October, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULT ir RE 



627 



ADVANTAGES OK Tllii SVSTKM. 



We found no faults with the system and found 

 iiumy advantages and good points. Sunflowers 

 \ ii'ld about threef times as much per acre as corn. 

 This alone helps out to a great extent, especially in 

 ;i year which is unfavorable for a good crop of corn. 

 Sunflowers are hardier plants and are easily grown. 

 I'liey also mature earlier than corn, and hence, if 

 I he crop is injured by an early frost it will not be (i 

 tdtal loss. Sunflowers are able to withstand frost 

 ni\ich better than corn. If it is impoissible because 

 (if weather or labor conditions to fill the silo before 

 frost the sunflowers do not dry up and break into 

 fine pieces as corn does when that crop is frosted. — • 

 C. M. Reed, Lake County, Ohio. 



After reading' tlie above T told the chil- 

 dren and grandchildren I was going to 

 visit that man, C. M. Reed, Perry, Lake 

 Co., just as soon as I could get around to 

 it. I submitted a copy of the above to our 

 g-ood friend Prof. Thorne, of the Ohio 

 Experiment Station, and here is his letter 

 in regard to it: 



Dear Sir: — Replying to yours of the 21.st, I 

 would say that Dr. Wiley published in 1901 a 

 "Bulletin No. 60 of the Division of Chemistry," in 

 which he quoted from the New York, Maine, Ver- 

 mont, and Canada experiment stations results of 

 experiments with the sunflower. His conclusion 

 from these was that the sunflower i.s a good feeding- 

 stuff. In the Jersey Bnllctin and Dairy World (In- 

 dianapolis) for Nov. 7, 1917, is an article on using 

 sunflowers in the silo. From these I judge that 

 the claims made in the slip you enclose are justified, 

 except that the statement in the last paragraph 

 that sunflowers yield about 3 times as much per 

 acre as corn should be reversed, as we have no other 

 crop that yields as much feed to the acre as corn, and 

 the experiment stations quoted generally state that 

 the yield is le.ss than that of corn. 

 Yours cordially, 



CHA.S. E. Thorxe, Director. 



Wooster, Ohio, Aug. 26, 1918. 



On receipt of the above I applied to the 

 ■fersefi Bulletin people, and here is what I 

 find in their issue for Nov. 7, 1917: 



SUNFLOWERS AS A SILAGE CROP 



When one gets to practicing intensified farming 

 such as is followed in the Grand Vallev, where the 

 acreages are very limited, he gets to using his head 

 and doing a lot of figuring to make the most feed 

 possible grow on each acre of cultivated ground. 

 Feeds produced upon small farms where land values 

 are high, very high. must, of course, cost more than 

 the same feeds prodmed upon lai-je areas where 

 lands are cheap and the labors necessarily are per- 

 formed upon a big scale. 



After some experimenting and a lot of studv 

 and reading, ■«e came to the conclusion that to be 

 successful in the dairy industry here it was neces- 

 sary to adopt a breed of cows that would furnish 

 the finished product, either milk or butter fat. at 

 the least possible cost of production. Hence our 

 adoption of the .Jersey as the one breed suited to the 

 (■(inditions existing here. 



After soine more experimenting we have now 

 I'ome to the conclusion that sunflovvea's are the ideal 

 dairy feed, just as the Jersey is the ideal dairy 

 breed. 



Late in the spring of 1916 we planted a small 

 plot of ground to Russian sunflowers, and also per- 

 suaded a neighbor to do the same. At that time 

 we did not have a silo, so when harvesting time 

 came we cut the crop, putting it into an old unused 

 outside cistern and let the mass ferment there. We 



were perfectly satisfied that we had stuinb'ed onto 

 somelhing that was going to make good as a dairy 

 feed after we Vegan feeding the silage. 



The neighbor put his sunflowers info a silo and 

 did not get them all fed out before his corn was 

 ready to put up, so the corn was run in on to]) of 

 the sunflowers. When the corn was fed out, and 

 the change made to the sunflower silage, there was 

 a decided increase in the flow of milk. Naturally, 

 we wondered why, but after a study of the chemical 

 analysis of the sunflower plant in the green state 

 as compared with the analysis of the corn plant in 

 the same stage, we came to the conclusion that it 

 must be because of the fact that the plant was 

 richer in protein and in carbohydrate.s, two food 

 nutrients necessary to the production of milk. 



Late last fall we erected a silo, so this year we 

 had a place to put our crop of sunflowers, for of 

 coui-se we planted some last spring. After the crop 

 was off the ground and the manure out of the yards, 

 the plot of ground was again pressed into service 

 for a second cutting of silage from the plant that 

 has made Kansas famous. It only takes about 60 

 days to mature a crop to the siloing stage. 



The ground is prepared and the crop planted very 

 much as we plant corn, only thicker. On alfalfa 

 sod ground this year that yielded us 30 tons to the 

 acre, we planted in rows 32 inches apart with two 

 seeds in hills 10 inches apart. Cultivation and irri- 

 gation were performed practically the same as for 

 corn. The plant grows very slowly for the fii-st 

 two or three weeks, but say, after that the eucalyp- 

 tus of California is not in it. 



Before blooming, the pith in the stalk is sweet 

 and very succulent. After the pollen appears, how- 

 ever, the resin fiavor develops very rapidly, so we 

 have believed it best to cut for the silo just as the 

 field begins to break into bloom. However, this 

 resinous flavor may all disappear after the mass has 

 gone thru the fermentation stages, so there will be 

 no danger of tainted milk. If this is true, and the 

 plants are allowed to mature the seeds, there will be 

 even more protein, for the seeds are very rich in 

 that feed. We have noted that the mature greem 

 plant will produce tainted milk when fed to cows. 

 They eat the plant very readily at any stage of 

 growth, if it is run thru a silage or foddeii' cutter. 



A person would naturally suppose that a crop pro- 

 ducing such a prodigious tonnage would deplete the 

 soil very rapidly, but this does not seem to be true. 

 Last year where sunflowers grew, corn this year is 

 bigger and a better crop generally than it is where 

 corn was grown last year. Wheat growing this year 

 M-liere sunflowers and corn grew last year threshed 

 out more b"shels per aci-e where the sunflowers 

 were than it did where the corn was. Apparently 

 they feed on something not necessary to the best 

 growth of either wheat or corn. In cutting into the 

 silo we have found it best to cut in as short lengths 

 as possible, one-fourth inch is 1 est. and tramping 

 thoroly : keeping the center fullest, crowned to i 

 height of about a foot. We have made up our mind 

 that the silo is no place for a slacker. The man, or 

 rather men, must be goers in order to have a good 

 job of tramping done. 



In feeding the sunflower silage, it will be found 

 that cows can not. or at least do not, eat as much 

 in bulk as they will of the corn silage. We believe 

 this to be due to the fact that it is richer in feed 

 value. We have found feeding the silage to be more 

 like feeding a concentrate rather than a roughage. 



Nov. 17, 1917. Geo. LaGraxge. 



Below is something up to date from the 

 same party: 



Dear Sir: — In the article referred to in The 

 Jersey Bulletin I intended to say that the sunflowers 

 which yielded 30 tons per acre were planted on 

 alfalfa sod, intending to convey the idea that on 



