HARVESTING OF SORGHUM 393 



corn knife, thrown directly into the wagon box, and afterwards 

 stored in narrow, well ventilated maize cribs. 



556. Threshing. — The heads of the Kafir variety are fre- 

 quently fed to cattle without threshing. In some cases the whole 

 heads have been ground with fairly good results. For thresh- 

 ing Kafir varieties, the ordinary threshing machine is used, the 

 concave being taken out and a blank concave or smooth board 

 being put in its place in order not to break the grain. In some 

 cases only the heads are fed into the machine, these having been 

 removed in the field or subsequently cut off on a chopping block 

 with a corn knife. In other cases merely the heads of the 

 fodder are put into the machine and removed ; while in still 

 others the whole fodder is allowed to pass through the machine. 

 The latter practice is not considered desirable on account of the 

 readiness with which the shredded stover deteriorates. 



557. Method of Harvesting Broom Corn. — The brush of the dwarf 

 varieties of broom corn are pulled by hand instead of being cut by knife. The brush 

 is then laid in piles on the ground. On this account rainy weather during harvest 

 is very disastrous to the crop. With the standard varieties of broom corn a method 

 known as tabling is practiced. The rows of broom corn are bent over a distance of 

 thirty inches from the ground toward each other but at an angle of 45" from the 

 direction of the rows. The brush is now cut at a distance of six to eight inches 

 from the base ot the brush with a shoe knife ; care being taken not completely to 

 sever the upper leat sheaf or " boot " when cutting the culm. The brush is then piled 

 on each alternate table, thus leaving the intervening table over which the wagons 

 may enter the fields to remove the brush. 



558. Preparing Broom Corn for Market. — As rapidly as the brush is 

 cut it is hauled to the cleaner, where the immature seeds are removed, the brush in- 

 stead of passing tnrough the teeth of the cylinder being carried in front of and at an 

 angle with it in such a manner as not to injure the brush. Machines are made re- 

 quiring twelve lo fifteen men to operate, which will clean thirty to forty acres a day. 

 There are itinerant machines, but it is more satisfactory for the grower to o\\ti his 

 own machine because of the superior quality of brush which can be obtained by 

 prompt handling. The cleaned brush is placed two to three inches deep on slats in 

 open sheds in order to dry rapidly without exposure to rain or strong light. As 

 soon as dry enough so that no moisture can be removed on twisting the stems, which 

 will be in two to four weeks, the brush is piled in compacted tiers to prevent bleach- 

 ing. When dry it is compressed with a machine similar to a hay baler into a bale, 

 oy overlapping the heads, thus leaving the stem end at each end of the bale. A bale 



