12 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND.  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  0.  '900. 
Once  Here  Rliubarb! 
“^And,”  I  can  quite  uiiderBland  some  non-Rhubarb  lover  saying, 
“let  us  ho[)e  for  the  "last  time.”  I  know  to  many  gardeners  in 
private  establishments  v'here  the  demand  for  Rhubarb  is  small  this 
crop  is  considered  a  very  ordinary  and  even  commonplace  one  ;  put  in 
some  out-of-the-way  corner,  some  dozen  or  so  of  roots  of  Victoria,  with 
the  same  for  early  use  of  Early  Red  or  Linnaeus  are  all  that  is  necessary 
for  their  requirements.  Rut,  my  good  friends,  let  me  say  that  there 
are  places  where  Rhubarb  is  in  use  nearly  all  the  year  round,  and, 
therefore,  as  in  my  case,  the  roots  of  this  esculent  run  into  three 
figures,  and  the  varieties  into  a  round  dozen,  and  where,  even  now, 
June  18th,  I  have  taken  in  my  third  stone  of  sticks  to  be  converted 
into  jam,  besides  a  daily  pulling  ;  so  that  with  me  Rhubarb  is  a  main 
crop,  and  so  it  may  be  with  a  few  others. 
I  know  also  that  it  is  difficult  to  put  into  acceptable  words  any 
account  of  this  crop  which  will  commend  it  to  the  generality  of 
readers — I  mean  private  gardener  readers ;  the  market  people  do  not 
need  to  read  about  it,  as  they  have  their  own  way  of  growing  it,  and 
their  own  special  varieties  which  answer  all  their  needs. 
Again  I  know,  we  all  know,  that  at  this  time  moat  men’s  minds 
are  so  tilled  with  Imperial  subjects,  especially  the  South  African  war 
and  the  disturbances  in  China,  that  really  practical  subjects  treated  of 
in  useful  valuable  articles  in  our  gardening  papers  get  scant  attention, 
and  certainly  a  subject  like  mine  can  have  little  notice.  I  do  not 
expect  it. 
Still,  there  may  be  a  few  who  care  for  it,  and  as  I  have  about  seven 
varieties  all  growing  together  on  trial,  for  experimental  purposes, 
I  thought  that  the  result  of  that  experiment,  as  far  as  it  has  gone, 
would  be  interesting  to  those  few. 
My  experiment  was  undertaken  to  prove  three  things — earliness, 
colour  and  flavour,  and  productiveness.  The  seven  sorts  I  planted 
last  year,  through  which  season  they  were  of  course  not  pulled  from 
— 1,  Chiswick  Early  Red;  2,  Hawkes’  Champagne;  3,  Lister’s  Cherry 
Red;  4,  Baldry’s  IScarlet  Defiance;  5,  Kelway’s  Crimson  Queen ; '6, 
Stuart  &  Mein’s  Seedling ;  7,  “  The  Sutton  ”  Rhubarb. 
As  to  earliness,  Chiswick  Early  Red  and  Hawkes’  Champagne, 
which  need  no  description,  being  so  well  known,  are  the  first,  and  as 
near  as  possible  together,  but  Hawke.-^’  gives  better  stuff,  and  of 
higher  colour,  in  the  early  stages  than  Chiswick  does ;  bit  Chiswick 
has  a  quicker  growth  later,  and  once  over  its  first  flowers  it  will 
send  up  a  succession  of  young  succulent  stalks  that  are  of 
inestimable  value  to  the  daily  user.  Hawkes’,  however,  taken  as  a 
whole,  has  one  or  two  marks  more  to  it  than  Chiswick.  Kelway’s 
Crimson  Queen  comes  about  a  week  later,  but  is  a  slow  grower 
and  producer,  and  so  like  Salt’s  Crimson  Perfection  that  you  can 
scarce  tell  one  from  the  other,  high  colour  is  p«bout  all  that  one 
can  say  for  it. 
