The Spanish Fork press. [volume] (Spanish Fork, Utah) 1902-current, 1909-08-19
RAISE BROOM CORN
Makes Fair Record in Face Of
UnfavorabIe Conditions.
Yield viii BE Increased Several Hun.
dred Pounds Per Acre by Con.
slant cuItivation--liberal Tilt
age Brings Soil Into Good
Physical Form.

II is common practice with many
to grow broom corn with limited
amount of culture. frequently the
seed is planted on freshly turned sod,
and the crop is allowed to mature
without receiving single cultivation.
Although broom corn will make
fair record, even in the face of unfa-
Vorable conditions the yield will be
raised several hundred pounds per
acre by better cultivation. Liberal
tillage brings the soil into good ply
sical form; 1t facilitates the storage
and conservation of moisture; il ad-
mits air to the soil and thus gives en-
couragement to the life processes
which are so essential.
Fields to be devoted to the culture
of broom corn should be given timely
cultivation. The broom corn plant
may be grown on the same kind of
soil, and 1t requires about the same
early treatment as kafir corn Gen
orally speaking, the soil should be
plowed during the fall and winter
months, or very early in the spring.
A broken surface will certainly alb
sorb more rain or snow than a
smooth, hard soil This plan gives
the grower an opportunity to collect
practically all of the moisture falling
upon the field throughout this period
and in seasons where the precipita-
ton is light, plowing, with proper cul-
tivation, will lessen the amount of
moisture. Early plowing also gives
the soil time TO settle, and after 1t is
worked down in the spring, much
better seed corn be obtained than
by plowing late and giving late cult
vation.
Some seasons very dry weather pre-
walls during the winter. Under such
conditions 1t may be advisable to pull
verize the surface with a smoothing
harrow in order to keep the soil from
blowing to an excessive degree. Two
weeks prior to seeding, the field
should be given stroke with disk
harrow, or some implement which
will break the upper layer of soil eff
fectively The seeds of broom corn
are rather small and the young plants
make a very slow growth early in the
season; hence it is desirable to get
the soil into first-class tilth before
planting season. After the ground has
been broken with the disk harrow. a
smoothing harrow will assist in get
| ting the surface into the proper
| form.
Broom corn, like other plants in the
same group, makes its most rapid
| growth in warm weather. The seed
should not be placed in the soil until
| the ground is warm enough to bring
about rapid termination and pre-
sent favorable growing conditions The
| suggestion has been made that the
seeding period may be extended until
the first of June. Owing to the fact
that the brush deteriorates rapidly in
market value after it passes the
blooming stage, and since laborers
cannot be secured at will in many
parts of the country, it has been
thought to be an excellent practice to
plant the field at different dates. This
is true more particularly on farms
where several acres are to be planted
Six to eight acres make goodsized
field to be harvested within a few
days.
There are two methods of planting
which may be followed, viz, surface
planting and listing. Either of these
methods, if carefully followed, will
give good results. In sections where
listing is practiced the soil should re
ceive some previous preparation, and
the listed rows need not be more than
three or four inches deep. This is
plenty deep enough to secure all the
advantages of this system. and there
will be little danger of covering the
young plants at the time of the first
cultivation. The broom corn seed
can be planted with an ordinary corn
planter which is provided with kafil
corn plates, or 1t may be put in with
an ordinary grain drill by blocking the
proper number of feed holes, so that
the rows may be given the correct
spacing.