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Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Oct., 1918. 



THE SUNFLOWER. 



ITS CULTIVATION AND UTILIZATION. 



By J. W. Audas, F.L.8., F.R.M.S., Assistant, National Herharium, 



Melbourne. 



Tlie sunflower (Helianthus annuus) belongs to the natural order 

 conipositse, and, in its native habitat, North America, it fre- 

 quently covers large areas. It is a tall, showy, and large- 

 flowered annual, familiar to all as an ornamental plant, but 

 it is not without commercial importance, and numerous varie- 

 ties have been developed. The best kinds to cultivate are those 

 which produce a simple large head, 10 or 12 inches in diameter. 

 Although the sunflower may be grown to perfection in many parts of 

 Victoria, it has not so far been included in the general list of farm crops, 

 but there is no reason why such a useful plant should not be cultivated 

 advantageously in our State. It requires a fair amount of moisture, 

 and should be successfully grown on irrigation farms; rich calcareous 

 soils, or soils containing a large percentage of potash, are very suitable 

 for its growth. Before sunflower cultivation could be put on a satisfac- 

 tory commercial basis, the establishment of a mill for extracting the oil 

 from the seed would be necessary. To encourage this useful and much- 

 needed industry some capital would be required for plant, &c., and with 

 the present enhanced value of oil, such an investment should return a 

 handsome profit. 



During recent years, the sunflower has been widely grown in Russia, 

 Germany, Austria, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and France, and, to some 

 extent, in China and India, as well as in the United States, and the areas 

 under cultivation are gradually being expanded. In Russia it is esti- 

 mated that more than 1,000,000 acres are annually devoted to this crop. 

 In South Africa, according to the Cape of Good Hope Agricultural 

 Journal for 1908 (32, 85), 26 trials were made in 1907 with satisfactory 

 results in all but three cases, and it was concluded that no reason existed 

 for not extending sunflower cultivation on a commercial scale. In 

 Queensland the plant is said to thrive well on the Darling Downs and 

 on the eastern coast lands. Successful trials have also been made 

 recently at the Moumahaki Experiment Station in New Zealand 

 (Journal of Agriculture, New Zealand, 1915.11.233). In the United 

 States numerous trials have been successfully carried out, but sunflower 

 seed does not appear to have been produced there on a commercial scale. 

 At the New Hampshire Experimental Station, according to Piper, three 

 varieties gave the following yields of heads to the acre : — Russian, 

 23,958 lbs.; White Russian, 19,360; and Grey, 20,812. At the Ontario 

 Agricultural College three varieties have been grown continuously for a 

 period of years, the resulting yield being as follows : — 



