The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-01-18
BIG Crop or BRooMs

Experts in the broomcoln district of
central Illinois estimate that the har-
vest this wear in the United States will
furnish sufficient material for AZ, 600, 900
broons, valued at $50 10000. Ii placed
III cars for shipment. allowing 1000 to
a car, it would require 10000 cars to
hold them. This means 200 freight
trains of fifty cars each, or about 100
miles of brooms.
Central Illinois, composed of the
counties of Cole, Douglas and Edgar
and q portion of Moultrie. has just har-
vested material for 10000 600 new
pHooms. Aristoeratic brooMs, which
retail for % cents or more, are
the product of linois. The cheap
er grades come from Oklahoma.
Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and
ether scattering broomcorn districts.
and viii add 100000 to the supply.
The Whisl< brooms amount the esti-
mate being about 100000, como from
Kansas, and the big biooms from the
other states.
Tho origin of the industry in Illinois
dates back to the early Sos, when Col
onel John Cofern, Il farmer who had
been visiting in Tennessee, brought
home some seed and planted it in
Douglas county. He found the soil pc
culiarly adapted to the product, and
other farmers, enVying his success,
also planted. Within a few years Hi
nois became known as the broomcorn
state of the country. Since then Okla
homa has forged ahead, but Illinois
still produces the incr quality. Within
a radius of thirty miles of this city is
grown the corr from which practically
all the best brooms of the world are
made, and this district is still regarded
as the national source of supply.
y colony of Swedes took up the Gull
tivation of broollcorn in Knox county
after it haG been made a success in
Douglas and the Swedes introduced 1t
into Kansas. From Kansas the culti-
walton extended south and into Okla
homa and i'm the last five years the crop
has increased in a remarkable manner.
Attempts have been made to raise
broomcorn i'm Indiana and other big
corn states, and even in other parts OF
Illinois. but without success. 1t has
been demonstrated that the production
of corn for brooms is limited to certain
broomcorn districts, which. after all,
ere mere pockets, and efforts to raise
it in other places noted for Indian corn
are seldom successful. The secret OF
this may be found in the fact that the
cost of broomcorn farming is far ahead
OF ordinary corn raising. In order to
cultivate and harvest broomcorn of
the first grade it is fully as important
To build sheds for the storage of the
crop as it is to construct similar sheds
i'm the south to dry tht tobacco crop.
Peculiar threshing outfits have to be
bought. The crop is cultivated much
the same as corn. except that it de-
velops much faster than Indian corn.
u is planted Immediately after the In
dian corn, but is harvested i'm Septem-
Der and the first week in october.
The central Illinois fields range IN
size from 10 to 100 acres in area and
the growing crop makes a beautifu!
sight. The Illinois acreage ranges from
3o,o0O to $4,000. First class broonlcorn
is raised in Kansas, but the bulk of
the crop consists of the dwarf variety,
which is used for whisk brooms. Prac-
itcally all the whisl brooms come f-.;n
Kansas. 1t requires from two to three
acres to raise a ton of broomcorn.
The Illinois market price ranges from
$50 to $50 this year, and in Oklahoma
from S25 to $50. according to quality.
Owing to the limited source of supply
it is possible to corner the market OF
the Illinois crop. This has resulte in
sending the price to $3.50 a ton. A ton
OF Illinois broomcorn will make 1,5OO
brooms, while a ton of Oklahoma broom
corn only 500 to 1000 brooms.
The broomcorn crop is harvested
chiefly in September. In the har.
vest the handsome plume of the broom
corn stalk is cut off within a few inchay
OF where the fiber of straw begins. Tia
threshinS process consists of running
these bushes through u machine that
cuts off the seed.
After the threShcd "brooms'' are sea.
soned in the sheds they are baled into
bundles weighing about 800 pounds and
are delivered at the warehouses i'm tn,
principal cities of the district most &C.
cessible. From these structures -.
product is shipped to the varia.s
broom factories in the middle and east
ern cities. y dozen factories supply
half of the brooms OF the world. one
factory in Paris, Edgar county, said to
be the largest in the world has , a,;In
output of 5000 finished brooms. An.
other plant in Evansville, Ind, turns
out 5000 brooms a day. The next i'm
size are at Amsterdam, N. Y; Lincoln
Neb.. and jackson. Mich, he latter
two being in the penitentiaries. Very
little broom corn is raised in I,urone
but the expectations consist of the
cheaper grades only. The people cline
to their twig brooms. bristle brushes
and felt cloths for cleaning their homes
The United States consumes nearly an
the good brooms made here.-Exchanre