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Planting Rhubarbs

Rhubarb isnative to eastern Asia. In the U.S. it is apopular herbaceous, very hardy perennial whichis grown in nearly all home gardens. LikeAsparagus it must be located in the garden plotso that normal annual garden work does notdisturb the plant. A few plants, 5-1o, at the sideof the garden will supply all that a family canuse fresh, canned or frozen.

Rhubarb thrives best in regions having cool,moist summers and winters cold enough tofreeze the ground to a depth of several inches.It is not adapted to most sections of the South.

Varieties

`Victoria' is a vigorous-growing variety thatproduces very large stalks of a somewhat greencolor. 'Mac Donald' and 'Valentine' are gener-ally preferred because of the deep red color tothe stalks. Other names listed by seedsmeninclude 'Ruby' and 'Strawberry', both of whichhave red stalks but are generally less vigorous.`Linneas' is also an old standard variety.

Soil Preparation

Any deep, well-drained, fertile soil is suitablefor Rhubarb. The method of soil preparationoutlined for Asparagus is suitable for Rhubarb.

Rhubarb

See ASPARAGUS. The use of a good applicationof manure, however, is even more importantfor Rhubarb than is the case for Asparagus.Rhubarb has a deeper, more fleshy root systemthan Asparagus.

Planting and Season Care

A piece of root containing a strong bud,under favorable conditions, will produce astrong plant in 1 year. Old plants may bedivided in the fall or early Spring into 4-8 partsfor use in starting a new bed. Spring planting ispreferred.

The root "steckling" or a single section of adivided clump is placed at the bottom of atrench 8-to in. deep and covered with soil to adepth of 3-4 in. As soon as the young stalksappear the soil is again pulled in to fill thetrench or hill.

Rhubarb is sometimes grown in the cellar forwinter use.

After the first year top dress each plant in thespring with a forkful of manure. If manure isnot available apply 1 lb. of a complete fertilizer(5-8-7 or 5-to-5) around each hill. Rhubarb isa gross feeder and is not readily over-fertilized.

Remove seed stalks as soon as they appear.No stem should be harvested until the secondyear. From the third year on the leaf stalks maybe pulled when they reach a proper size forapproximately 4 weeks. -Use only the leaf stalk,not the leaf itself.

Forcing

Dig up a few plants in the fall, place in aprotected spot where they will not dry out butwhere they will freeze. After freezing for severalweeks, place the roots in a box in the cellar cover the crowns with several inches of soil orsand and apply just enough water to keep thesoil or sand moist. A temperature of 5o0-65° F.is ideal. Light is not necessary and actuallystalks develop more color in the dark.

Roots that have been forced should not bereset into the garden.

Rhubarb is not generally injured by insectsor diseases.

The leaves of this commongarden food plant are poisonous. The leafstalks or petioles only are commonly eaten, butthe leaves, when eaten by humans, have causedsevere poisoning.

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