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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 1045 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. T March 18, 1922 
THE SUNFLOWER AS A SILAGE CROP 
By 
H. N. V1NALL, Agronomist 
Office of Forage -Crop Investigations 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Early History of the Sunflower 1 
Page 
Filling the Silo 15 
Yields of Silage 17 
Cultivation in the United States 2 
Areas Suited to the Production of 
Sunflowers 4 
Valup of Sunflowers in the Semiarid 
Regions 5 
Soil Relations and Effect on the Fol- 
Feeding Value of Sunflower Silage ... 20 
Composition and Digestibility .... 20 
Palatability 21 
Color, Texture, and Odor 23 
Acidity of the Silage 23 
Results with Dairy Cattle 23 
Feeding Tests with Beef Cattle ... 26 
Use of Sunflower Silage in Feeding 
Sheep 27 
Feeding Sunflower Silage to Hogs . . 29 
Sunflowers as a Soiling Crop 29 
Diseases of Sunflowers 30 
Insects Attacking Sunflowers 31 
Literature Cited. . 31 
Growing Sunflowers for Silage 9 
Method and Rate of Seeding .... 10 
Cultivation and Irrigation 11 
Harvesting Methods 12 
Time to Cut Sunflowers 13 
^2^*^2C 
WASHINGTON . 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1922 
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