The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1894-09-26
WHlSK BROOMS.
Shaving the Corn Stalks in the
Fields.
The Bristly Product Deity Made
Into Brushes.

rows. In about three months time
the stalk reaches to the height of from
eight to twelve feet; the top ends,
which contains the whisks, are then
ready for cutting. The stems are first
bent over about one foot below the
whisks and then cut off and packed
into wagons and carted to the barns
to be scraped and dried. After dry
ing it is packed into bales weighing
from $50 to 400 pounds each and
shipped to the broom manufacturers
The first operation is sorting or Sc
lecting the stock, the finest and green
est being used for the best brooms.
After sorting the material is scraped.
The scraper consists of q circular re-
volving cylinder nineteen inches in
length and twelve inches in diameter,
the surface of which is covered with
iron pins. These pins are placed In
V-shaped rows about six inches apart,
each row containing about fifteen oar
shaped pins two inches in height and
about one inch apart. The operator
presses a bunch of the whisks contain
ing the seeds against the revolving
ing at the rate of $50 revolutions per
minute, tear through the material,
scraping off the seed from the whisks.
If the material is old, having lost its
green appearance, it Is dyed. The
stalks arc then clipped off and the
whisks made of an even length. The
best and straight whisks, which is
called hurl, grows in the center of the
stalks. 1t is kept separately from the
rest and is placed on the outside when
forming the brush.
The next operation is winding or
forming the brooms. A circular piece
OF wood about three inches in length
and about three-quarters of an inch in
diameter is fastened into what is called
the broom barrel. Connected to the
machine is reel of No. % iron wire,
the end of which is tackled to the cir
cular stick in the barrel. The opera
tor then takes quantity of the poor
er quality of whisks and places them
around the stick, starting the machine
in motion, which causes the barrel to
revolve, which in turn, wraps the wire
tightly around the whisks to the stick.
After two or three turns of the wire
have been taken the shoulder of the
broom is then formed by putting a
bunch of the material on each side
and wiring and tacking them down as
before. The hurl is then fastened on
the outside in about the same manner.
The rough edges are then trimmed
with knife and the broom sawed of
from the barrel. A good hand can
form about $50 brooms in about ten
hours.
The brooms are then taken to the
sewing wise to be stitched. A broom
is fastened securely in the jaws of the
wise, the top part projecting above
about three inches. The operator then
takes fiat, oval shaped steel needle
threaded in the centre with fine linen
cord or silk and passes it through the
brush, securing the end. The cord is
then wrapped tightly around the ont
side of the brush and the needle
pushed through back and forth, each
stitch passing over and under the out
side cord, which is drawn taut, secur-
ing the whisks and giving shape and
form to the broom.
Brooms are sewed with from one to
three strings. The needles are six
inches in length and double pointed.
having the eye in the center. From
ten to twelve stitches are taken in
every seam, taking up about thirty
six inches of cord. A good hand can
stitch about 600 single seam brooms
per day. After sewing they are re-
scraped and then clipped into sizes.
The ends are then sheared and curried
TO free the brooms of surplus seed.
The handles, which are made of bone,
ivory, wood, ETC., are then glued on
and the brooms stood up to dry. They
are then packed into boxes and are
ready for market. Twenty hands can
tura out about from seventy-fve to
eighty dozen brooms per day. The
green stock is the best for broom
making, it bringing from five cents to
six and one-half cents per pound by
the ton Wholesale. If too ripe, the
color of the material being reddish,
the stock loses in value about three
cents per pound.