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A SUNFLOWER SECRET
MILLIONS OF POUNDS USED, BUT
FOR WHAT IS A MYSTERY.
Only « Few Men Know and They Won't
Tell—How the Crop i. drown nnd
Harvested—it HnnUlie* Mnlnrla—Tho
l’lonner Suntlowor Capitnllnu
A correspondent of tho Chicogo
Record writes as follows from Law
roncoville, Ill.:
A man down here is advertising for
1,000,000 pounds of sunflower soed.
He has bought three-fourths of a mil
lion pounds of sunflower seed and ex
pects to ship 5,000,000 pouuds. raised
Practically all of this crop in
the world goes out of Lawrence
County. This same man who is now
buying the soed by the trainload got
rich by raising such things on liis
rented farm, going into the murkot
for strange aud unusual things, while
his neighbors stuck to wheat and corn
and hogs. His name is W. R. Crack
el and he is both shrewd and inquisi
tive, but while supplying the world
with what sunflower seed it needs he
has never been able to find out what
the world does with it. This sunflower
seed industry is not only an art ex
hibit and a poem, but one of the
greatest mysteries as well.
A good many people hero are prof- on
gaged in it now, but it is not so
itable as it was to tho grower. Farm
er Crackol sold his first big crop for
nine oonts a pound; tho next year
his neighbors put out a good deal of
land iu sunflowers, and sold the pro
duct for eight cants a pound, which
was some hundreds of dollars per acre.
1'hen came the deluge. Everybody in- in
Petty township planted sunflowers
?tead of corn, and the farmers accom
plished their own undoing. One
township iu this county broke tho
market from eight cents to two couts
by causing an overproduction in the
ivorld’s supply. Then many went
tack to corn and wheat, and now
things have settled down to a basis
that pays well enough, but does not
make rich inon.
NEEDS LITTLE CULTIVATION.
The sunflower is grown from tho
seed and a twenty-acre field soon after
it comes up looks like a patch of
ground much neglected to tho weeds.
The plants are cultivated somewhat,
but in the rich soil of tho island,
whare Crackel started the industry
and where it still flourishes, the sun
flower grows to unbelievable propor
tions with little care. Early in the
aeason the field takes on the color of
tho soft, rich green peculiar to the
leaves of the plant, and a little later
blotches of deep yellow appear all
over the greeu palette, ns one by one
the flowers stick themselves above the
general level like township commit
teemen at a political meeting. The
field on a level with the top of the low
rail fence is one plane, the plauts be
ing interwoven with their long, broad
leaves intermingled iu what seems to
be a perfect amalgamation.
The flowers that first appear are not
mnoh larger than a saucer and are
light yellow in color. Each day more
of them can be counted, everyone on
a tall upshoot and bending its head in
the most dignified way imaginable,
making the field look like a crowd of
tonsured courtiera Miluting tlieir king.
1’hey bow toward'the sun as a general
rule, bending to the east in the morn
ing, tho south at noon and tlie west
In the evening.
As late summer comos, no view is
.
richer thftn. forty or eighty acres of
sunflowers. Tho color tone is yellow
then—a rich, deep yellow—with just and
9nough dark blown for harmony
a little of dark greon for contrast.
High stand the stalks and each is
bowed low With its weight of flower,
but still reaching far above the fence
and the corn in.the adjoining field.
how or.or is harvested.
Tho narrow, yellow petals wither
and fall away, or tnrn brown and sere,
aud then tho harvesting of this most
unique crop begins. The heads are
out off the stalks by baud aud thrown
into a wagon. After boing carefully
dried they have lost all their beauty
aud are dark, angular, ugly things
that impress one most with their size.
Some of tho flowers are as large in
diameter as six columns of a news
paper is wide and the brown tonsure
in the center is often a foot iu di
ameter after tho petals have fallen and
it is dried. Tho seed is separated by
running the heads through an ordin
ary thrashing machine cylinder, which
knocks the seeds from the pockets in
which they were imbedded, Tho
operation of cleaning is rather,crude
yet, there being no special machines
for the purpose.