Lister’s  Cherry  Red  and  Baldry’s  Scarlet  Defiance  come  together, 
and  are  about  ten  days  or  a  fortnight  later  than  Hawkes’  and 
Chiswick.  With  me  Lister’s  Rhubarb  has  the  same  good  qualities  as 
the  Black  Hamburgh  basin  Grapes  ;  it  is  one  of  the  moat  reliable;  a 
true  gardener’s  friend  and  the  cook’s  favourite,  giving  stout  sticks, 
high  in  colour  and  of  good  flavour,  and  constantly  produced.  Baldry’s 
has  not  come  up  to  my  standard  in  productiveness  and  earliness, 
and  here  I  must  bring  out  that  never  to  be  forgotten  fact  in 
gardening — the  curious  influence  of  soil  and  climate  on  nearly 
everything  growm  in  a  garden.  That  must  be  taken  account  of 
even  in  a  Rhubarb  experiment ! 
It  was  through  the  good  offices  of  our  editorial  chief  that 
“  N.  N.”  sent  me  roots  of  Baldry’s  Rhubarb  for  my  experiment, 
and  during  the  summer  previous  to  doing  so  he  sent  sample  sticks, 
which  were  idealistic  in  quality  both  as  to  colour,  flavour,  succulence, 
•  and  crispness.  My  soil  and  climate  have  not  brought  out  all  these 
good  points,  as  it  was  a  third  as  to  earliness,  only  ordinary  as  to 
productivenes.a,  but  as  to  quality  of  first-class  excellence.  On  taking 
a  gathering  in  for  stewing  one  day  I  asked  our  cook  to  keep  it 
separate  and  report  on  it.  The  report  was,  “Very  good;  e.xcellent  in 
both  colour  and  flavour.”  Perhaps  another  year’s  growth  may 
develop  its  other  known  good  qualities ;  but  as  a  faithful  historian  I 
am  at  this  stage  compelled  to  write  as  I  do. 
Stuart  &  Mein’s  Seedling,  which  I  understand  is  a  cross  between 
Stott’s  Monarch  and  Victoria,  is  the  model  of  a  Rhubarb  where  extra 
earliness  and  high  colour  are  not  desiderata.  It  comes  in  with 
Victoria,  which  is  about  a  fortnight  or  a  little  more  after  Hawkes’ 
and  Chiswick.  It  has  the  stoutest,  crispest  of  young  stalks  :  they 
are  almost  transparent,  with  no  fibre  in  them,  and  are  of  sur¬ 
passing  sweetness,  there  being  less  of  what  is  to  some  that  very 
objectionable  acid  than  in  any  other  Rhubarb  I  have  tasted.  Indeed, 
this  sweetness,  with  the  light  culour,  caused  our  cook  to  s.iy  that, 
cut  small,  “it  would  make  good  Apricot  jam.”  Its  habit  of  growth 
is  close  and  compact,  taking  up  little  room,  and  where  space  is  an 
object  that  is  a  strong  point  in  its  favour.  By  reason  of  some  of 
these  points  I  am  very  favourably  impressed  with  it. 
“The  Sutton”  Rhubirb  is  a  splendidly  vigorous,  strong,  and 
upright  grower;  inde.d,  it  is  so  stiff -and  dignified  in  its  habit  that 
we  have  called  it  the  Lord  Mayor.  There’s  such  a  large  amount 
of  civic  official  dignity  about  it,  as  if  it  said,  “  Lo  k  at  me ;  I  am 
somebody,”  as  to  be  most  amusing.  But  it  was  more  than  amusing 
to  us  when,  the  wind  being  in  a  frolic  one  day,  it  ran  all  round  it, 
and  in  and  out  of  the  stems  and  big  leaves,  and  finally  with  a 
shriek  of  apparent  delight,  brought  down  to  the  ground  some  of  the 
strongest  sticks  with  the  largest  leaves  and  levelled  them,  and  there 
they  lay  in  prostrate  humility.  I  should  rather  like  to  know  the 
parentage  of  this  Rhubarb;  there’s  certainly  Victoria,  and  I  think 
Hawkes’  blood  in  it.  As  to  the  last  I  am  not  quite  sure,  because  it 
shows  no  sign  of  red  colouring  from  one  end  of  the  stems  to  the  other. 
