THE SUNFLOWER PLANT: ITS CULTIVATION, 

 COMPOSITION, AND USES. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The introduction and successful establishment of new agricultural 

 industries can not fail to be of benefit to the general agricultural inter- 

 ests of the country, which as a rule are the more prosperous as they 

 are more diversified. Numerous inquiries have been addressed to the 

 Department of Agriculture in the last two years in regard to the growth 

 of sunflowers for economical purposes and the manufacture of oil from 

 their seed, indicating a large and growing popular interest in the sub- 

 ject. It has been found impossible to give the desired information to 

 correspondents in an epistolary form. For the purpose of giving to 

 those interested in the matter all the information available some investi- 

 gations have been made in the composition of the sunflower, the methods 

 of culture, and the manufacture of oil from the seed. The results of 

 these investigations are contained in the present bulletin. 



By the courtesy of the Statistician, a circular was sent to the cor- 

 re<-pondents of the Department for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 acreage cultivated in sunflowers, and the disposition made of the crop. 

 Many replies have been received in response to this circular, which 

 have enabled us to definitely point out those areas in the United States 

 in which the sunflower is now cultivated as an agricultural crop, and 

 also to give some valuable data in regard to the methods of cultivation 

 and harvesting employed. The answers to these circulars, however, 

 failed to give any definite information in regard to the extraction of 

 oil from the seeds of the sunflower for commercial purposes. It is 

 not believed that any oil factory devoted exclusively to the manufacture 

 of oil from sunflower seeds is in operation in this country. As will 

 appear from a discussion of the data which have been collected, it is 

 evident that the product of sunflowers at the present time, so far as 

 seeds are concerned, is devoted chiefly to the feeding of birds and 

 poultry, and in some instances to medicinal purposes for cattle and 



horses. 



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