elopment. Low-growing,
stocky, and branching plants are the most productive.

SWEET MOUNTAIN PEPPER.

This variety resembles the Large Bell, if it is not identical. The Sweet
Mountain may be somewhat larger; but, aside from this, there is no
perceptible difference in the varieties.

SWEET SPANISH.

Piment monstreux. _Vil._

Fruit obtusely conical, often four inches in length, and nearly three
inches in diameter,--brilliant glossy scarlet at maturity; stem strong
and sturdy, two feet or more in height; leaves large, but narrower than
those of the Large Bell; flowers white, and of large size,--usually an
inch and a half in diameter; fruit sometimes erect, but generally
drooping.

Though one of the largest varieties, the Sweet Spanish is also one of
the earliest. The flesh is sweet, mild, and pleasant; and the variety is
much esteemed by those to whom the more pungent kinds are objectionable.
When prepared in the same form, it makes a pickle equally as fine as the
Large Bell.

The Sweet Spanish Pepper succeeds well if sown in the open ground in
May. Make the rows sixteen inches apart, and thin the plants to a foot
apart in the rows.

YELLOW SQUASH-PEPPER. _Vil._

Yellow Tomato-formed.

Fruit similar in form to the Squash-pepper, but of smaller size, erect
or pendulous; orange-yellow at maturity.

The variety is later than the last named; much less productive; and, for
pickling, is comparatively not worthy of cultivation.

* * * * *

RHUBARB.

Pie-plant. Rheum sp. et var.

This is a hardy, perennial plant, cultivated almost exclusively for its
leaf-stalks. Its general character may be described as follows:
Root-leaves large, round-heart-shaped, deep-green, and more or less
prominently blistered; leaf-stems large, succulent, furrowed,
pale-green, often stained or finely spotted with red, varying from two
to three inches in diameter at the broadest part, and from a foot to
three feet in length. The flower-stalk is put forth in June, and is from
five to seven feet in height, according to the variety; the flowers are
red or reddish-white, in erect, loose, terminal spikes; the seeds are
brown, triangular, membranous at the corners, and retain their
germinative properties three years.

_Soil and Cultivation._--Rhubarb succeeds best in deep, somewhat
retentive soil: the richer its condition, and the deeper it is stirred,
the better; as it is scarcely possible to cultivate