The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1899-09-29
The Broom Corn lndnstrr In ILLINOIS,

NhV iAiii' HiANci hAihf - NNtt "ii'iN
go, many things prompting the pencil,
and ii should yield to inclination you
might be deluged with letters. Every
industry has more or less points of in
terest to the general reader. The GLA-
cIER, though not metropolitan, has al
ways been a general newspaper as well
as chronicler Of local affairs, and with
II alone, with its summary of the news
Of the xerld, man can keep reasonably
well informed. This locality is one OF
the centers, if not the greatest, OF the
broom corn business.
Quite n little army Of men are here in
this and adjoining counties at this time
cutting and thrashing the broom straw.
It is almost exclusively floating popu-
Iation, every train taking out men who
have quit, while others come in to fill
the ranks. Men from everywhere come
in to harvest the big crop which, when
ripe, must be cared for just as soon as
possible. Storms are fatal to a broom
corn field, and, even in fair weather, il
soon damages by reason Of bending over
from weight of the seed. Crews of 20 to
10 men in a field are common sights
here now, with wages Sl.25 day, in
Guiding board.
A man needs no credentials to get a
position in this army OF labor. He is
asked no questions as to previous condi-
ton or servitude. His demand for work
is the "open sesame" and the golden
scepter" is held out without hesitation
by the reigning broom corn king, who
must, if possible, employ more hands
than he needs, to provide for emergen-
cies. A man is not safe with less than
20 hands, as ii takes nearly all of that
number to run a thraslrer, and the
thrasher must be run at least every
other day SO as to keep well up with cut
ting Each two rows are 'brOke" across
each other ut an acute angle about 30
inches high, with the broom heads
hanging over the edge or resting on the
edge OF this so-called table," which is
"broke" through the entire length of
the field, quarter to half mile, the
breaker walking backwards as he turns
down bunch OF stalks at each pull, and
with quick backward hitch, breaks the
stalks over SO they lay smoothly on top.
Every other table thus formed is used to
lay the piles OF broom straw on MS it is
cut and is denominated the clay on"
table The alternate tables must not
have straw laid on them but are left free
to drive wagons through to collect the
broom straw.
The cutting is done with knives'a lit
tie heavier than shoe knives, by walk
ing between the tables, taking one row
at time and deity severing the broom
head with six to eight inches of stalk.
Wagon beds are specially made for haul
ing in and dumping the whole load in
good, smooth order near the tables
where the seed is thrashed off, After
the heads are delivered at machine ii
takes ten hands to lay this on table,
straighten it out, bunch and feed the
machine. The straw is borne from the
machine and placed on Stats six inches
apart, from the ground up 10 to 10 feet
high, the straw about three inches deep
to the layer, all under cover, to effect Il
thorough curing, after which it is baled
for market.
The season up to the last two or three
days has been especially propitious for
the harvest. In the machine for sep
arating the seed from the straw, as in all
of inventive work, the tire
less inventor has met the difficulties
step by step. Today the whole business
OF seed, chaff and very annoying lint
dust or ''fuzz" is simply blown out nil
together through an inclined S-ineh tube,
forming great grave like looking pile
90 to 60 feet long and entirely out OF the
way. A month ago good broom corn
was worth $85 to the ton. Engagements
for new crop have been made at $50 to
$40. Five years ago broom corn sold for
$3.50, and Is years ago it brought 800 at
one time. have given no minimum
prices, but am told that $50 may be
considered as average price.
But the Indian corn business is the
biggest thing here and all around, Large
stock feeders still have corn to sell.
Corn four years old is now being shelled
and delivered ut 28 cents bushel, some
of which so cents was refused for it.
The immense new crop now in sight in
this and adjoining states settles it. Can
it be raised at this price? Whether or
not, they don't know what else to put
the ground in. The land is worth $50
to 500 an acre. Rents are high. One
man told me that the renters and not
the landlords were responsible for the
high rents. He said they continually
use of the land. | took a surry ride
one night at full moon. There wasn't a
bit of romance about it except perhaps
the few songs which some of the merrier
sang as we trotted along, and great walls
OF corn on every side A little fiat,
round disk of corn covered ground over
which the dome of heaven seemed rest
ing as a cover rests over some dish at
the table, was all one could see. The
world seemed small and so sternly prac-
teal, and yet this stretch of rich level
land reaches for many, many miles ev-
cry way.
In 1866 some Michigan men who
owned three sections of land in Piatt
county had it broke and 800 acres
planted in broom corn, and from this
beginning it has grown and become the
important industry OF today The sur
rounding states contribute a large force
of the extras necessary to harvest the
immense crop, bait men are to be found
from all over the country. Here you
meet the discentented, the adventurer,
the young man out sowing his wild oats,
the aged and the stranded in all the
walks of life, bending to the work which
is pushed with all possible dispatch.
The hobo is here too, for time, but
few warm meals so rouses the blue blood
in his veins and stimulates his damp
ened inspiration that he longs for the
road again and fondly dreams of the
rich drapings and soft upholstery of the
box ear with its soothing lullaby. A
broom corn raiser near Arcola, which is
the center OF the business, picked up 40
hands during the latter part OF one week
so as to attack his field with vigor on
Monday morning. The free, warm, adj
vance meals was too much for his
crowd; when he began work Monday he
only had seven hands, which were re-
duced to three before the day was over.
Some of these hands had Slid out for
higher wages, A man to be safe with