The yiold per acre varies greatly. A
field of flowers only as large as a des
sert plate will not have hall'the amount
of seed as a field of flowers as large as
a half-bushel. Almost any kind of
laud with slight attention will yield
600 pounds to the acre; and crops of
1600 pounds to the acre are not very un
common, although they are the result
of extra atteutiou by growers who havo
studied the habits aud needs of the
sunflower aud who also have very rich
land. Just now the buyers are pay
ing from $1.25 to $1.50 per hundred
pounds for the seed delivered at the
warehouse. The cost of raising an
acre of sunflowers is very mnoh less
than the cost of an acre of wheat or
corn aud the crop is much more cer
tain. This city is the great sunflower
seed market of the world, but small
quantities, comparatively, are bought
at Bridgeport, St. FranGisville, Stwn
ner, Birds and others of the smaller
towns in this county, each station
sending out several carloads in a year.
The crop of 1899 is now being thrashed
and sent to market and in this county
will aggregate about 5,000,000 pounds
in the opinion of those most interested.
Small quantities of sunflower seed are
sent to market occasionally from
iy separated points in the United
stat e9 - 1>nk in no other p lacB is iU ®
Heod-raiHing . made business.
a
WHERE DOES THE SEED OO?
What does the world do with 5,060,
000 pounds of the seed of a plant com
monly associated only with an esthetic
craze? Only a very few men know,
and they won’t tell. The secrecy which
envelopes the whole matter of its use
like the hist of a stage burglar, sug
gests that it is an'adulterant. It once
sold readily at ton cents a pound, which
was the equivalent of nearly $2 a gal
lon for tho oil, and what oil can lie
used for an adulterant atsuch a price?
The same mau, Crackol, who started
the whole thing here as a farmer ami
now handles nearly the whole crop as
a dealer in grain, thought of all that.
Ho is a mau who takes excellent care
of his own business and at the same
time has a philanthropic interest in
the doings of liis neighbors down here
where everybody visits everybody else.
Home other people had a casual curios
ity about the mattor, but when they
discovered that Crackel had to shame
facedly admit what he did not kuow
and could not find out, they let it go
at that. Crackel found out that the
oil was pressed from the seed, ami
that was all.
After several years’dealing with the
Cincinnati firm, who buys the seed
finally, he took an excellent opportu
nity and made it clear that he thought
he might now be admitted into the
degree which enlightened about what
wa3 done with the sunflower seed.
The senior member of the firm ac
quiesced, and after initiatory cere
monies over an altar with a big mir
ror behind it, he gravely told Crackel
that the seed was used to feed canary
Wrds, at the same time giving a sign
by slowly lowering and raising his
left eyelid. One of these days Crackel
will take in a capitalist and corner the
market on sunflower seed; then he
will loosen up only on conditipn that
he is allowed to see exactly what be
comes of the seed in its final resting
place. In the meantime the public
will have to do without knowing for
wliat the seed really is used.
Sunflowers have always flourished
here in this oldest part of tho State,
where Jesse IC. Dubois belongs to its
modern history, and George Rogers
Clark passed on on his way to capture
tho neighboring Fort Vincennes and
the northwest from Great Britain.
But they were used to feed chickens
and to keep off “feverimager” until
recent years. It is a fact that plenty
of sunflowers growing around a place
will lessen the malaria there. They
take up so much moisture from the
ground that the latter is a less healthy
culture medium for the plasmodium
malariiB, aud perhaps the chemistry of
their own existence and growth is an
tiseptio to that queer-shaped germ
which the Italian scientist discovered
to be the essence of malarial poisou
As a consequence of the great change ,
in farming in Lawrence County bring
mg the sunflower crop into such prom
liiouoe, there is more money and less
malaria along the banks of Muddy
Greek and in the valley of the histon
oal Embarrus River._
Hotter fiun When You See Him.
Every one who baa anything to do
with this class of stock should remem
ber that the bull is a dangerous aui
mnl. He may have been gentle in the
past, but that does not give the slight
est degree of security that he will re
main so in the future. He is a
treacherous beast, is easily disturbed
and when excited is equally ready to
attack friend or - enemy. Men have
been known to go around these aui
mals as freely as they do horses, aud
women have petted handsome bulls,
but such acts are as dangerous as
handling dynamite bombs. The bull
should not be abused, but he should
never, even while a calf, bo petted or
played with. From his earliest days
he should be taught that man is his
master. Wheu he is being driven
from one place to another an occa
sional strike with a good whip will be
a great aid in enforcing this les
son and impressing it firmly upon
his memory. After he is a year
and a half old he should not be turned
into a pasture, or be allowed in a
yard with other cattle. He ought
never to be led with a rope, but only
with a strong staff that is safely con
neeted with a ring or a “leader” in
his nose, and tho man who has charge
of him should always be on his guard.
