Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1894 — The Sunflower. [ARTICLE]

The Sunflower.

Few persons appreciate the value and profit of this common flower. By many it is regarded a nuisance, and yet its cultivation will pay largely more than cotton and grown at much less cost. An acre of land planted about twenty inches apart will yield an average of eighty bushels of seed, the oil from which will produce about 150 gallons. The oil cake is a valuable food for live stock. The oil is said to be equal to olive oil, is superior to linseed oil for painting in spreading and drying qualities. The stalks having long, strong fibers, make superior paper. The green leaves are very nutritious as stock food and the young flower cups very palatable to man. Machinery for expressing the oil is easily obtainable and inexpensive. Bees have a perfect “bonanzo” in a sunflower patch, and the seed is very valuable for poulfiry as an egg producer. The sunflower is independent of weather and persists in growing under the most unfavorable conditions. —[Atlanta Constitution.