The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-05-19
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4d11I T7SE @'t2N'~
M. Nj. MURDOCH, Editor.
RRooM corr IN cENTRAL KANsAs.


s-o4.- Cobnrn has charmed the state with his tr1b-
,,+ 70 .ba Helpfu1 Kansas Hen" and @lhe Beef Steer
md t7; sister" ingalls, wrote eulogy grass that mas
never basn SURPASSED The day viii come when broom
rom will fnsnire some Kansas genius to write classic
that will outIive him Few people know that practically
every straw in the whisk brooms Of the world has been
odueed in the trade territory Of this city At no distant
av If will be an industry Of incalcuabe commercial IN
portance and value.
State Senator Robert Ffndlay now be considered
the dwarf corn king OF the world He has been expert
rnenng with it for twenty years with the result thar
he not only has built up personal fortune for himself
but has made central Kansas the home of the dwarf
variety. Immense quantities Of it raised IN Rice
county and the people are getting rich with the increasing
demand for it.
Broom corn like great many other things Of value
to the American people be traced to the genius OF
Ben Franklin for investigation and experimentation
While he was minister to France than century ago
he ran across species Of sorghum brought from the East
indies He nipped few its seeds and safely slowed
them away in the capacous pocket Of his ample colonial
vest He sent it to Pennsylvania. and it grew. The
Cualers began to cultivate it but it seemed to have no
value until some genius used the tops seed stalks for
sweeping the floor. This the origin Of the broom
now universally used in America, and which with the
passing years. is becoming household necessity in all
the nations of the world.
All broom con is # the same family but is now d
vded into two groups-standard corn and dwarf corn
Standard broom c9r be in nearly all the states
IN the Union while dwarf corn aains perfection nowhere
outside Of Rice and Parts Of Stafford and Reno counties
in this state Why Nature shord dedicate this small spot
Of its vast realms to its growth is something have
never heard clearly and DteHgenty accounted for The
standard corn grows to the hight of from ten twelve
feet while the drawf corn IS short and has that fine
smooth silky fibre which be obtained from the
standard corn Dwarf has another advantage over
standard corn in the fact fodder makes splendid
feed for cattle and horses while the fodder of the stand
ard corn is. as yet valueess.
Senator Findlay has recently had reports from
old Rice county producers who went to Oklahoma which
indicate that there may be very dwarf corn
belt running southwark from Rice county into that terri
tory Experiments have been made which very en-
couraging It is possible that the big dwarf section
of may in Oklahoma for it turns out that
its cultivation down there can made successful it will
yield larger profits for win naturally mature earlier
and in the case of all broom the first crop the
market brings the highest price At any rate the
upon which dwarf corn can be grown successfully will
always continue TO be viii remain limited the
commercial territory Of Wichita all unlikely
that within ten years Wichita may be of the biggest
broom corn markets the world is it impossible that
it may be an important point the manufacture of
broom corn products It not consistent with the laws
Of commerce to haul the material from 1000 1900
miles to the place Of manufacture.
It would be wise the friends Of greater Wichita
to keep their eyes on the culture and development OF
broom corn in the Arkansas valley and Oklahoma