1839] 



FARMERS- REGISTER 



3 



which would give about 4360 stalks, and from six 

 to ten barrels of grain to the acre. I will only 

 add in conclusion, ihal although I have frequently 

 been deterred by ihe influence which custom exer- 

 cises over the mind oC every one, from planting 

 corn as thick as I was inclined to, I have, in no 

 one instance, exceeded the usual rate, without 

 adding to the crop. 



Wjr. P. Taylor. 

 Caroline county, Va. 



ON THE CULTIVATIOIV, PRODUCT, AND USES 

 OF BROOJM-CORN. 



Read before ttie Agricultural Society of Frp<tniicks;burg, and 

 ordered to tie published ia the Farmers' Register." 



The establishment of a broom factory, in the 

 town of Fredericksburg, may probably render the 

 culture ol' the broom-corn an object of some im- 

 portance to the farmers in the vicinity. Thus liir, 

 we have had little or no practical knowledge of 

 the extent of the crop which may be gathered 

 from any specific quantity of land, or of the value 

 of the product. Ten or twelve acres have been 

 cultivated by Mr. C. H. Hunt and myself, the 

 present year; but we have made no estimate as 

 to the amount per acre, either of the brush, by 

 which is meant the broom part, deprived of tiie 

 grain, with about six inches of the stalk, or of the 

 grain. Nor, had we procured this information, 

 could it have been considered a fair experiment, or 

 a sale guide, the land being thin and a good deal 

 exhausted, and the seasori unusually dry and nn- 

 propitious. We design, the next year, to mea- 

 sure our land, and make a careful and complete 

 experiment, the result of which shall be laid be- 

 Ibre the society. From inlorniation obtained from 

 Connecticut, where this article is extensively cul- 

 tivated, it appears that the product peracre ranges 

 from 200 to 1200 pounds of the brush, and from 

 20 10 120 bushels of giain — ten bushels of grain 

 being considered a liiir estimate for every 100 

 pounds of brush. It is seldom that the quantity 

 of brush falls below 400 pounds, and not ollen 

 that it reaches to 1200 pound* — perhaps a fi'.ir 

 average would be, 600 pounds brush, and 60 bush- 

 els of grain. The grain is considered at least 

 equal to oats for horses and cattle, and superior to 

 buck-wheat (or hogs. It is not knovvn what will 

 be a fair average price for ihe brush in our mark- 

 et. The manalactory is yet in its infancy, and the 

 proprietors have not ascertained what price the 

 market for their brooms will jiislily them in giving 

 for the brush. But suppose the price of brush, 

 properly cured, of a bright and lively color, to be 

 five cents per pound, and the quantity produced to 

 be 200 pounds below the New England average, 

 say 400 pounds per acre, the producer would get 

 SB20 fur his crop, equal to five barrels of corn, at i?4 

 per barrel, and 40 bushels of grain, in every res- 

 pect equal to oats, l()r all purposes for which they 

 are used on a farm. It was not my intention, 

 however, in making this comiuunication, to enter 

 into any speculations as to the probable value of 

 this crop, or to present estimates founded on data 

 so imperft?ct and uncertain, but merely to state our 

 actual experience, as limited as it is, of the value 

 of the grain. We work mules altogether. Last 

 year, we cultivated a few acres in broom-corn, 

 li^om whicli we obtained over 100 bushels of (rrain. 



Since the first of January, our mules have been 

 led exclusively on this grain. Eor the first few 

 months, it was ground and mixed \\A\\\ chop; but 

 the stoppage of the mills, from the drou<rht, ren- 

 dered this mode of feeding impracticable, afier 

 ilie midille of July or first of August; since which 

 time, we have fed on the grain, ungronnd, moisten- 

 ing it with water, a [hvf hours belij'rehand, to soften 

 and cause it to swell and expand. The mules 

 seemed as fond of it as of any orher (bod — have 

 continued throughout in excellent order, and our 

 manager inliirms us, they have worked witli as 

 much spirit and as briskly, as any which he has 

 ever had the manasement of. 



I fed my cow, also, on this grain, for some 

 weeks, during which, there was a sensible in- 

 crease of the quantity of milk, beyond what she 

 yielded when ftjd on bran and chop, the usual food 

 of our cows in town. In preparing it Jbr the cow, 

 boiling water was poured over it, and it was kept 

 well covered in a close vessel, until the grain ex- 

 panded and became soft. In this state she ate it 

 with great avidity. 



Ground, and properly prepared, it has been 

 used as a substitute for corn-bread, by several in- 

 dividuals in our neighl>orhood, who speak very 

 (iivorably of it. Its appearance, when cooked, is 

 dark red, very similar to rye bread, and like it, it 

 contains a considerable portion of mucilage and 

 vegetable gluten, which I have no doubt renders 

 it highly nutritious. Deprived of its husk, which 

 gives it the dark color, by a process similar to that 

 employed in cleaning rice and barley, it will pro- 

 bably become an airreeable and healthy article of 

 diet, and a valuable substitute for Indian corn, 

 which i: very nearly approximates in taste. 



Wai. Srowae. 



From the Virginia Herald. 

 EXTRACTS FR03I THE ADDRESS TO THE AGRI- 

 CULTURAL SOCIETY OF FREDERICKSBURG. 



By James 31. Carnett, President. 



A young friend of mine, whose word cannot be 

 doubted, has lately communicated to me a fact in 

 regard to this most invaluable plant, which fact is 

 certainly new to me, a corn planter of fifty years 

 standing, and I suspect to most others of my breth- 

 ren; although ive surely ought to know, by this 

 time, every important particular relative to its na- 

 ture, since Indian corn has been our chief staple 

 in the largest portion of our state, ever since its 

 first settlement by emigrants fi-om the old " father- 

 land." This fact is, that the full grown stalks 

 have, at least three or (bur roots, larger than the 

 surlace roots, which penetrate info the earth, al- 

 most perpendicularly, to the depth of a foot or 

 more : my friend traced them fully twelve inches 

 by actual measurement. Those roots, from the 

 direction in which they grow, can rarely, if ever, 

 be broken by any implement yet used in corn 

 culture ; and this fact seems to afford a satisfactory 

 solution of another fact, which heretofore has 

 never been accounted for, satisfactorily. It ie, 

 that corn should, most manilestly, be benefited 

 by every workincj — during its growth, if the land 

 be in a proper slate — that is, neither too wet, nor 

 too dry ; although it is equally certain, that many 



