we had little more than settled on the farm when i read an article in some farm paper about forcing rhubarb in a dark cellar. there was a lot of rhubarb in the garden, and a lot of room in the cellar. several roots were dug up and packed in one corner of the section we kept for vegetables, but as the article had not mentioned that any heat was necessary, and that it was necessary to expel all light, the venture was not a success, for there was a window in the wall near the chosen corner, which allowed the light to shine right on the roots, and the temperature was much too cold. there were dozens of spindly little stalks, with large green leaves at their ends, but nothing worthy the name of pie-plant.
however, before the following winter i had secured technical knowledge and vicarious experience, to start on. the window was boarded up, and two lanterns were kept burning near the roots. we had rhubarb charlotte and rhubarb pies, and stewed rhubarb for breakfast, just as often as we liked, from december until march, and what is more to the purpose, we sold eighty-two dollars’ worth.
after we built the mushroom-cellar, a section was 194 partitioned off for rhubarb and asparagus, and both became profitable adjuncts to our winter income. one great advantage about both of these crops for home use is that there is no necessity to use manure or any great amount of moisture, and for that reason there is no objectionable odour to sift through into the living-rooms.
naturally, when large quantities are to be raised for market, it is better to have a special room for work, but even that does not necessitate any serious outlay. a neighbour built a house twenty-eight feet long on the dugout plan, on a side-hill at the back of his house; just boarded up the front and ends with rough slabs, which cost him two dollars and fifty cents. three rolls of tar-paper, at one dollar and ten cents each, were used to exclude light and draft. stove-pipe cost another two dollars. he had an old stove, but even if he had had to buy one, it would only have meant another eight or ten dollars, and the first crop brought him in one hundred and thirty dollars.
there is often some old building around a farm which can be utilised for this work, but if there is no hillside or building available, it is better to excavate to a depth of three feet, making the house about nine feet wide and as long as you like. this will allow a two-foot path through the middle, and a little more than three feet on each side, in which to store the roots. side-walls need be only a foot above the ground, but it is best to have a peaked roof, the centre of which is three and a half feet above ground, 195 so that there will be plenty of headroom in the centre of the house.
place a door at one end, with an extension shed and storm door beyond it, unless the house can be built adjoining some shed or outbuilding into which the door may open. cover the ends and roof with tar-paper, and bank the sides up with earth. then in the centre of the house make a pit, about two feet below the floor and large enough for a stove to stand in, and run the pipe from a double elbow to each end of the house.
the reason for making the pit for the stove to stand in is to get the pipe as near the ground as possible. it is possible to do without the stove if the floor of the house is covered with manure and a goodly supply is packed around the sides of the house, but as that would be more expensive and much more laborious, i advise you to adopt the stove plan, especially as it involves none of the harrowing niceties usually attached to running hothouse heating apparatus, there being no water-pipes to freeze or injury to crops if the fire happens to run down or even go out altogether. my neighbour, who built the house on the side hill, tells me that he had no coal-stove at first, and used the kerosene cooking-stove from his summer kitchen.
having decided where and what quantity is to be raised next winter, the preliminary work must be begun at once. if you have a lot of old roots in the garden, dig up the greater number just as soon as it 196 is possible to put a spade in the ground, and cut the roots into good-sized chunks, being careful to leave from two to four eyes (embryo buds, which are unmistakable) in each clump.
if you have a strip of ground on which corn or potatoes were grown last year, scatter barn-yard manure over it. if it is heavy loam, plough deeply, but if light sandy soil, the furrows need not be more than six inches deep, and in addition to the barn-yard fertiliser it will be well to use a heavy dressing of wood ashes. we spread the barn-yard manure about three inches deep all over the surface of the ground before ploughing, then broadcast ashes, harrowing up and down, leave for about two weeks, and then harrow from side to side.
when in good condition, the ground must be marked off into rows about four feet apart. run the plough twice in the same furrow, and the trench will be deep enough to admit of a little more manure being scattered, then covered lightly with soil before the plants are put in. set them three feet apart. cultivate well through the summer to keep clean and promote growth.
cut out any flower-stalks which may appear, for one flower-stalk takes more strength from the root than twenty fruit-stalks, so they should never be allowed to mature, even in the ordinary garden-beds.
the clumps left undisturbed for the summer supply should have a good dressing of manure worked into the ground around them now and again after 197 the gathering season is over, so that they will be in good condition to go into the cellar in december.
when old clumps have been divided and set out in april, they will be large and strong enough to use for forcing the following december, but if young nursery plants have to be bought, it is better to defer forcing until the second winter.
about november 15th we dig up the roots and leave them to be frozen; then about december 1st, or even a little earlier if the nights have been frosty, one-half the roots are piled up in a shed, and the other half packed on the earth floor of the forcing-house. a little earth is scattered between them, and then they are sprinkled with water in which nitrate of soda has been dissolved, one ounce of the latter to one gallon of water.
the stove is started, a wash-boiler of water put on, and then the work simply consists of shaking down the stove, putting on half a scuttle of coal and filling up the boiler night and morning.
in from three to four weeks the first gathering is made. stalks should be from twelve to fourteen inches high, and four usually go to a bunch. the roots will yield good crops for from three to four weeks, but gathering should cease when the crop shows any sign of declining.
when you decide that the roots shall stop bearing, let the fire go out. three or four days later the roots can be removed and piled in a shed, and those that have been held dormant brought in and spread on the cellar 198 floor. proceed as with the first lot, and at the end of the season simply let out the fire again and wait until the weather will permit outside planting. then divide the roots into two or three pieces, according to size, and plant in rows as before. they will be ready for forcing again the second winter, so that, once started, the supply is always on the increase.
asparagus can also be forced in the same manner as rhubarb, the only difference being that asparagus roots don’t divide well, so seed has to be sown each year to keep up a stock for forcing. plants cannot be used until the third season, and they are not supposed to be worth replanting for forcing.
asparagus can also be forced by placing hotbed frames and sashes over the plants, and banking up all around the frames with stable manure, to generate heat. this method only slightly hastens the crop. there is nothing quite as satisfactory or profitable as the dark house or cellar, because growing roots from seed is comparatively little trouble, and the supply once started, it is an easy matter to keep up a succession of three-year-old roots. time can be saved the first year by buying one- or two-year-old plants from a nursery, planting them in the garden, and the following year use for forcing.
