SOIL AND CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 13 



tial, however, that dry weather prevail at harvest 

 time, in order that the brush may be dried rapidly 

 and in a manner that will enable it to retain its fresh 

 green color. Localities in which frequent rains 

 occur at the time when the brush should be har- 

 vested will be found unsuited to the production of 

 broom-corn. Rain at the time the plants are ripen- 

 ing will cause some of the heads to turn red and thus 

 materially reduce the quality of the brush. Ex- 

 posure to rain after the heads are cut causes the 

 straw to lose its fresh, green color and to take on a 

 yellow, bleached appearance. Hence it is practically 

 impossible to produce a crop of good quality unless 

 dry weather prevails during the normal ripening 

 and harvesting period. 



Taking both soil and climatic conditions into con- 

 sideration, it is found that the rich prairie soils of 

 the middle West are well suited to the production of 

 the standard type of broom-corn, and that the light, 

 dry soils of the semiarid regions of Kansas and 

 Oklahoma are well adapted to the production of the 

 dwarf types. 



Since such a comparatively small area is devoted 

 to broom-corn, it would be a very easy matter to 

 increase the acreage devoted to the crop and stay 

 within favorable soil and climatic bounds. But 

 since the market demand for the brush is limited, 

 it is not probable that the area devoted to broom- 

 corn culture will be greatly increased in the near 

 future. 



The development of the broom-corn industry 

 should be in the direction of better cultural methods 