If it is necessary to go into a yard or
stable with him when he is iooke, a
rawhide whip should always be ear
ried. The man should not turn his
back to the bull or for a single mo
rnoiit relax his vigilance. Cutting off
the horns, which some recommend, is
not to be fully relied upon. It will
not make a radical change in the dis
position, aud while it will keep the
bull from goring it will not prevent
his trampling a mau to death. The
only way to make a bull permanently
safe is to take them off near the shoul
ders. Horns or no horns, as long as
he live, the bull will be a dangerous
animal to handle.—Lewiston (Me.)
Journal.
A Handicapped Genius.
A certain Clevelander has iu soma t
way secured quite a reputation for
literary work. He is supposed to do
lots of it aud is looked upon with afeel
ing akin to awe by people who are not
literary themselves.
Not long ago a sister of the genius
was asked concerning her brother’s
work.
“It’s funny I fail to see any of it,”
said the questioner. “Doesn’t he
ever write anything over his own
name?”
“I think you have been misin
formed concerning my brother’s
talent,” said the sister coldly aud
with great precision, “He never
writes anything for publication.”
And she said it with an air that im
plied that writing for publication was
a little , too common for any use.—
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
ASCENT OF A DRAGON BALLOON.
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BRITISH WAS EALLDOflS
WATER THE BOERS.
Remarkable Battlefield Work Done by
• LMounted Telegraphers.
DISPATCH from
Cape Town
m British states that troops the
mjh ; have tant the balloon, auxiliary an military and impor- the in
—V?/ >?■ J* defence of Lady
smith was eou
s. siderably facili
tated thereby.
The balloon was
in telephonic communication with
the camp, aud kept a watch on the
Boer movements during tho night.
The brilliant work performed bv
l]le si H during corps of the United
states army / l the war with
s * aiu caU8 d speoia V atteutiou to be
d awn to thftt brancll of the s<5rvice .
An iuteresti £ comparisou j wi u be
afforded b t e stu y of the opera -
turns G f the signalers of the British
army in the hostilities in the Trans
vaal. The latest information received
is to the effect that a complete balloon
ing corps from England' is on the
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CIB3US-LIKE FEAT IN THE FIELD.
! scene of action. The great Napoleon
regarded military balloons as of “no
strategical importance.” He was
accompanied by a ballooning corps
duviug his second campaign in Egypt,
but the wagons containing tho acces-
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BALLOONING TRAIN IN THE FIELD.
'
series fell into British hands, and this
calamity no doubt influenced his
•pinion. However, since those days
military balloons have done good work
cu many occasions, aud it is con-
fidently expected that their advent in
warfare.
The British balloon division is fully
equipped for the work it is to per
form. The chief work which it will
be expected to execute may be summed
up as follows: First, to' discover the
whereabouts of the Boevs hidden in
cover; second, to make observations
and to take photographs; third, to
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film
— 5 -
TOWER CONSTRUCTED BY ROYAL ENGI
NEERS WORKING WITH THE BALLOON
DIVISION.
carry dispatches. Invaluable infor
mation concerning the enemy’s
movements will be telephoned from
the men in the car to those below.
The balloon, too, will render ex
cellent service for map-making pur
poses. Photographs will be taken
vertically downward that will she w
every detail of the country and the
position of the Boer forces. It is
only a matter of practice for skilled
surveyors to become efficient in judg
ing distances aud heights from a bal
loon car aud in making accurate
j I sketches The British and maps, military balloons
now
| going to the front hold about 10,000
cubic feet of hydrogen. Each balloon
will carry two persons—one iu tlie
car and the other iu the netting,
These balloons are made of gold
beaters’skin, which is far superior in
every way to silk. Each balloon will
be placed on a wagon and drawn by
twelve horses to the scene of opera
engine or by four horses, This gas
is stowed in steel cylinders, 110
cylinders being required to fill one
balloon of 10,000 cubic feet capacity.
