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Show Rhubarb. How few rhubarb plants one acea growing and bow nice that old-fash loned spring tonic is! Considering tbe fact that it costs practically nothing noth-ing to plant It and the planta come up year after year, there la no reaaon why we ahould not, all of ua, have all of the pieplant pie that we can eat every spring. Half a dozen hills will supply cn average family. Harvest time for rhubarb Is tba spring and early summer, but we frequently fre-quently get a second crop in tbe fall. Sandy loam is best for this plant, but It will grow well in any rich, warm, moist soli. You cannot get the soli too rich for rhubarb, and it docs not atand drouth very well Do not try to grow the plants from aeed If you can secure root cuttings from a good, strong old hill. Each cutting should have two buda or eyes. Plant them in rows three feet apart, with the eyea an Inch below the surface. sur-face. Tbey will begin to grow at once and, if planted early, a few stalka can be pulled the first year. As fast as aeed stalks appear cut them off. If very fine, large atalks are wanted, and why not have tbe best, thin out all but the center buda, ao that the entire strength of the plant will feed these. After the leavea are cut back by frost in tbe fall cover the planta with four inchea of straw or manure. Thla prevents freezing and makes the next year's crop earlier. While the plants will start early, at the aame time tbe leavea will not push through this covering until after danger of spring frosts Is past, bene It should not be removed too arou. Many commercial growers keep the soli covered with straw the year round in order to keep weeds down and hold moisture without cultivation.. Cover the planta In tbe winter anyway. any-way. It will avoid disappointment and Increase tbe plant food. Every three or four years It is advisable ad-visable to dig up the planta. divide them and replant In another spot , If thla la not done, the planta run out and tbe stalks grow small and pithy. Division and a new location star ' tbem off again as good as new. i Any surplus can always be sold lo ' tbe spring at a good price aa we aeem to have a natural craving for the fresh green acid quallCe of thla old-time "pie fruit." Eat lota of it Eat It raw and cooked, in pies and out of plea, put up all you cannot eat and aave It for winter, but grow It yourself If you have a two by four patch of ground where the aun shines. It costs nothing noth-ing to raise and ly'astes lots better when It cornea outf your own patch. And, furthermore. It la a much better spring tonic than aulpbur and molasses, mo-lasses, or sassafras. |