The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-08-22

Russia 1t is used to some extent for
burning, but not where there is any
market for 1t. 1t takes about one
bushel of seed to make gallon of oil,
and about fifty bushels Of seed are pro-
duced on one acre of land. When the
oil is selling at 81 per gallon, the profits
are large.
OF late years efforts have been made
to refine the oil so as to sell in compe-
tition with olive oil. In fact, purified
sunfiower oil is used quite extensively
to adulterate salad oils. Many con-
slider it equal to the ordinary grades of
olive and almond oil for table uses. 1t
is Of pale-yeliow color, iayorless, and
palatable In Maryland considerable
of this oil is made to supply the Balti-
more trade, and at a recent experiment
with it the hotel men Of that city said
they preferred it TO all others for
salads. France, Germany. and Italy
are enlarging their plants for making
all kinds of seed oils, and among these
the sunfiOwer seed Oil is conspicuous.
The present outlook seems TO indicate
a time when the sunfiower will be-
come an important factor in the pro-
duction Of the best seed oil.
After the oil is extracted from the
seeds the residue is made into cakes
for cattle food, and, while not so nu
tritious as the food made from the
fresh seeds. it is of considerable value.
The factories that express the oil sell
the seed cakes at a merely nominal
sum. In the poorer districts Of India
and Europe a fair kind of bread is
made from sunfower seeds, and the
natives depend upon 1t for steady
article of diet. Their cattle are fed
with the same diet, only the seeds and
heads are chopped up together. and
even the leaves are fed to the animals.
The stalks, when stripped of their
leaves and heads, are dried and used
for fuel. One acre Of sunflOwers will
yield a great many cords Of good fuel.
The stalks are large, tough, brittle,
and good burners. A few acres of
such fuel will last one all winter.
Many cheap cigars are made from
the leaves of the sun1Ower. When
properly cured the large leaves make
excellent wrappers for cheap cigars,
and in this country they are employed
for this work to a larger extent than
many imagine. When pulverized and
mixed with an equal quantity Of to-
bacco, the combination is not inferior
to many of the cheap grades Of Con-
necticut tobacco. In fact, the sun
flower leaves give a peculiar aromatic
flavor to the tobacco that is liked by
many smokers. Cheap cigarettes have
considerable Of this kind of tobacco in
them.
The stalks find other uses than that
for fuel. In China the fibre is treated
like flax, and woven TO great extent
in silk fabrics. The stalks have TO be
gathered at the right time for this
use. and then shredded either by hand
or machinery. The fibre is fine and
silky, very strong, and endurable. The
Chinese use it to give strength to their
tanning and curing it are very crude
and slow. With improved modern
machinery the fibre of the sunfiower
stalks would be made of great value in
this country. Factories once estab-
Eshed would find no difficulty in get
ting farmers to raise enough sunfiow-
ers for their use, for, with the seeds
and leaves, and stalks in good demand,
the crop would prove extremely profit
able.
Several minor articles are made from
the sunflowers. From the bright yell
low blossoms a yellow dye is made
that stands use very well. The pro-
cess of making the dye is not difficult
nor expensive. Moreover the flower
produces very fine honey and wax
when property treated. In England
the honey and wax are made more sue
cessfuliy than elsewhere, and as a
side issue the manufacture of these
two products is very profitable. Fin
ally potash can be made from the
stalks. This proves that the plants
possess good percentage of one Of the
most important Of soil elements, and
that the crop would prove valuable as
a fertilizer if it could be reduced to an
available form. Cattle fed upon the
heads Of the sunfowers contribute pot
ash to the soil.
With all of these commercial uses,
the sunfiowers should prove profit
able crop in a country where they grow
naturally wild in the fields and gar
dens. Although a native Of tropical
America, the plant has wide limit Of
growth, including Russia. India. China,
North America, and all of Europe.
Where the seeds are sown in cultivated
fields for commercial crop from H.
600 TO $1,000 stalks are raised TO the
acre. From four TO five pounds OF
seed are sown to the acre, either drill
ed in as wheat, or sown in rows nearly
the same as southern corn. When the
heads ripen they are removed 10y a
sickle, and laid aside TO dry in some
warm place. The stalks can then be
cut separately according to the best
method. II used for fuel IL matters
little how roughly they are cut, but
when gathered for their fibre a regu-
lar system must be followed The
plants need plenty Of sun, and should
be given the most open field on the
farm. In about four months the seeds
VIII be ready for gathering. The
plants Withstand drought better than
! most OF our cultivated crops, and farm