Hitherto one cause of great concern been
in the ballooning operations has
the difficulty of obtaining a balloon
sufficiently steady to ensure the mak
ing of accurate observations. It Has
also been feared that the difficulties
attending the manufacture, handling
and conveyance of the gas might
prove insurmountable. In order that
this may not prove a stumbling block
in the Transvaal, the British army is
being also furnished with equipment
for the rapid erection of observation
towers. The care of these is entrust
ed to the Royal Engineers, a section
of the British army whose operations
have always been distinguished by
excellence of work. One of the illus
trations shows one of these towers
after it has reached a height of 110
feet. It will be seen that the ob
servation pqsts afford every facility
for recounoitering the movements of
the Boer army. The results of the
m is
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TELEPHONING FF.OJI A WAR BALLOON.
observations made by balloon or tower
will be communicated to the general
staff’ headquartei s by means of tele
phone and telegraph lines, to be
erected by the telegraph battalion battalion of
the Royal Engineers. This
has seen long aud honorable service.
In the erection of temporary lines it
has made a record for speed, stability
and efficiency. Galloping across a
plain, horsemen may be seen, im
paling their specially constructed
posts at regular distances. With a
speed that is almost incredible, other
horsemen follow, unreeling the coils
of wire; others, with an agility aud
skill hitherto confined to circuses,
pursue them, standing on saddle to
adjust a wire to the insulator, drop
ping into their seat, only to repeat
the operation a few yards further on.
The illustrations show that this line
is not as primitive in construction as
one might suppose.
Baled Money.
But speaking of cotton—strange
how the subject sticks to one—I once
asKed a small farmer in Georgia,
“Why do you raise cotton year after
year? It seems to me it’s the hardest
thing in the world to raise; it requires
more care than anything I Know of;
has to be plowed ofteuer and looked
after more carefully; why don’t you
raise something to eat?” And the
man with the two-mule farm laughed
and said, “I’d know yon was from the
North just by that fool speech. Be
cause I owe for my laud, f have to
have money every year to run this
j farm. I can borrow money on my
next crop of cotton. And the man
who lends me the money can keep his
eye on my crop from the time the
seed is in the ground till it is loaded
on the cars. His security is all right.
But if I go to him iu the spring and
tell him I ain’t going to raise any cot
ton, but only corn and garden truck,
he can’t keep track of no such perish
able security as that. He won’t lend
l4e'*so < i°to rid, 0 ,, ciittoa*-* ISlSI
gam
2000 miles away just what they ought
to do. So much easier than it is to
go there anc do it.—Robert Burdette,
in the Los Angeles Times.
Secret Drawers Designed by a Woman.
“Most people seem to think,” said
a maker of furniture, “that secret
drawers and hidden receptacles in
furniture only exist in novels and
plays, but this is by no means so. I
very frequently take orders for such
items, and I employ a clever woman
designer, who shows positive genius
iu planning places of concealment,
which no amount of tapping or ineas
uring could reveal, In most cases, dis
even were the hollow receptacle would
covered, the woodwork around
have to be cut away, so complex are
the fastenings. Most of the orders
come from women—and rich people,
of course—and I have no doubt that a
desire to hide articles from too curi
ous servants dictates the orders.”
“Barker humbly says he is but an
instrument in tiie hands of destiny.”
“I kuow he talks that way; but, all
the same, he thinks destiny has its
hands full when it is using him. —
Indianapolis Journal.
“He That Any Good
Would Win "
Should have good health. Pure, rich
blood is the first requisite. Hod’s Sarsa
parilla, by giving good blood and good
health, has helped many a maito success,
besides giving strength and ourage to
women who, before taking it, could not
even see any good in life to tin.
f
oMa,
A Good Strategist.
“John,” said Mrs. Thursby, “you
were saying yesterday that yei were
in financial trouble, I believe.”
“Yes,” Mr. Thursby replied, “and
I’m terribly worried. I didn't shop a
wink last night.”
“I think 1 heard, you say sometiing,
too, about a note held by Mr. Hcvltt,
didn’t I?”
“That’s what is causing the trouble.
