Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-06-11
CULTURE OF THE PIE PLANT.

| scientists as one of our most wholesome
acid foods. fact due, according TO Pro
| fessor Wood. to the presence of oxalate of
| lime
Peter Henderson, i'll his handbook of
| plants says rhubarb should be found in
every well-appointed kitchen garden. 1t is
of the very easiest culture, and will grow
in open sunshine or in partial shade; but
| for its best development a deep, rich and
well drained soil in open sunshine is most
| favorable Where wanted only for private
| or family Use dozen or so of plants will be
amply sufficient, and the roots for starting
! these can De had cheaply from almost any
| nurseryman; but when wanted in larger
| quantity for market purposes ii is best to
| procure seed and SOW it in seed bed,
| transplanting the young plants when large
| enough to handle. The only thing against
this seed plan is that the rhubarb not
| coming entirely true 10 variety from seed,
| may give plants not entirely uniform in APP
| pearance. which would make somewhat
| against a market product. On this account
| the Massachusetts Ploughman thinks a
patch set by root divisions would generally
| be more preferable even though it did cost
a little more With root divisions one is
| sure to secure uniformity, and also a
| moderate crop the first year after planting,
| which last could not be expected of seed
| lings.
| In planting by root division the old roots
| are cut up with Ratchet into sets con-
| tanning one or two good eyes each, with 4
good piece of root attached; these sets are
Planted at any convenient time in early
spring; or, if more convenient, they may be
planted in the fall. Plant the sets in rows
four feet apart, one good eye in place distant
three feet apart in the rows, the land hay
ing been made very rich previously with
heavy dressing of manure. Clean culture is
all that is required the first year, and little
or no cropping of the stems allowed. The
next year about half crop of stalks may
be pulled. and later for several years the
bed, if well manured and cultivated, will
yield very heavy crops; but after cropping
five OF six years the old roots spread and
crowd so much that the stalks grow small.
and then it will save labor in punching and
selling to pow up and reset the beds.
The chief labor required for this crop is
the pulling of leaves and trimming >and
punching the stems for market A little
system in the work helps much in despatch
ing it, and in getting the product into mar
ket in attractive shape. Pulling begins
when the leaf stalks are only six or eight
inches long: the man who pulls them lays
them down in haudfulls along the row.
another follows with sharp knife and
trims of the leaves in the field, the stalks
are then gathered up in wheelbarrow and
carried 10 the wash-house or shed. where
they are tied up neatly in punches, the
frame in which the punches are formed be-
ing placed on q platform scale so as TO have
all the punches of even weight: little care
in packing the stalks will be well repaid by
attractiveness Of appearance of the punches.
The varieties of rhubarb usually grown
for market are the Linn;nus and the Vic
toria. The Linneus is grown only in small
quantities for its earliness, being less at
tractive than the other, which is the staple
variety. When well grown on rich land,
ductive-forty tons per acre is not an unus-
uai yield; the price ranges from } cents to
one-half cent per pound, averaging usually
about l cent TO IL cents for the season. 1t
is an extremely easy crop to grow and one
troubled by neither disease or insect enc
mics
Rhubarb grows well in Texas and might
doubtless be made paving crop here for
our market gardeners, though, strange TO
say. it seems to be almost wholly neglected
Our people use great deal of it early in
the season, shipping it from Kansas and
other regions above us. Its regular price
at Fort Worth for the present season has
been 1875 cents pound.
Now, figure little on what forty tons of
rhubarb would come TO at 12ls cents a
pound and You will have an array of figures
somewhat startling. While there is no
reason whatever for surprising that Texas
might not grow as much rhubarb to the
acre Us could be grown in any other region
of country. it is scarcely probable that we
shall soon be aspiring to so princely an an
nual return on an acre of Texas soil. One
cent a pound would be generally looked
upon as a good enough thing for us, we take
it. on forty tons to the acre. costing no more
10 raise than an acre OF cabbage or Irish |
potatoes. But the exhibit is full of interest, |
nevertheless, as showing what we are pay |
ing ont for an acres product of some other |
section, the which might just as well be |
raised here and al a cost of less than half |
hundred dollars.
There IS no more guess work about rhu- |
barb's doing well in Texas. for many private |
gardens here and there over the state have |
plants of it growing splendidly. 1t is purely |
Il spring crop, hence as 4 crop il would en- /
tirely miss our possible summer droutns. |
Our truck farmers might make.a good thing
Of it as an early crop TO ship North, where |
they could put it upon the markets month !
Or so in advance Of the home product. BY |
forcing it in cheap greenhouses they could |
have it on the market there throughout the |
winter.
Should we desire TO make rhubarb one of
Of our regular truck crops in Texas we have
natural advantages that would leave us
without competition, so far as relates to the
early truck growing regions along the coast
east of the Mississippi river The rhubarb
must have mineral elements not natural in