Usefulness of the Sunfloiver. 25 
to the painter, printer, clothier, and in domestic economy, 
both as a fuel and for diet. I come now to what, I trust, 
may prove of far more value in a national point of view $ 
I mean the great strength and staple of the woody fibre 
of the stalk of the sunflower, a part not heretofore applied 
to any use, except as above proposed by Mr. Saunders. 
When we consider the immense importance of the ar- 
ticle hemp to our maritime concerns, (other objects of its 
application out of the question,) and recollect what sums 
are annually expended in Russia in the purchase of this 
raw material ; when we reflect, too, on the comparatively 
small proportion of our wants supplied amongst ourselves, 
partly arising from the trouble and uncertainty of the 
crop, and more, perhaps, from other articles of husbandry 
being more productive ; we must admit, that if a fair and 
adequate experiment shall prove, that a plant, attended 
with little trouble in cultivation, and almost certain in its 
produce, is capable of affording a substitute for hemp, of 
equal or even superior strength for manufacturing ropes, 
cables, &c. of such infinite importance to the commerce, 
&c. of the United States I say, if this is demonstrated 
by fair experiment, who will doubt its becoming an arti- 
cle of the first attention in agricultural pursuits? The 
chief object of this essay is to call upon our fanners and 
others, especially those who are accustomed to raise 
hemp, to give this a fair and candid examination. In 
towns, we have not adequate advantages to pursue this 
enquiry ; hut it is now several years since I accidentally 
found a sunflower standing in my garden, of which little 
remained but the woody fibre, (the rain, &c. having gra- 
dually rotted off the epidermis, &c.) which resisted so 
much my attempts to break it, that I was forcibly struck 
with the probable advantages to be derived from its use. 
Since that time I have repeatedly mentioned the fact 
and have endeavoured to induce others to pursue the en, 
Vql. Tf 
B 
