Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-05-06
To be Continued.
BROOM CORN.
Article v of Clemson Extension Work
Deals With Interesting Sub ject.

Article V of Clemson Extension Work
Deals With Interesting Subiec
Broom corn is a species of sorghum
grown especially for its tops which
are used i'm manufacturing brooms
The crop is one about which inquiry
| is frequently made by farmers and the
following is written partly in answer
to such questions. 1t is not grea,
money crop. not more so than cOttor
| If equal to 1t, and requires more in the
way of equipment for it's handling
more labor at harvest time. and more
skill in preparing it for market than
does the cotton crop. II is a crop In
which the profits depend very largely
upon the quality of the product offer
ed for sale, the price ranging from $25
up to about 500 per ton according to
the quality. Five hundred pounds OF
cured brush per acre Is considered a
fair yield.
The best quality of broom corn
must be straight Of good length, fine
texture and cured in such a manner
as to be a good green color when put
on the market. There are two kinds
grown, one known as the standard
broom corn and the other as dwarf
This latter is grown extensively in the
central west.
In order to secure the quality OF
stalk mentioned above it is very i'm
portant to have well bred seed and II
Is almost impossible to buy such seed
in the open markets. One going into
the business of growing the crop
should begin at once to select seed
with the view Of improving the plants
from year to year.
Any soil that will grow sorghum
will produce broom corn, and the fer
tilizer applied need not differ from
that used on the corn crop when the
same quality of land is cultivated
Since the object in view is uniform
product in quality and time of matur-
| ing, great care should be taken in pre-
pairing the soil. 1t should be well
plOwed and then narrowed and rehar-
rowed until a fine seed bed is secured
Late planting is best on account OF
the fact that the young plants make a
at all cool, and the crop will come into
head at a season when there is not
liable to be much rain. The seed
should be fertilized with a planter
that is adjusted to drop a few more
seed than you want plants (four tC
| five pounds per acre. and under such
conditions of soil and season as will
insure good and quick termination
Cultivation similar to what the corn
crop requires is all that Is necessary
Weeds and grass should always be
kept down and the soil mulched with
loose earth by frequent cultivation
with small tOothed implement. On
land that will produce thirty or forty
bushels of corn per acre one stalk of
broom corn should be left every foul
or five inches as the soil becomes less
productive. 1t is important to have a
full stand as there is great tendency
to sucker when the plants are too thin
on the land and the brush from suck
erS is rarely of any value, and Is no,
ready to harvest with the remainder
| OF the crop.
The tops should be cut eight inches
below the head when the bloom is fall
| inc nd "a
| if the best quality of brush is obtain
/ ed. The brush is Immediately hauled
| out and the seed stripped off the same
day. The seed stripping, on large
scale, is done by machinery that may be
purchased from manufacturers. I'M
IprOviSed methods like the curry conf
with long teeth or a steel spiked CONF
attached to a frame or side of box
ANSWERS very well where there is only
a small quantity of brush to be strip
ped.
The curing. i'm order to preserve the
green color, must be done under q
roof and away from the sunlight. The
ItopS from which the seed have beer
removed are spread in layers three
inches thick on latticed racks where
there is free circulation of air. When
no juice can be squeezed out of the
| SldlhS ny NIitlli, lllS Sul i'
complete and the brush should be re-
moved from the racks. This will re-
quire from four to six weeks. 1t is
then bulked for a period of ten days
or two weeks to go through Il sweat
when it is ready to be baled. The tops
should be very carefully sorted into
different grades, as mixed brush never
sells well. The baling is done with &
horse power press. The tops are
Tapped together in the middle of the
bale and the butts stand out at each
end. Bales usually weigh about three
hundred pounds.
The crop requires very careful and
prompt work at every step and con
siderable outlay in the way Of equip
ment is necessary If one has had nc
experience in the growing of broom
corn. ii would be well to start on q
small scale and learn many things
from experience about the business
that it is impossible to get any other
way
w. II. Perkins
Director Agricultural Department.
Slow Death.-A suburban chemist
had been advertising his patent insect
powder far and wide one day a mar