HARVESTING BROOM-CORN 33 



crop may be secured which will ripen so evenly that 

 the entire field may be harvested at the same time 

 by pulling the brush and loading it into the wagons 

 directly. Unless precaution is taken to secure a uni- 

 form stand of plants that will ripen evenly, it will 

 be necessary to go through the field two or three 

 times, each time pulling the heads that have reached 

 the proper stage of development. The heads should 

 be placed in piles on the ground and shaded by a 

 covering of stalks and blades. 



Because of the partially inclosed head of the dwarf 

 varieties they are easily injured by rain at this 

 period. The sheath around the head holds moisture 

 and causes the brush to turn red, which very ma- 

 terially reduces its market value. The greater height 

 of the standard type makes it necessary to bring the 

 heads down to a convenient height before they are 

 harvested. This is accomplished by a process called 

 "tabling." In the harvesting of standard broom- 

 corn three men can usually work together to good 

 advantage, since one man can table as fast as two 

 men can cut. One man walking backward between 

 the rows in advance of the cutters, bends down a 

 few stalks first from one row and then from the 

 other, in such a manner as to form a self-supporting 

 table of a convenient height, as shown in Figure 8. 

 Three men working together in this way can cut 

 and table about two acres per day. Rapid cutting 

 is an art that is acquired only by long practice. The 

 operator passes down between two tables and with 

 a small sharp knife cuts off the heads, at a point 

 six to eight inches below the attachment of the 



