CHAPTER IX 

 BROOM-CORN BY-PRODUCTS 



In sections where the plants are allowed to ripen 

 the broom-corn seed is used for feed, but in the im- 

 portant broom-corn producing sections the brush is 

 harvested during the blossom stage, and very little 

 seed is secured. 



Feeding tests with the fodder of standard broom- 

 corn has shown that the stalks are woody and un- 

 palatable, and that they are of little value for feed- 

 ing purposes. But if cut immediately after the brush 

 is harvested the dwarf varieties produce a fodder 

 almost equal in feeding value to corn stover. Fig- 

 ure 18 shows a field of dwarf broom-corn which has 

 been cut and shocked. After threshing the stalks 

 may be used for forage. 



In 1909 the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture began a series of tests to determine the value of 

 broom-corn stalks for the manufacture of paper. 

 Since broom-corn has been selected for the produc- 

 tion of a larger quantity and a better quality of 

 brush, it is natural that the production of fiber in 

 one part should be correlated with a higher quality 

 of fiber in the whole plant. As a result of these 

 experiments it was found that the broom-corn stalk 

 is suitable, so far as quality and yield of pulp is 

 concerned, for immediate use in paper making. It 

 reduces to pulp rapidly and with a small consump- 



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