The San Francisco call., 1910-08-28

FLOWER LORE

s l(OlNlG
rhyming calendar, written about the
fifteenth century, thus notes this fact:
And yet anon tho full sunaower blew.
And became Stare for Bartholomew
In 1915. when Champlain explored
the Georgian bay region, he noted the
fact that the Indians were cultivating
the sunnower, the seeds of which they
used for food and from which they
also produced an oil for their hair.
IT'S ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
The sun1ower has assumed a re-
markable economic Importance in
Russia It is said that land under
cultivation of that plant yields twice
as much in money value as under any
other crop. The finer quality of
seeds are used for food and are re-
garded as a great delicacy by all
classes. From the second quality an
oil is made, the best grades of which
are extremely nutritious and as deli
cate in color and flavor as the best
salad oils of Italy and France. 1t
has entirely superseded those oils for
culinary and domestic purposes in
Russia and on the continent The
oil cake is used for fodder for horses
and cattle. The stalks Of the plant
make better fuel than pine, they burn
quickly and produce bright, fragrant
fire. Even the ashes have a CONNER
cial value for fertilizing purposes.
In China the sunfiower is being
grown extensively, and beautiful,
silky fabric is made from the fiber of
the stalks. italy and India are also
learning the commercial value or the
plant
IN ENGLAND AND AMERICA
For many years the decorative quail
ties of the sunflower were not appre-
ciated in England and America, and it
was relegated to the kitchen garden
but with the advent of the pre-Ra-
phaelites the plant as a whole was
suddenly given what was by many
regarded as undue prominence, and in
the early sos of the last century, 1T
obtained a place in decorative art
which it has never lost.
In Gilbert and Suflivan's opera of
Patience" it was a leading lady"
and was more or less associated with
the unfortunate Oscar Wilde.
1t grows so proliicly in this coun-
try that it has been suggested as the
national flower. 1t is a native of
every state in the Union. The wild
sunfiower is much smaller than the
cultivated variety, and in some of the
western states, in August and Sep
tember the railroads are lined on
either side with millions of the yellow
blossoms, all turning their faces to-
ward the sun. 1t is the state flower
of Kansas and is most abundant in
that state.
Latterly it's economic value has been
recognized, and in 1901, Mr.. Harvey w.
Wiley, under the direction OF the de-
partment of agriculture, issued bull
letin devoted to the "Sunflower; It's
Cultivation, Composition and Uses"
In this bulletin among the other prop
critics of the plant it is noted that the
seeds are in demand for keeping
horses and cattle in excellent physical
condition." and the attention OF the
department has been called to it as
preventive of malaria.
HOW POETS HAVE SUNG OF 1T
Although the sunflower has been re-
gardej as common" the poets have
considered it worthy of their best ef-
forts. Calderon, the Spanish poet, to
whom the "Sunfower Gardens Of
Madrid" were probably familiar
sight. thus addressed it,
Sight enchanted sunf1ower, thou
Who gazest ever true and tender
On the Suns revolving splendor.
Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of the
great Darwin, and himself naturalist
and poet, in his Loves of the Plants"
writes of the sunfower:
With jealous steps, he climbs the
upland lawn
And bows in homage to the rising
dawn,
Imbibes with eagle eye the golden ray
And watches as it moves the orb OF
day.
But of all the tributes to this COM
mon flower, the one which appeals
most to the universal heart is that of
Tom Moore, which will never be for
gotten as long as there are voices to
sing and hearts to feel:
The heart which has truly loved never