Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-18

them intended for the housekeeper's string to
hang the instrument up by. Some Of tho sticks
are left OF their natural hue and others are
painted red, to satisfy the tastes of all sorts of
purchasers.
The rest Of the broom is made Of straw
chiefly, and this material is obtained from a
sort Of corn plant grown expressly for the pur
pose. Doubtless you have noticed tho tassel on
an ordinary corn stalk. What the tasscl is to
the edible corn Is found in the wisp that grows
from the top Of the broom corn. which bears 40
ears at all. There are two kinds of broom corn,
roughly speaking-the coarse sort for ordinary
sweeping and the fine dwarf sort for .'parlor
brooms" and whisks. The fine stuff is plucked
by hand, while the coarse variety is cut with
the knife. 1t is in bales of 800 pounds each
that the material reaches such a factory as
there is over IN Georgetown, which produces
$4,000 brooms every year to help scoop up the
sweepings Of the District of Columbia.
HOW BROOM IS MADE.
Perhaps you would like to know how broom
is made. To begin with the wIsp tassels cut
from the corn tops must be assorted as to
length. This process is performed by an ex-
pert who takes the wisps from the bale and dis
tributes them among series of compartments
The broom wisps thus assorted go into tho
hands of man who holds the broomstick in q
revolving wise with Its end projectng-the end,
that il to say, which is to be the broom. This
operator first passes fine wire through the hole
in the end Of the broomstick and by the aid OF
treadle makes the length OF wood revolve unit
it has taken up three or four bindings of the
wire from q great coil below. Then he grasps
number OF wisps OF long -stemmed broom corn,
10 serve for what 10 known technically as
''handlc stuff, fastening them to the stick high
up with windings Of the wire. All the time
while the wire is wrapping the straw upon the
stick 1t 10 made to bind more tightly by blows
from a hammer. Next is bound around the
embryo broom what is called the shoulder
stuff, with shorter stems, which, AS was the
case with the handle stuff is trimmed off close
above the wire binding with a sharp knife.
Stalks yet shorter, from which the stems have
been cut off entirely, are finally wound upon
the outside with more wire, and the whole
business is clinched and fastened where the
broom meets the stick with strong belt Of
timed brass. its corrugated edge bound down
with the wire SO that the straw is made much
part OF the broom handle as If it grew upon it.
sEwED AND FINISHED.
Now the broom goes to the sewer, who passes
faxen Irvine around its middle and pierces the
substance Of the broom through and through
with needle provided with similar fayep
cord, so as to bind the straw together closely
Now 1t only remains to chop the straw ends of
the brooms of even with a sort Of cleayer
knife and to comb the seeds out Of them with a
revolving mac hine armed with teeth, in order
to make them ready for market A first-rate
broom is bought by dealers at from So % to 81
dozen and sold at from 81 50 to ~ so retail
Some brooms for heavy sweeping of ships decks
and outdoors, cost sc dozen. The coarse straw
is best for those. You can calculate the profits
of the manufacture for yourself when you are
informed that broomsticks, white red, cost
Sl4 "a thousand while the straw is 61s cents a
pound for the best of it, and an ordinary broom
contains "a pounds OF this latter material
Broom corn that is slightly green is much bet
ter for the purpose than the ripe material, be-
cause the latter is brittle, and, on this account
to deceive purchasers, it used to be the custom
for manufacturers of brooms to tint their
material green with the fumes Of birthstone.
At present the same effect is more chcapiy
obtained by soaking the stuff in a cotored mix
ture. Supplies of broom corn for this country
are chiefly secured from Chicago and Phila-
delphia, to which points the farmers ship their
broom corn product, coDsigning it to commits
sion men, who sell it to the manufacturers.