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Rhubarb. A garden vegetable, perennial, grown for the thick acid
leaf-stalks which are used in spring for sauces and pies.
Rhubarb, known also as pie-plant, is a hardy plant and will withstand
considerable neglect, yet, like most cultivated vegetables, it responds
readily to proper care and good treatment. The large fleshy leaf-stems
desired in culinary use are produced in part by the great store of
plant-food held in reserve by the many big roots. Everything should be
done to increase this supply of reserve food. Tillage and fertilizing,
therefore, are fundamentals. In the choosing of a site a southern
exposure is preferred, with sufficient slope to give good drainage.
Plow the ground 6 to 8 inches deep, draw furrows 5 feet apart, set the
plants 3 feet apart, with the buds 1 inch below the level of the
ground. In home grounds, spade or trench the land deep, and set about 4
feet apart each way; or if in only one row or line with plenty of room
on either side, the plants may go 3 feet or even as close as 2 1/2 feet
if they are well manured and often renewed. If the soil lacks in
fertility, mix compost with the earth that is placed about the roots;
never put fresh manure next to the roots. As soon after planting as
possible, start the cultivator, and give a thorough stirring at
intervals of six to eight days up to the middle or last of August.
After the ground is frozen, cover the rows 3 to 4 inches deep with
manure that is as free as possible from weed and grass seed. As early
in the spring as the ground can be worked to advantage, start the
cultivator and work the manure into the soil. Each alternate season the
surface of the soil should have a good dressing of manure. For garden
culture, a similar practice should be undertaken with the hoe or other
hand tools.
In field culture, the third or fourth year after planting the hills
should be divided. Remove the earth from one side of the hill and with
a sharp spade cut through the crown, leaving three or four buds in the
hill undisturbed. This work should be done in the fall or early in the
spring. In garden culture, the teds should be similarly renewed, at
least as often as every four or five years, but more pains may be taken
in dividing the plants. The clumps of roots grow so large, and have so
many eyes, that the stalks soon become more numerous than desirable,
and run down in size. Take up the entire roots and cut them in pieces,
leaving only one strong eye to the piece, and plant the pieces in a
newly prepared bed (or even in the old one if properly enriched and
prepared)4 feet apart each way as before.
Seed-stems are produced freely the entire season These should be
promptly pulled up, unless seed is wanted. The growth of these stems
and the production of seed tend to lessen the vitality of the plant and
to reduce the yield.
Propagation of rhubarb is commonly by division the roots, and this is
the only method by which a par-ticular type can be increased.
Propagation from seed, however, sometimes proves satisfactory, and
always interesting as the seedlings vary greatly. The seed germinates
easily, and if started early the plant become fairly large and strong
the same season. The may be started in any good clean garden soil. Sow
seed in early spring, in rows a foot apart and not over an inch deep.
Thin the plants promptly to stand a few inches apart in the rows, and
give the same thorough tillage allowed to other garden crops. In the
following fall or spring take the seedlings up, and set them in the
well-prepared per-manent patch, not less than 4 feet apart each way,
and till frequently the entire season. In spring of the next year the
stalks may be pulled freely.
From ten to twenty good plants should supply the needs of the usual
family, and probably with something to spare for the neighbors.
Sometimes an early supply is secured by placing a bottomless barrel or
box over the plant and piling warm horse-manure about it. If the
barrel, keg, or box is not too broad, the petioles will make a straight
upright growth and will be partially blanched and very tender. Victoria
and Linnaeus are the leading varieties. L. H. B.
Forcing of rhubarb.
In the winter and early spring months, the forcing of rhubarb in the
vicinity of many city markets is a profitable industry. The plant may
be forced either in the field where the roots were grown or lifted and
placed in hotbeds, under greenhouse benches or in cellars. The bulk of
the rhubarb forced for market and sold during the winter months is
grown in cheap structures placed over the plants in the field. These
houses may be of the lean-to type, although they are more commonly
even-span post and rafter construction, the roof being covered with
hotbed sash which is not needed for other purposes at the time. The
side walls are 4 to 5 feet high, made of rough boards and covered with
cheap building-paper. The even-span houses are mostly 24 to 36 feet
wide and the lean-to house half that width. Heat is usually applied in
an overhead system, steam being the most popular, although late in the
season the sun is depended upon to supply the required amount of heat.
