Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1892-04-02
MONEY IN SUNFLOWERS.
The Seeds Make q Fine Oh, the
Stalks Excellent Fuel.
Moro Than 700. 900 Acres In Cultivation In
Russia-The oil Worth u Million
Year-HInts For Kansas
Farmers.

great sunfower industry which Russia
Is fostering at an enormous annual
profit Kansas destroys Its phenome-
nal sunfiower crop. Russia cultivates
the sunAowcr as q source Of national
wealth. What do the Russians make
Of this sunfower crop? Oil. for one
thing. Their mills produce 10000, 600
pounds of sunhower oil in year, and
the product sells for $1,000, 900. Two
kinds of sunhowers 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 rs dainties. very much as the peo'
pie eat peanuts in the United States.
The sunhower seed Is used principal
~ for obtaining sunf1ower 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and agreeable flavor has superseded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
sunfower in Russia is considered to be
very profitable. At the average yield
Of 1880 pounds per acre, and at the
average price Of ~ 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-growing dis
trict Of Saratov there are only thirty
four village oil mills producing oil
worth $40. 900 annually, whereas in the
town of Saratov $50. 900 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 q valuable product
These cakes, however, have q 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 100000
pounds of sunfower cakes to different
countries, where some more oil Is
pressed out OF them before being used
for cattle food. The suhaower cakes
form one of the principal items in the
exports of Russia
These facts have prompted Consul
General Crawford ut St Petersburg,
says the Philadelphia Evening Tele'
graph, to send to the state department
a mass of interesting information, fol
he believes "the sunfower Is capable
of introducing 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
long, sometimes bearing many heads,
some of which are more than foot in
diameter, containing about 1000 seeds,
It is evident that to grow the plant
profitably it is absolutely necessary to
have q very fertile soil, which at the
same time must be very 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 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 may be adopted for the grow
inc of the sunhower It also thrives
we'll on newly-worked fields II the soil
Is not composed Of too much clay and
sand. On clay and sandy soil the sun
flower does not thrive, Us it cannot re-
tain the moisture absolutely necessary,
nor are the roots able to sustain the
weight of the fruit.
It has been estimated that the stalks
and leaves of single crop are sufi-
Gent to manure the field for five or six
excellent sunAower crops If, there
fore, four-Hftha 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 sunhower would
lead one scientifically to conclude that
Il would greatly impovSrish 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-
bouat the land. the suuhower 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
sunfower. Therefore, he maintains.
the view held in the village OF
Alexelevka that the sunhower not only
does not exhaust the land, but that II
actually enriches it. The same view Is
entertained by other experienced
farmers in the government Of SaratOv