If I could get him to extend tho tine
on it for about ninety days everything
would come • out all right. I could
then realize on some securities I held
and get on my feet, but if he insists
on payment now I shall have to each
flee my valuable holdings, and this will
practioaly ruin me.”
“Have you asked him for an exten
sion of the time?”
“No. That wouldn’t do any good.
Ho novar favored .anybody i n his life.
K he knew how I am fixed he would
be all the more anxious to press me
for an immediate settlement.”
“Well, don't you worry dear. Ills
wife, you know, is several years older
than I. We met at a party tills after
■ noon and I spoke to a lot of women
there of the days when she and I went
to the same school. She turned pale
when I mentioned the fact, fearing, of
course, that I was going to tell how
long ago it was, aud that she was sev
eral grades above me because she was
older; but I put down my pride, and
pretended that as I remembered her
she was a little thing in pinafores just
learning her primer lessons when I
graduated. You go to Hewitt’s house
now, and when she Is present ask him
to extend the time on that note.”—Clii
cago Tiraes-Herald.
Evolution of the Salmon.
When a young salmon is first
hatched it Is known as a parr; just
before it leaves the fresh for the salt
water It is called a smolt; when it first
returns to spawn it becomes a grilse,
and not until it has spawned is it en
titled to be dignified by the name of
salmon. _
Putnam Fadeless Iter do act stain
the bioitU or spot the kettle. Sold by all
druggists,____
Cotton Bolls for Paris Exposition.
O. V. Ki*jr, eommisBionur from Mississippi to
tlio Paris Exposition In 1950 has arranged what
promises t» So a great novelty In the way of aa
exhibit.frwm its state. He has mail s arrange
ments to secure live hundred thousand cotton
bolls, whieh iioitoh will be sold at tho exposition of the by
original field darkle* as souvenirs
American exhibit. They will bo the first cot
ton bolls ever shipped abroad.
Con't Tobacco Spit and Smoke Tour Life Away.
To cmt tobacco easily and forever, be mag
netic. full of life, nerve »nd vigor, take N»-To
Bae. til® wonder-worker, that makes weak men
strong. All druggists, SOc or $1. Cure guarau
teed. Booklet and sample free. Address
Sterling Remedy Co., Chicago or New York.
Human Frailly.
If some men could realize In cash their own
estimate of thtrtnselves, the money market
would soon be cornered.
By writing »t once
lor the remarkable offer of Ihe South's great
est Institution of Pr–otleal Business Training,
Tie Ga.“Ala. gosiaess Celiege,
Don’t Delay-! MACON, GA.
■ a
1 33 f mi
S 239
■is
“I Vlcvo i6 o*q traabled a deal
Will* a Lsurpid liver, which produces constipa
tion. I found CA3CABET3 u> be ail you claim
for them, and secured such relief tho Erst trial,
that I pureiunied another supply and was som
plotsly cured. I shall only be too opportunity glcd to i^c
onasiwnd Oasearsts whenever tb* Sjj
is presented-” J. Philadeiphia, A hb. Pa.
29941 Susquehanna Are.,
CANDY
*W CATHARTIC
£ A
TS.AB5 MASU nSOIOTtSRCO
Pleasant, Palatable, Potont, Tasic Good. DO
Good, Never Sicken, w eat.en, or Gripe. 10c, 26c, 5UC.
SXFLS,. »«---i-..
» 8WniB * 1lg
CURE YOUR HORSE
of S^ntvhi, Curb, Splint, Capped
Hock, Sore Tendons, Cut*, Kick*,
Bruises, etc., by using
Asa
bBSS–ESI PS
Also an invalu*bl« remedy for man.
When taken internally it cures lest
Cramp* and Colic. It is the
antiseptic known.
Every b.ttle is vrnrrsnted. Sold by dealers
and druggists generally. Family size, S5C.
Horse size, 50c. ami $1.00.
Prepared by EARL.S; SLOAN, Boston, Mass
WAHTft )i ?ob«c.5–HA
^“AV^. 1 r
.
te.'.tunon'.-u^nd^o amck r? , t«f«nYcores’ 0
,. Bse9 . cwt <in>-s
Free. » r . h. h. ssexb s bow*. i« b Ati»ct».—
If afflicted vrltli l j Thompson's Eye Water
sore cjv6, uso