380 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [11 June, 1917. 



The sunflower is ratlier an exhausting crop so far as potash is con- 

 cerned. A means to counteract tliis is to burn the stalks and spread 

 tlie ashes over the land ; it is said that the stalks grown on an acre 

 contain from 15 cwt. to 20 cwt. of potash. An analysis of the ash of 

 the plant (given by the Pharmaceutical Journal) includes, in round 

 numbers, the following constituents: — Potash 48, lime 10, magnesia 5, 

 and phosphoric acid 10 per cent. 



The oil is of great value. Besides being used in some .parts for 

 table purposes, it is employed in the manufacture of paint (especially 

 for greens and blues); it also makes soap of great softness. It burns 

 well. The seed is a valuable food for poultry. The seed, shelled and 

 ground, makes very sweet flour for bread; if roasted and ground it 

 forms a substitute for coffee. The residue is superior to linseed cake 

 for fattening cattle. The leaves may be used as fodder either fresh or 

 dry. The flowers are useful in providing honey for bees. By treating 

 the stem of the plant like that of the European flax a very fine fibre, 

 nearly as fine as silk, is produced. Few economic plants, indeed, are 

 more valuable than the sunflower, and it would appear to deserve 

 greater attention for commercial purposes in this part of the Empire. 



It is reported that, acting under ofiicial advice, special efforts were 

 made this year by the people in Germany to increase the area under 

 sunflower, the produce of small plots being received at collecting depots 

 for bulking and subsequent treatment. 



As to what market there is for sunflower oil, and therefore as to 

 what may be the commercial prospects liefore it as a crop, there is no 

 data. Doubtless, the linseed oil mills would crush experimental olots 

 and as the seed is an excellent poultry diet, there may be a farmer 

 here or there that would like to grow a plot to discover what there 

 is in it commercially. — The Farmer, Western Australia, 5j2j\l. 



EliAU] CATION OF BLAUKBEKllY. 



Blackberry vines are a most difficult pest to eradicate. Merely cutting 

 down only tends to strengthen the root gro-wth and ultimately to increase 

 the trouble. 



Where the pest is confined to a small area intended for constant culti- 

 vation, trenching to a depth of 18 inches to 2 feet and removing all 

 growth to that depth, is the surest way, though perhaps somewhat 

 laborious. Every j)art, roots, butts and vines, should be burnt. 



Another method now being tried by this Department is the caustic 

 soda treatinent. This chemical, of a strength of 2 lbs. caustic soda to 

 4 gallons of water, has the advantage of being non-poisonous, and is best 

 applied as follows : — 



First cut the vines down close to the ground, and when dry enough 

 burn them. Then from a watering can, with the rose attached, give the 

 surface from which the vines have been cut a thorough soaking of the 

 above solution. The area is then left until a new giowth springs up and 

 has grown to 4 or 5 inches high. It is not necessary to cut this growth 

 down, but it is advised to give it a further soaking of the solution, which 

 will soon kill more of the tops and root, but perhaps still will not kill 

 fhe lot. This process will need to be rejieated, so as to keep the leaf 

 growth in check, for it. is only by keeping the tops down that the roots 

 can be ultimately overcome. 



