Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-01
CASH In SUNFL0WERS.
The Seeds Make a Fine Oil and the
Stalks an Excellent Fuel.
TABLE DAINTIES FROM THE SEEDS.
Russian People Make Handsome Profits
From Its Cultivation.
TIPS ON THE PROCESS OF GROWING IT


Russians make of this sunfower crop? Oil,
for one thing. Their mills produce 10000,
600 pounds of sunfower oil in a year, and
the product sells for 81, 900, 900. Two kinds
of sunfowers are cultivated in Russia, saws
a correspondent of the ST. Louis Globe Dem
ocrat. 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 quantities as dainties, very much
as the people eat peanuts in the United
States.
The sunf1ower seed is used principally for
obtaining sunfiower 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flavor, has superseded all vegetable oils in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 sun
flower in Kussia 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 increased 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-growing district of Saratov there are
only "a village oil mills, producing oil
worth $40, 600 annually, whereas in the town
of Saratov $3.50, 600 worth of oil is manu.
tactured annually. The substance remaining
from the oil manufacture, or the sunhower
cakes being used as cattle food, is also a
valuable product
A Chief Export From Russia.
These cakes, however, have a compare
lively small demand in Russia, and are
largely exported to foreign countries, princi-
pallv TO Germany and England. The Gov
eminent of Saratov, for instance, exports
about ., 600, 600 pounds of sunfower cakes to
different countries, where some more oil is
pressed out of them before being used for
cattle food. The sunfiower cakes form one
of the principal items in the exports of
Russia.
These facts have prompted Consul Gen
eral Crawford, at st. Petersburg. to send to
the State Department mass of interesting
information, for he believes 'the sunfower
is capable of introducing new element
into the agriculture of the United States,
and one that promises to become an impor-
tant industry"
The stalk very often being inches in
diameter and about feet long, sometimes
bearing many heads, some of which are
more than a foot in diameter, containing
about 9, 600 seeds, it is evident that in order
to grow the plant profitably it is absolutely
at the same time must be verv compact and
sufficiently deep to sustain the stalk with
its roots. The best soil for this purpose is
mold or black land mixed with sand. On
meager soil the seeds grow fiat and small,
whereas on stout soil round, heavy and rich
seeds are obtained Soil where potatoes and |
peas have been cultivated without artificial |
may be adopted for the growing of |
the sunfiower. 1t also thrives well on newly |
worked fields if the soil is not composed of
too much clay and sand. On clay and sandy
soil the sunfower does not thrive, as it can
not retain the moisture absolutely necessary,
nor are the roots able to sustain the weight
OF the fruit.
1t Does Not Exhaust the Soil.
1t has been estimated that the stalks and
leaves of a single crop are sufficient to ma
nure the field for five or six excellent SUM- |
flower crops If, therefore, four-fifths of |
the stalks and leaves were gathered for fod- |
der, leaving one-fifth uncut and evenly dis |
Lrbuted, the fields, it is thought, could be |
made to produce good crops almost indef-
niteS
The huge heads, the thick stalks and the |
large leaves of the sunfiower would lead one
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 expert
snced Russian farmer Mr. TaratchofD asserts
hat, although it is generally believed that
III oil-producing plants generally exhaust
he land, the Sunt1ower seems to be an ex-
,eption. He says that he has, for expert
nent, sown winter wheat and corn many
lines after the sunfower and other plants,
md the crops were always better after the
,unfiower Therefore he maintains the
view held in the village of Alexelevka that
he suniower not only does not exhaust the
and, but that it actually enriches it. The
anne view is entertained by other expert
need farmers in the Government of Sara
orv and Noronezh.
One, Mr.. Pereleshin, saws that wheat es-
1eclally grows very much better after
untower crop. For instance, on the large
teppes in the Government of Voronezh the
unt1Ower is Sown alternately with wheat
md flax, the crops of which are always very
bundanJ; whereas if wheat and fax are
otated, or either is sown in succession on
he same ground, but without being pre-
eded by the sUntiower, the crop will soon
Oe unsatisfactory. The sunfower has a
beneficial effect on wheat and other cereal
rops following, owing to the long, strong
oots of this plant reaching the lower depths
# the sub-soil, making it porous and thus
distributing the richness of the earth below
yer better than by plowing. The numerous
arge leaves of this plant, by shading the
round, retain therein the moisture and at
he same time prevent the spreading of the
'eeds. The sunfower, like all large-leafed
lants, increases the fertility of the land
he large roots of the plant, absorbing the
-ater, soon decay in the earth and leave,
ccording TO careful estimate, about 1000
ounds OF manure per acre in the soil.
How 1t should Be Cultivated.
The suntiower should be sown very early
] the spring, even before the oats, or as
bon as the snow has melted 1t has been
lown that the sooner the sowing is done
ne better is the seed obtained. In many
istricts the sowing is made in the autumn. .
he ground must be plowed rather deep, but
are must be taken that the seeds are not
urled more than about two inches deep, !
lat the seeds may sprout as soon as posi- {
lie, the soil in the spring being warmed 6
he seeds before sowing.
The sunfower is sown either broadcast or :
! rows. In the latter case the seeds should 9
e placed about six inches apart. The SOW t
g of the seed broadcast, being the more :
uickly performed, is generally favored on
rye farms, especially where the farmers
ave not sufficient help. OF the two
ethods-sowing in the fall and in the
'ring-the latter seems to produce the '
ost satisfactory results Seed sown early, !
zen on poorly prepared ground, does much =
.tter than when sown late under the best {
nditions of soil. Although the sowing in
trS o,,1