HARVESTING BROOM-CORN 39 



as much as the straight heads, and is much more 

 difficult to bale ; hence it is quite desirable that 

 the crop should contain a minimum amount of 

 crooked heads. Careful seed selection and prompt 

 harvesting at the bloom stage will have a tendency 

 to reduce the number of undesirable heads. 



Scraping or Threshing. Before the broom-corn 

 can be baled and marketed the seed must be re- 

 moved from the brush. This is accomplished by 

 bringing the seed heads in contact with a revolving 

 cylinder the surface of which is set with spikes or 

 long teeth, as shown in Figure 12. If the acreage is 

 limited this small power machine or a hand scraper 

 will be sufficient to thresh the crop, but where 

 broom-corn is grown extensively a large power out- 

 fit (Figure 13) is required. A thresher of this kind 

 costs about $200 and has a daily capacity of 30 to 40 

 acres if 15 to 20 men are provided to handle the 

 material. In this process the heads do not pass 

 between the revolving cylinders, as in the case of a 

 grain thresher. The brush is held firmly by a 

 toothed belt which brings the seed heads into con- 

 tact with the cylinders in such a manner as to thor- 

 oughly remove the seed. After passing the cylinder 

 the brush is deposited on a platform at the side 

 opposite to the point of entrance. The seed is col- 

 lected at the bottom of the machine and removed by 

 a conveyer situated at the end of the machine oppo- 

 site the cylinders. 



Curing and Bulking. From the thresher the brush 

 is taken to drying sheds, where it should be allowed 

 to cure for three or four weeks before it is baled. 



