Mohave County miner., 1888-03-24
BROOM MAKING.
AN INDUSTRY WHERE THE SMALL
CAPITALIST HOLDS HIe oWf.

Growth OF Broom Factory-~1he Trade
In ssw York City-A Trick Of shs
Trade. ...
There is one industry in the country IN
which the email capitalists hare been
able 20 hold their own against the wealth
icst men In II, and that ~ the industry OF
broom making II Is n business Ia wficl
a journeyman OF giill and prudence can
hope TO establish himself, IL he wishes.
within very few years after he bas
learned his trade. The process OF broom
making IL simple, and yet IL is such TINT
machinery bas never been devised Tor
turning out completed broom, and, DC.
yord the Gum necessary 70 erect such an
Embellishments a. VIII permit Of q Ger
tsin division OF the labor, an abundance
Of capital 10 Of no special advantage.
The broom center Of the country 10 III
New York state, the largest establish
ments and the best workmen being
located in the Mohawk valley. Tho time
was when the Mohawk valley was the
great broom corn raising center OF the
country, too, but the less tough and
stringy and more sacculsnt and profitable
cabbage has driven the wavy green tasgels
of broom corn from the Cats which were
ouce their ayoritc growing place II wss
because 81 the prolific yield Of corn there
In former years that the trade Of mnkIn9
brOorDs became 20 well established.
A BROOM FACTORY.
The growth II broom factory ia In.
tcrcstiDg. \ young man of economical
halits learns the trade, and, having
iearned IL well, IN able 20 do the eQuivs.
lent q turning out from 100 to l2j or 30
complete brooms q day. As a matter Of
fact, In we'll regulated shops no man
makes n complete broom, bu. only one
part Of II, hut the journeyman having
learned mis- trade we'll can do enough work
~ Mualig AZ piece prices TO earn from $2 10
81 d9y. Out OF this he ought TO save
800 before starting IN trade tor himself
With this sum he can buy enough ma
chiRery lat a cost Of $50 and stock to
6ct from three TO five men at work and
keep them going until returns come In
from the sales. That is a very modest
capital, but since the machinery costs 30
little, mcu have started on 1900, and even
less, and made notable successes as the
trade goes. Second hand tools can be
had sometimes for as0 or $50, couple OF
bales of corn wouldrSost perhaps &35. 500
handles $3.50 mofs and other suppiies
e2J, and then the man ia ready 10 set up
shop and make all the brooms his neigh.
bors can usc, at least.
The trade In New York city calls for
about i50, 900 dozen brooms q year The
majority OF them are made In Amsterdam
and other towns along the Mohawk river.
Many come from jersey, however The
factories are nBpretcntious wooden build
ings. Steam power In the larger factories
is used in stitching the broom and In
winding the wire around the corn where
IL II secured TO tho handle. The largest
factory in the business, according to O
New York dealer, turns out 900 brooms
day, or twice as many rs the New York
city trade demands, In such factory o
mans work IL equivalent 20 the making
Of from 200 10 go brOoms q day, accord
ing 10 the quality oi the brooms.
OF the trade in the corn dealer said:
The manufacturers buy their corn In the
west. Kansas cora has the best repufa-
ton In this market, but Missouri, Ne
braska and Illinois raise great deal The
crop was very small in Kansas this year,
and Illinois did better than any other
state. An ordinary crop is 800 to 400
pounds 10 the acre II farmer gots 800
pounds he pays of some Of his mortgage,
and when the crop reaches 600 pounds ho
buys O new SIX dress for his wife and n
piano for his daughter. And yet there fs
not such n terrible profit in t. II brings
all the way from $50 TO Tlg0 n ton In New
York, the ordinary bTooms requiring stock
TINT now sells Tor from 500 to si20 a
ton. II costs s2J a ton 10 get IL here from
Kansas aud sl5 from Illinois. The mid.
die man ont there must have his commits
sion, and so must the New York mer-
chant. IL fnrmer receives $50 an acre
for his crop he is doing we'll; still that is
better than wheat at sixty cents bushol.
Broom oOES ~ BALES. r...
'The corn comes TO this market I'm bales
averaging 300 pounds each. The corn
from the prairies IS bsied with iath ana
wire, but some Ohio corn comes hero with
very liberal chunks Of wood 10 keep tho
bales from tumbling 10 pieces The wood
sells at the same price as the corn, II the
buyer doesn't notice IL. Sometimes the
prairie farmer gets even with tho Ohio
man by dropping sod or two into the
bunch.
Tho corn on the average will make
! 200 bfoorns 20 the ton, aithoreh Ia
come fancy brands Of extra heavy brooms
as much 40 fifty pounds is used for q
dozen brootns. In the parlor brooms sold
at the groceries two 20 two and ono Quarter
pounds are used. ii
There is quite an export trade In broom
corn In ordinary times and in brooms In
other tiruls. With low prices on the corn the
corn is sllipped but when the broom makers
have q spurt, as they sometimes do, and
food the market, no broom trust having
set been formed, broouns are eold 20 low
aS TO enable merchants 10 send them %
Cuba and South America. Very littls
broom corn Is ordinarily sent 70 Europa,
the fields Of southern France and OF
Italy supplying the European market. g.
What IS the trick In this trade, IL there
be tricks in all trsdesf' was asked OF Q
dealer in broom corn.
II. Is in making poor corn look HE
good. The best article has a healthy sresu
color, like well cured timothy hay. That
color indicates toughncss. With proper
Hexibiljty. The cheap stun, worth $50 Q
ton, Il Of sickly yellow or lemon color.
Nothing is easier than 20 give 70 the gel
low corn bath In green dye, 80 as TO
give IL tho appearance Of first color corn
until after it is sold Manufacturers who
use only the uncolored corn assert that
the doc'ored stun has Paris green In Il,
and that when the unllly housewife takes
4 broom splint 20 try her cake or pick her
teeth, She is toying with deadly poison.
The men who make tho dye say It Is .
harmless vegetable compound. Peopls
who will use broom corn spllnts for such
purposes may, perhaps, be frightened
from an uutidy habit by fear Of poison,
but no case has yet been resorded where
my one was poisoned by broom spiint."
New York Sun.
How She Was DresseJ