Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1892-03-31
MONEY IN sUNFLOWERs..
The Seeds Make a Fine Oil, the
Stalks Excellent Fuel.
More Than zoe, 900 acres In Cultivation In
Russia-The OH Worth a Million
Year-Hints For Kansas
Farmers.

Kansas ought to be interested in the
great sunf1ower industry which Russia
is fostering at an enormous annual
profit Kansas DESTROYS its phenome-
nal sunfiower crop. Russia cultivates
the snnhower as a source OF national
wealth What do the Russians make
of this sunfower crop? Oil, for one
thing. Their mills produce 10000, 900
pounds of sunfiower oil in year, and
the product sells for 81. 600, 900. Two
kinds of sunflowers are cultivated in
Russia One, with small seeds, is used
for the production of oil, and the other,
with larger seeds, is consumed by the
common people in enormous quanti-
ties as dainties, very much as the peo-
pie eat peanuts in the United States.
The sunfiower seed is used principal
~ for obtaining sunfower oil, which,
owing to its nutritious qualities, purity
and agreeable flavor has superseded
all vegetable oils in many places of
this country.
In general, the cultivation of the
sunfiower in Russia is considered to be
very profitable. At the average yield
of 1850 pounds per acre, and at the
average price of Il cents per pound,
the farmer receives an income of about
$50 per acre. This income can be in
creased in those districts where the
grower himself is engaged in producing
the oil from the seed. However oil
mills are very rare in the villages, the
farmers selling their seed to the oil
producers In the seed-gro wing dis
trict of Saratov there are only thirty
four village oil mills, producing oil
worth SO. 900 annually. whereas in the
town Of Saratov $50. 600 worth of oil is
manufactured annually. The substance
remaining from the oil manufacture, or
the sunflower cakes. being used as cat
tie food, is also a valuable product
These cakes, however, have COM
paratively small demand in Russia, and
are largely exported to foreign coun-
tries. principally to Germany and En-
gland. The government of Saratov,
for instance, exports about 1000, 900
pounds OF sunfower cakes to different
countries, where some more oil is
pressed out of them before being used
for cattle food. The suhfiower cakes
form one of the principal items in the
exports of Russia
These facts have prompted Consul
General Crawford at ST. Petersburg,
graph, to send to the state department
mass of interesting informatio for
he believes ",he sunf1ower is capable
of introducing a new element into the
agriculture of the United States, and
one that promises to become an i'm
portant industry"
The stock very often being three
inches in diameter and about eight feet
1opr sometimes INV haade
some of which are more than 70 1T in
diameter, containing about 1000 seeds,
it is evident that to grow the plant
proftably it is absolutely necessary to
have very fertile soil, which at the
same time must be very compact and
sufficiently deep to sustain the stalk
purpose is mod or black land mixed
with sand. On meager soil the seeds
grow fat and small, whereas on stout
soil round, heavy and rich seeds are
obtained. Soil where potatoes and peas
have been cultivated without artificial
manure NAV be adopted for the grow
ing of the sunfiower It also thrives
we'll on newly worked fields if the soil
is not composed of too much clay and
sand. On clay and sandy soil the sun
flower does not thrive, as it cannot re-
tain the moisture absolutely necessary,
nor are the roots able to sustain the
weight of the fruit.
1t has been estimated that the stalks
and leaves of single crop are suffi-
ciept to manure the field for five or six
excellent sunfiower crops. If, there
fore, four-ffths of the stalks and leaves
were gathered for fodder. leaving one
fifth uncut and evenly distributed, the
fields it is thought, could be made to
produce good crops almost indefinite
~.
. The huge heads, the thick stalks and
the large leaves of the sunfiower would
lead one scientifically to conclude that
it would greatly impoverish the soil on
which it is extensively grown, but the
practice of many years proves to the
contrary. An experienced Russian
farmer (Mr. Taratchkoff) asserts that
although it Is generally believed that
all oil producing plants greatly ex-
haust the land, the sunf1ower seems to
be an exception He says that he has,
for experiment. sown winter wheat
and other corn many times after the
sunfiowers and other plants and the
crops were ALWAYS better after the
sunflower. Therefore. he maintains,
the view held in the village of
Alexelevlza that the sunfowersnot only
does not exhaust the land, bat that it
actually enriches it. The same view is
entertained by other experienced
farmers in the government of Saratov
and Voronezh.
One. Mr.. Pereleshiu, says that wheat
especially grows very much better
after a sunfower crop. For instance,
on the large steppes in the government
OF Voronezh the sunf1ower is Gown al
ternately with wheat and fax, the
crops of which are always very abun-
-dant; whereas, il wheat and fax are ro-
tated. or if either is sown in succession
on the same ground but without being
preceded by the suufower, the crop
will soon be unsatisfactory. The sun
flower has beneficial effect on wheat
and other cereal crops following, ow-
ing to the long, strong roots of this
plant reaching the lower depths of the
subsoil, making it porous and thussdis-
iributing the richness of the earth be-
low even better than by blowing. The
numerous large leaves of this plant by
shading the ground, retain therein the
moisture and at the same time prevent
the spreading of weeds. The sunf1ow-
~er. like all large-leafed plants, in
-creases the fertility. of the land. The
large roots of the plant. absorbing the