Never use leaves of rhubarb, as they contain some acids that are injurious.
Rhubarb is a very heavy feeder and the ground must be made very rich with manure and fertilizer.
Never plant on droughty land. Plant roots 4 feet apart in rows 4 feet wide in late fall to late winter.
Rhubarb can be grown from seed, but this is too slow for the home gardener. Roots are not expensive, and 10 to 12 plants will supply a family.
Early each spring apply a pound or two of a high-grade complete fertilizer around each plant. Before cold weather comes, mulch crowns and the whole row with 3 to 4 inches of stable manure or compost material, raking off early in the spring all except that which is well rotted.
Do not cut any leaves the first year and only a few the second. It takes this long for plants to become well established, when seed stalks form, cut them out, as seed production weakens plants.
Pull or cut leaf stems only a few weeks in early spring. Plants need all summer to grow and store up food for the following year.
After four to six crops have been harvested, roots should be dug up divided, and set in a new locations. Otherwise stalks will become too thin.
