The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-11-15
SUNFLOWER SEED
VALUABLE FOOD
MILLION OF POUNDS WASTED
EVERY YEAR-OlL, STALKS
AND FIBRE ALL PROFITABLE.

Jefferson City, Mo, Nov. 14.-"Mil-
lions of pounds of sunflower seed are
allowed to 90 to waste in Missouri
annually, simply because it is not
generally known that they can be
used for food for men, as well as
animals, and therefore have a COM
mercial value" says the 1910 Red
Book of the bureau of labor statis-
tics, Figures made public by Labor
Commissioner J. c. A. Hitler yester-
day show that in the year 1909 4OO,-
600 pounds of the seed were sent TO
market by Missouri's ia counties
and that about $4,000 was realized
by the sale of same.
While originally native Of tropi-
cal America the sunflower is now
found growing more or less wild in
all cultiyatable portions of the world,
and especially in South and Central
Europe, seeds having been carried
there from America and planted by
several sixteenth century rovers, who
took a fancy to the large flower,
both for its peculiar wild beauty and
that it had a food value" reads the
Red Book chapter on this interest
ing subject.
In Russia the sunflower seed is
prepared and eaten just like Ameri-
cans do peanuts. The poorer classes
often eat the seeds raw, the only
drawback to this style of turning
them into palatable article being
the difficulty of easily separating
the kernel from the hull
IN Missouri the sunflower is found
everywhere, growing in vacant city
lots amid rubbish as well as in the
rich lands af the southeastern sec
tion of the state and in the foothills
OF the Ozarks. Goats thrive on the
plant, eating everything from the
seeds and petals down to the coarse
rough stalks and the roots. The seed
is often used, mixed with other seed,
as feed for poultry, and parrots es-
peCially enjoy this menu, forming a
food which was mainstay for them
in tropical regions.
The sunflower counties of Mis-
sOuri-that is, the ones which mark
etcd the most seed in 1909" accord
ing to the figures of Supervising Stat
istician \ T. Edmonston of the labor
bureau, "the Butler st. Charles, st.
Louis, Jackson, Ste. Genevieve, Gren-
ne. buchanan, Jasper and Mississippi,
probably because they are closer to
the larger cities than to other coun-
ties. Il is but the question of time
before all vacant lands of this state,
not Of great value for cultivation or
pasture purposes, will be planted with
seed and turned into use
in that way.
IAN oil closely resembling olive oil,
but of course inferior in quality, is
made by pressing sunflower seeds.
1t is very palatable, easily digested
and has hieh food value. In this
respect it is said to be superior to
our cotton seed oil, which is put to
so many uses in domestic life and in
art science"
In portions of Europe a bouln
for infants is made from the sun
flower seed. On religious days. when F.
meat must be abstained from, the .
seed is freely used as an article of
iiet.
In art. sunflower oil is used for
paints. taking The place of linseed
'il, and when properly retired and
prepared is almost as valuable.
The flower is full of the sub
stances which make honey. and
therefore is an article of food for
,ees. The stalks and leaves and flow
II petals make excellent fodder for
'attle. As a fuel, the stalks and