HARVESTING BROOM-CORN 3! 



By this means about one ton of seed to the acre 

 may be secured, but the quality of the brush is such 

 that it rarely brings more than half the market 

 price of good green brush which has been harvested 

 at the early bloom stage. The seed secured in this 

 manner is used as feed for hogs and poultry and is 

 sometimes ground into a fine meal and used as a 

 breadstuff. 



The practice of growing broom-corn for grain 

 production is of doubtful value, since a much better 

 crop can be secured by seeding the land to kafir corn, 

 a crop which has been improved and developed for 

 seed production. 



The harvesting of broom-corn comprises three 

 operations: (i) cutting or pulling; (2) threshing; 

 and (3) baling. 



The cost of bringing the broom-corn up to the 

 harvest period is about the same as the cost of pro- 

 ducing a crop of corn, but experienced growers 

 claim that the former crop requires $3 to $4 extra 

 expense an acre for the harvesting. After the 

 bloom stage is reached the quality of the brush 

 deteriorates rapidly, hence it is necessary to employ 

 a large force of men in order to get the crop all 

 harvested at the proper stage of development. 



Cutting or Pulling. In Oklahoma and in other 

 localities where the dwarf type of broom-corn is 

 grown it is more convenient to pull the heads from 

 the inclosing sheath than to cut the head off with 

 a knife and then remove the sheath which incloses, 

 the lower part of the head. If the seed is selected 

 carefully from plants ripening at the same time, a 



