with  satisfactory  results.  The  usuil 
method  of  preparing  roots  specially  for  forcing  is  to  divide  old  stools 
in  winter,  set  them  a  yard  apart,  and  allow  them  to  remain  three 
years  before  they  are  lifted  for  forcing. 
The  most  suitable  varieties  for  this  purpose  are  Early  Red,  a  highly 
coloured  sort  with  rather  small  sticks  ;  the  best  I  have  tried  for  early 
forcing.  Hawke’s  Champagne  is  excellent  to  form  a  succession,  and 
Victoria  I  think  cannot  be  beaten  for  later  use,  as  the  sticks  are  thick 
and  of  grand  colour.  Marshall’s  Royal  Early  is  said  to  be  the  earliest 
known  variety;  I  have  not  tried  it,  but  hope  to  do  so  this  year. 
— Kitchen  Gardener. 
PAINFUL  SIGHTS. 
Perhaps  the  saddest  sight  in  all  the  world  is  a  neglected  child,  and 
to  be  neglected  the  child  may  not  belong  to  the  poorest  section  of  the 
community.  It  is  often  in  high  places  and  among  lovely  surroundings 
that  a  child  is  fimnd  entirely  left  to  itself,  living  a  dreary  little  life  of 
isolation,  with  no  hand  to  train  and  no  loving  tender  care  to  expand 
the  nobler  qualities  of  the  little  being. 
Next  to  a  neglected  child  is  a  neglected  or  ill-managed  garden. 
These  are  more  plentiful,  we  think,  than  the  neglected  children  ;  but 
they  are  a  sorry  sight.  A  garden  is  meant  to  be  restful — a  continual 
pleasure,  a  constant  joy — and  this  not  only  to  the  owner  but  to  all 
chance  observers.  We  do  not  live  to  ourselves,  we  should  not  garden 
for  ourselves.  During  the  last  few  months  our  lot  has  been  cast  in  a 
town,  or  rather  the  suburbs.  We  have  explored  a  good  deal;  we 
wanted  to  be  interested  in  our  new  surroundings.  Gardening  had 
always  been  a  source  of  keen  pleasure  to  us,  and  we  wanted  to  learn 
by  observation  how  to  make  the  best  of  small  plots. 
Where  land  is  sold  by  the  square  foot  it  behoves  the  occupier  to 
stock  to  the  best  advantage ;  it  is  a  different  thing  when  there  is 
unlimited  room,  where  you  can  take  down  a  fence  and  add  a  bit  here 
and  a  corner  there,  and  accommodate  all  your  plants  with  exactly  the 
situation  they  most  affect.  Gardening  is  easy  in  these  cases.  A  new 
house  is  being  built  close  to  us,  or  rather  several,  very  nice,  pretty, 
and  convenient,  a  piece  of  land  railed  off  for  a  garden  and  left. 
Well,  the  builder  appears  to  think  soil  is  soil,  and  so  far  he  is  right; 
but  how  any  man  on  earth  could  expect  the  strongest  plants  to  flourish 
in  the  home  provided  is  more  than  we  can  imagine.  The  jobbing 
gardeuer  comes  round,  he  makes  a  grumble  or  two — he  does  know  a 
little  about  soil  constituents,  but  he  cannot  or  dare  not  say  much,  for 
new  fresh  soil  means  expense — carting  is  a  serious  item  in  a  town — 
and  if  he  is  allowed  a  load  or  two  it  is  not  sufficient.  It  is  wonderful 
how  small  a  heap  comes  out  of  a  cart,  it  shows  nowhere  on  a  border. 
Manure,  too,  is  a  difficulty ;  it  is  dear,  not  easy  to  meet  with,  tiresome 
and  awkward  of  management  (we  refer  here  to  the  good  farmyard 
article).  You  may  do  a  great  deal  with  hand  tillages,  but  as  a  sub¬ 
strata  do  use  some  real  good  decayed  manure. 
The  garden  is  arranged  without  any  provision  for  shelter  from  the 
prevalent  winds,  aud  what  an  enemy  wind  is  nobody  but  a  town 
gardener  knows.  Red  brick  is  the  univeral  building  material — 
very  startling  in  colour  no  doubt — and  the  first  idea  seems  to  be  to 
clothe  and  subdue  the  brick.  Very  well,  very  good.  Ivy  is  planted — 
just  about  twice  as  many  plants  as  necessary.  Of  course  Ivy  does  not 
rob  the  borders  of  vitality.  Oh,  no !  Flowers  must  just  thrive  as 
well  where  the  ground  is  fairlj  lifted  with  Ivy  roots  as  in  a  clear 
space.  We  are  surprised  to  see  so  little  Ampelopsis  Veitchi?  it  does 
well  where  it  is  properly  planted.  Of  course  the  argument  is  winter 
bareness ;  but  there  is  no  bareness  where  the  network  of  small  branches 
is  to  be  seen,  and  then  the  delicate  greenery  of  early  spring  and  the 
glorious  hues  of  autumn  are  simply  beyond  words. 
One  great  fault  we  have  to  find  with  our  Ivy-clad  wall  is  the 
harbour  it  makes  for  snails.  We  go  out  night  after  night  snail  hunting, 
and  yet  the  supply  does  not  materially  decrease.  Less  Ivy,  fewer 
evergreens.  Small  gardens  are  not  suitable  for  Portuguese  Laurels, 
Yews  (Irish  or  otherwise),  and  big  Arbor  Vitaes.  The  fault  is  that 
the  shrubs  are  planted  too  thickly.  You  rarely  see  a  shapely  shrub  ; 
nothing  can  do  well  in  a  crowd. 
Then  the  monotony  of  these  town  gardens  is  so  terrible.  The 
jobbiDg  gardener’s  sole  idea  seems  to  be  to  put  in  as  many  plants  as 
possible  (he  is  paid  by  the  score),  and  his  taste  (taking  him  as  a  class), 
is  very  poor.  Henry  Jacoby  “  Geraniums,”  and  Nasturtiums  of  a 
similar  hue,  we  saw  recently  in  stone  vases.  How  much  better  a 
contrast  would  have  been  !  There  is  so  little  white,  and  no  blue, 
save  Lobelia,  in  these  gardens.  A  wonderful  effect  could  be  got  by 
some  strong  plants  of  really  good  white  Candytuft.  It  is  easily 
grown  and  compact ;  and  where  is  there  a  better  blue  than  Salvia 
patens  ?  but  we  will  warrant  you  may  travel  miles  in  town  suburbs 
without  seeing  one  plant.  There  is  no  prettier,  cheaper  creeper,  than 
Golden  Moneywort,  found  all  along  our  river  bank,  but  only  two  or 
three  people  have  a  bit  of  it  in  their  gardens. 
A  row  of  standard  Roses  is  generally  planted.  One  catalogue  does 
