The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-10-05

wonders of earth, getting living from the
mere highways. God only knows when and
how. A few years ago gang Of these per-
ennlal tramps went into regularly or
ganized camp just north of the city
l1mitsl, burned fences for camp fires,
and became so outrageous in their
depredations, terroriZing the families of
the suburbs, that a vigilance committee
| drove them out OF the country. Since
thaS episode this Objectionable element Of
the annual visitation has not been 80
| abundant or so obnoxious. But the honest
boy of Egypt is always welcome and
| always kindly treated, and takes home with
him The means 20 get comfortable winters
outfit.
To those who have had no experience in
the cultivation of broo n-corn, to the
farm er of the east or middle states, who
raises his one or two rows of broom corn by
the SIDE of his field Of Indian corn, breaking
thaE down only after IL mas become red, the
| gathering OF this immense crop here is one
of the unknown things Of agriculture.
Like all other enterprises this industry
has grown up from a rude begin
ming to very considerable degree
| OF perfection. 1t requires now a large out
Law TO be successful broom>corn grower.
! The pioneers of this crop cured their brush
| in old stables and sheds, and cleaned it on
| cylinders run by horse power, a boy, or
| sometimes in pinch in the absence OF the
| boy, a girl of the family, driving the
! horses. and the hired man holding the brush
by hand o the cylinder. There are quite a
number OF fingeress men in this section as
! the result IF that process. Now they have
| built inm bnse sheds, well rooted and ar
| ranged fol- the perfect curing Of the brush,
and their iIelf-feeding cyliudars are run by
steam. The curing of broom-corn Is nearly
as difficult as tue curing of tobacco, The
equinoctiat storms Of September made good
sheds necessity.
Imagine farmer ready to go into his
field. Suppose he has twenty hands. Eight
Of these win "break down. what is known
in broom corn parlsnce as ''tabling," each
man takIng two rows and going back ward,
breaks down each separate row over the
other at the hight Of about three feet, form
ing what is called ''the table, Any one
who has strength and power of endurance
can "brsak down" Now, another
gang, 1.-The cutters" come along,
each armed with q knife as sharp as
a razor, made especially for the purpose,
and cut each stalk about tSelty-four
inches long. They cut the stalk in what is
called "thb boot" leaving about ten inches
of the stalk clear of the brush part, and
these stalks they deposit in piles at intervals
on the tables Some OF these cutters
become very dexterous, maintaining mod
crate walk while securing every stalk.
These are the valuable hands and com mand
the highest wages. They are the "old
! timers" Nearly every gang has its pro-
fessional boss, whose functions are some
what hke'the mate Of a river steamer.
The brush, having been broken and cut to
the extent of five acres is loaded on wagons
and hauled to the shed. Then all hands
gather and clean the corn, putting
the cleaned brush away in layers
on racks in the shed for drying. As
soon as it is thoroughly cured, which takes
about week or ten days, according to the
weather, 1t is bulked down in mass, aud is
then ready for bang This gives the
| original shed room for the brush which is
still to be cut The baling is done in a
| strong box apparatus by great pressure,
and full broom-corn bale should weigh
about $50 pounds, The brush is never
| baled until thoroughly cured, and as soon
| as baled is ready for market The broom
| corn market lasts about six weeks. The
dealer ascertans the quality of the brush
| by pulling a sample from the bale with nip
| pers. If he has not seen the crop in the
| shed.
Nothing could be moro suggestive or more
| inspiring than a fed scene in the early
morning or in the cleaning. The hardy
sons of toll scattered here and there, and
these silent rows of the broken brush, sug-
| costing powerfully to the old soldier the
| stern alignment of a veteran brigade on
some desperate field when men fell like the
broken brush Of these peaceful times.