When forced in the field in limited quantities, coldframes are often
used, the outside walls being well banked with hot manure and the
surface of the ground within the frames covered with 3 to 6 inches of
the same material.
Beds intended for early spring forcing should be thoroughly cultivated
in the fall and an application made of high-grade commercial fertilizer
of 800 to 1,000 pounds to the acre. When growth starts, a dressing of
nitrate of soda at the rate of one-half pound to a crown should be
given. In field forcing, the moisture of the soil is usually sufficient
so that no water is applied. When it is the intention to use a field
for forcing for several years, the plants are usually set 2 by 3 feet
and the land fertilized heavily each spring with a compost, one made
from cow- and hog-manure being preferred. The sash are placed upon the
first houses as soon as the roots have been frozen, five to seven weeks
being necessary to bring the plants to maturity.
In field forcing, the cost of production is often greatly reduced by
growing spinach or dandelion between the
rows, the price obtained for these fillers usually being sufficient to
pay labor and maintenance costs. The stalks are usually pulled twice,
returning to the grower from $1 to $2 a sash, depending upon the season
when placed upon the market.
Roots for forcing in the dark should be healthy and vigorous; the
larger the roots the more satisfactory the results as a general rule.
Crowns three to five years of age are mostly used, although
satisfactory results are often obtained from one-year-old plants which
have been grown on very rich land and have made an unchecked growth
during the season. The roots should be dug early in the fall before the
ground freezes and allowed to remain exposed to the weather until they
are frozen solid when they should either be removed to a shed or
covered with litter in the field to prevent alternate freezing and
thawing. Thorough freezing is necessary, whatever the method of
forcing, if the best resulte are to be obtained. With one-year roots
very satisfactory results are sometimes secured if the roots are
thoroughly dried before forcing. Anesthetics have been tried as a
substitute for freezing but with unsatisfactory results. When used upon
frozen roots they stimulate growth, resulting in the production of
earlier and larger stalks with greater total weight of product. If the
greatest benefit is to be derived from the anesthetic, it must be used
in the early part of the resting-period. The most satisfactory results
have been obtained by the use of 10 cubic centimeters of sulfuric ether
to a cubic foot of space, exposing the roots to the fumes for
forty-eight hours. Well-grown two-year-old roots seem to respond to
this treatment in the most satisfactory way.
As soon as the roots are placed in position, whether it be under the
greenhouse benches or in the cellar, all spaces should be filled with
soil or ashes to prevent evaporation. If placed on a concrete floor, 2
or 3 inches of soil should be placed under the roots and sufficient
material should be added completely to cover the roots. The bed as soon
as completed should be thoroughly watered, the plants kept supplied
with an abundance of moisture, which will necessitate water being
applied about once a week. Care should be taken to guard against
over-watering as this will result in the production of light-colored
stalks, lacking in flavor and texture. In order to obtain the most
attractive product, rhubarb should not be forced in full light or total
darkness. If grown in diffused light, the development of the leaf-blade
is very slight and the color of the stalk, instead of being green, is a
beautiful dark cherry-red, giving to the product a very attractive
appearance. In quality the product is superior to that forced in light,
being more tender, less acid, with a skin so thin and tender as to make
it unnecessary to peel the stalks. The temperature may range from 45°
to 75°, the lower the temperature the greater the yield and higher the
quality of the product. The time required for bringing a crop to
maturity in darkness is practically the same as that required for
forcing in the field.
Local market demands to a certain extent govern the method which is
used in growing this crop for the winter market. When grown by any
method which requires the lifting of the roots, it must be remembered
that they are worthless after having produced a crop. Therefore, this
method cannot be practised with as great profit upon expensive land as
can the method of field forcing or when roots were used for forcing
which otherwise would be destroyed. Rhubarb-forcing in house cellars
should receive more attention, as it adds at slight expense a pleasing
vegetable to the winter dietary.
Whatever the method practised, success will be attained only when
healthy well-developed roots, which have been allowed to freeze, are
used.
The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.
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