BROOM CORN 



953 



BROWN 



BROOM CORN 



Indies, but extensively cultivated in the United 

 States for the single purpose of furnishing 

 material for making brooms. The plant is of 

 the same family as 

 sorghum and kafir corn. 



There are two kinds, 

 standard and dwarf. 

 The standard grows to 

 a height of eight or ten 

 feet; the dwarf, four 

 and a half to six feet. 

 The stalk is pithy, with 

 long, pointed leaves 

 which enclose it, as in 

 corn. The stem is 

 jointed and topped by 

 branched clusters of 

 seed heads, which are 

 used in making carpet 

 brooms and clothes 

 brushes. Before the 

 plant is fully matured 

 the stem is broken over about eighteen inches 

 from the top. This part is cut off, dried 

 quickly in an airy, shady spot, and the seeds 

 are removed. It is then ready for broom- 

 making. 



The ground for a broom-corn crop should be 

 thoroughly prepared before seed planting, and 

 during the growth of the plant should be con- 

 tinually cultivated and kept free from weeds. 

 An acre will produce from 500 to 600 pounds 

 of broom-making material. Oklahoma leads 

 the American states in production, with about 

 fifty per cent of the total yield of nearly 

 80,000,000 pounds; the 42,000,000 pounds from 

 that state annually are worth over $2,560,000. 

 Illinois is second with twenty-eight per cent 

 of the crop, and Kansas third, with twelve per 

 cent. 



Brooms and Broom-Making. At one time 

 (and in many places in Europe even now) 

 brooms for rough sweeping were made of twigs ; 

 long-haired brushes were used in housework. 

 In 1850, however, Americans discovered the 

 value of broom corn for sweeping, and in 1859 

 Ebenezer Howard started a broom-making fac- 

 tory at Fort Hunter, N. Y.; this city is now 

 the Eastern center of that industry. The corn 

 is sorted as to size and quality, the green, 

 tough, springy fibers, free from seed, being the 

 most desirable. It is then sent to the factory 

 in bales. The required number of the long 

 fibers are bound by wire to a turned stick or 

 handle about four feet long, enlarged at the 

 end to which the brush is fastened. The broom 



is then flattened in a vise and sewed. The ends 

 are trimmed evenly, and the broom is then 

 ready for the market. Whisk brooms, or small 

 brooms for brushing clothing, are made in a 

 similar manner, but are of the finer fibers and 

 often have ornamental handles. Most of the 

 work of broom-making is by hand, and is often 

 done in penitentiaries and by the blind, for 

 sightless people easily learn the comparatively- 

 simple operations. Quantities of broom corn 

 are exported to Europe each year. The annual 

 value of brooms from factories in the United 

 States is nearly 20,000,000. M.S. 



BROTHER JONATHAN, a popular personifi- 

 cation of the United States, or rather, of its 

 people, collectively. Various accounts of its 

 origin are given, but the most likely one traces 

 it back to George Washington and his friend 

 and adviser, Jonathan Trumbull. Trumbull, 

 governor of Connecticut during the Revolu- 

 tionary War, was so wise a counselor that 

 Washington was frequently heard to say in 

 times of uncertainty, "We must ask Brother 

 Jonathan." The remark at length became a 

 proverb, the name losing its first meaning and 

 broadening to include the whole people. It 

 always kept more than a hint of its most favor- 

 able significance, however, for Brother Jonathan 

 . represents only the broad-minded, trustworthy 

 phase of the national life. Other very familiar 

 personifications, which differ in that they repre- 

 sent not the people but the nation as a political 

 whole, are John Bull for England, Uncle Sam 

 for the United States and Johnnie Crapaud for 

 France. See BULL, JOHN. 



BROWN, a color obtained by the mixture 

 of black and the primary colors red and yellow. 

 A large number of shades and tints may be 

 produced by mixing in varying proportions, and 

 by adding other colors a still greater variety 

 is obtainable. There are various brown color- 

 ing matters, most of them being mineral pig- 

 ments; umber and sepia are good examples. 



BROWN, ELMER ELLSWORTH (1861- ), a 

 distinguished American educator, university 

 president and former United States Commis- 

 sioner of Education. He received his education 

 at the Illinois State Normal University, at the 

 University of Michigan and in Germany. 

 After filling several public school positions, 

 Dr. Brown was chosen assistant professor of 

 the science and art of teaching in the Uni- 

 versity of Michigan in 1891. From there he 

 went to the University of California as asso- 

 ciate professor of pedagogy, and in 1893 was 

 appointed head of the department. In June, 



