10 BULLETIN 1045, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICLTLTURE. 



plowed it can be put into condition for planting by cliskino; in the 

 early spring. 



DATE OF SEEDING. 



The best date to plant sunflowers of course varies with the locality. 

 In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at the Chatham Experiment 

 Station (15, p. 50) it was found that seeding May 26 gave a larger 

 yield and a better quality of silage than on June 2 and 9. 



At the West Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, Morgan- 

 town, W. Va. (-5), June 5 proved a satisfactory date for seeding. 

 At the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station at Bozeman (4, 

 p. 9), seedings were made each week in 1918 from April 29 to June 

 10. The largest yields were obtained from seed sown on the earliest 

 date. Seeded on April 29 the plants appeared above ground in 

 12 days and the yield was 39.7 tons of silage per acre ; sown one month 

 later. May 29, the young plants were up in 5 days and the yield 

 was 36.8 tons, green weight, per acre ; sown June 10 the plants were 

 up in 3 days and the yield was 22 tons, green weight, per acre. The 

 seedings made between April 29 and M.sby 29 gave lower yields than 

 the May 29 seeding, although they were higher than the yield for 

 June 10. The recommendations of the Montana station, based on 

 the rather inconsistent results obtained in 1918, are to defer seeding 

 in the higher altitudes until the ground is warm and in good condi- 

 tion. 



On the Scottsbluif Reclamation Project Experiment Farm. Mitch- 

 ell. Nebr., good results were obtained from seedings made on May 

 24 {8, p. 25). At the experiment stations at Akron, Colo.. Hays, 

 Kans., and Amarillo, Tex., seedings have been made from May 

 15 to June 15. 



These date-of-seeding tests indicate that sunflowers may be sown 

 at the same time the farmer plants corn. 



METHOD AND RATE OF SEEDING. 



In early experiments with sunflowers in Maine, Vermont, New 

 York, and in Canada the seedings were usually made with a corn 

 planter in rows 3 feet apart. It was advised that not more than 

 three or four seeds be dropped in each foot of row space. In some 

 cases the plats were thinned so that the plants stood 8 to 12 inches 

 apart in the row. 



In later experiments carried on in West Virginia, Michigan. Mon- 

 tana, Nebraska, and other western points the ordinary grain drill 

 has been found better suited for seeding sunflowers than the corn 

 planter. The required space between the rows is accomplished by 

 stopping up a certain number of holes or feeds in the drill box. In 

 general, the largest yields and the best quality of silage have been 



