1170 
Joumal of Agricultural Research v 0 i. xxxi, no. 12 
Figure 3 contains a graphic comparison of the average analysis of 
55 sunflower plants analyzed by the writers, and of 5 com plants 
calculated from data published by Latshaw . 7 In addition a compari¬ 
son of the amount of elements removed from an acre of sunflowers 
and com is made, assuming the yield of each crop to be 10 tons and 
the moisture percentage of sunflowers 80 per cent, while corn is cal¬ 
culated at 70 per cent. Latshaw’s analyses are used for the basis 
of the corn calculations. 
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Fig. 3.—Comparison of the percentage composition and pounds of elements removed 
per acre by 10-ton per acre crops of sunflowers and corn 
A comparison of the percentage composition of mineral elements in 
sunflowers when grown under the different systems in this investi¬ 
gation shows ^that regardless of the spacings or type of planting, 
the percentage composition is approximately the same. The great¬ 
est variation is found in plot 11013, which contained four plants per 
hill. These plants drew the heaviest upon the potash of the soil 
and gave the lowest percentage of nitrogen. An examination of this 
J )articular group of plants through the five stages of growth shows a 
imited growth in the later stages. This may be due to the inability 
of the roots to feed over as large an area in the hill system with four 
plants as when spaced at stated distances in the row. 
COMPARISON OF ELEMENTS £N SUNFLOWERS AND CORN 
Sunflowers draw very heavily on potassium and calcium and to 
some extent on magnesium. They draw much more heavily on these 
bases than does corn. As to the other elements, sunflowers and corn 
take about the same amounts out of the soil. 
7 Latshaw, W. L., and Miller, E. C. elemental composition of the corn plant. Jour. Agr. 
Research 27: 845-860, illus. 1924. 
