Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-09-26
CYRUS w. FIELDS SUNFLoWeRs.
They Are Not Only Things of Beauty,
but of Utility as Wei.

They Are Not Only Things of Beauty,
but of Utility as Well.
Tears of ecstasy would have filed the
eyes of the now obsolete, but always
aesthetic. Oscar Wilde could he have
stool and viewed the field of sunfowers
cultivated by Cyrus w. Field on his
country estate, Ardsley, near larry
town, on the Hudson. The sunhowers
covered an entire acre, and with heads
heavy and dropping from the recent rain
they were just lifting their faces to the
morning sun, their bright yellow petals
in pleasing contrast with their dark cen
ter of green and brown. 1t was an array
OF giants. The tough green stalks would
have averaged over six feet in height,
and some of them lowered up to seven
feet.
But these flowers are not cultivated
alone to crafty Mr. Fields aesthetic
taste. The man who connected America
and Europe with an electric cable is
nothing if not practical. He believes
in uniting beauty and utility. So, when
| he drives out by the sunhower grove,
and his love for the beautiful is touched
by that sea of bobbing yellow heads, the
practical part of his nature finds solid
comfort in the thought that these flow
ers are put to good use. Others may de-
light in the tender orchid or the gay
chrysanthemum, with their endless va
riety of shades, but these are only fair to
look upon. Not so with the hardy yell
low bloomer, which Mr.. Field loves so
we'll
When the frosts of autumn shrivel up
turns deep. rich brown, then the tops
of the flowers are carefully cut and hung
up to dry In about a month the little
black fiat seeds which fill the head OF
the flower are thrashed out and fed tc
the chickens in Mr.. Fields extensive
henneries. SO, on the days when fine
specimen from the coops lies on his back
nicely Drowned, in the platter, with his
drumsticks lifted heavenward, Mr.. Field
familiar nursery rhyme, This is the
cock that ate the seed that grew on the
top of my sunhower weed"
And how gratifying must be thu
thought that the beauty of the summer
has been transformed into the toothsomt
breast and tender wing. This reflection
might escape the aforesaid Oscar but i
is no doubt "a source of much pleasure t
the millionaire who cultivates and ad
mires the same flower.
"Do you SOW new seeds for these sun
flowers every spring." was asked of Free
Allison who has charge of the field
Eyes" he said, 1--WE plant new see,
every year, and put them in hills as W
sow corn. About the middle of Septem
Der we cut off the tops, hang them up t
dry, and in another month they ar
ready to shell. We mix the seeds wit
the other chicken feed"
"How many chickens do you keep:
he was asked.
about two thousand" he said, "a
that number takes up all the space i
our three houses. From these chicken
we gather over three thousand doze
eggs each year. All eggs that the fam
lies do not use we sell. There are thre
families to supply--Mr. Field, his sol
Edward NJ. Field, and his son-in-law, L
a. Lindley-and they use from fifty
sixty dozen eggs week.
"Do you keep ducks?"
Eyes, we have about six hundre
ducks and about sixty geese. We Sc
what ducks we don't want for home us,
but the chickens we keep, as the fam
lies use great many. The three fam
lies use from fifteen to eighteen chicl
ems, four or five ducks and about tw
geese a week. New York Times.