It  is  a  tremendous  grower,  and  will  make  a  grand  forcing  Rhubarb, 
and  I  shall  take  care  of  it  and  multiply  it  for  thit  purpose,  if  for 
nothing  else. 
Well,  now,  what  is  the  lesson  of  this  experiment?  The  lesson  to 
me  is,  that  I  am  satisfied  for  all  practical  purposes  I  could  reduce  my 
many  vaiieties  to  three  or  four.  Hawkes’  Champagne,  and  perhaps 
Ghiswick  Early  Red,  Lister’s  Cherry  Red,  an!  Victoria  for  forcing. 
For  a  variety  of  reasons,  however,  I  shall  keep  one  or  two  others,  as 
B.ildry’s  Scarlet  Defiance,”  and  “  The  Sutton  ”  and  Stuart  and  Meins’ 
Seedling.  I  am  waiting,  also,  now  for  Daws’  Champion,  which 
Mr.  Poupart  of  Twickenham  tells  me  he  hopes  to  sen'd  out  this 
autumn.  If  half  that  has  been  said  of  it  be  found  to  be  true  in 
my  soil  and  climate,  then  it  will  be  an  acquisition  both  as  to 
earliness,  size,  colour,  and  flavour.  It  may  well  be  asked,  But 
w’hat  is  the  use  of  trying  so  many  new  things,  especially  such  a 
thing  as  Rhubarb? 
The  answer  must  be,  that  every  gardener  worth  his  salt  wants  to 
grow  the  best  of  every  crop,  and  he  can  only  do  this  by  trying  and 
trying  what  suits  his  place,  and  satisfies  his  requirements  in  the 
novelties  which  are  being  constantly  sent  out.  A  gardener’s  education 
is  never  completed.  He  is  a  le.irner  up  to  the  last  day  he  works  in 
his  garden.  At  least,  that  is  the  opinion  of — N.  H.  P. 
Sefton  Part  Palm  fjoase. 
This  important  gift  to  the  city  of  Liverpool  by  H.  Tates 
Thompson,  Esq.,  was  opened  in  October,  1896,  and,  as  no  particulars 
of  the  dimensions  have  appeared,  it  may  interest  readers  to  know  that 
it  is  133  feet  to  the  outer  side  of  the  porches.  Dome  from  floor 
82  feet,  diameter  55  feet ;  upper  dome  13  feet,  diameter  15  feet. 
Ninety  tons  of  polished  granite  were  used,  200  tons  of  steel,  20  tons 
of  glass,  4000  feet  of  piping ;  the  concrete  floor  swallowed  up  600  tons 
of  material.  The  ship  surmounting  the  dome  is  6  feet  long  by  6|  feet 
high,  and  is  an  exact  copy  of  that  which  carried  Columbus  to  America. 
Mr.  Thompson  is  also  having  placed  on  the  outside  pedestals  excellent 
life  size  figures,  there  being  now  those  of  Darwin,  Linnaeus,  Captain 
Cook,  and  others. 
The  interior  presents  a  charming  appearance — plenty  of  floor  space 
and  good  seating  accommodation,  with  several  handsome  pieces  of 
sculpture.  The  view  depicted  was  taken  at  a  time  when  everything 
seemed  to  be  in  strict  accord.  There  were  the  beautiful  background  of 
giant  Palms  and  Ferns,  the  magnificent  groups  of  Lilium  Harrisi  and 
Spiraeas  rising  from  the  base  and  looking  down,  as  it  were,  on  the 
chaste  and  beautiful  scene,  and  with  the  figure  of  Highland  Mary  by 
Spence,  and  the  exquisite  lines  of  Burns  — 
“  The  golden  hours  on  angel  wings 
Flew  o’er  me  and  ray  dearie. 
For  dear  to  me  as  light  and  life 
Was  my  sweet  Highland  Mary.” 
went  to  make  up  au  attractive  picture.  My  thanks  are  due  to 
Mr.  Herbert,  the  curator  of  the  Parks,  and  to  Mr.  White,  who-  has 
charge  of  the  Palm  house,  for  their  courtesy  Aud  kindness. — R.  P.  R. 
