CORN, BROOM- 



CORN, BROOM-. 



corn, more especially if warmly situated, pro- 

 tected by hills, and well manured. 



Method of planting. The broom-corn is 

 planted in rows, about 2 or 3 feet apart, so 

 that a horse may pass between them with a 

 plough, or cultivator, or harrow. The hills in 

 each row are from 18 inches to 2 feet apart, 

 or farther, according to the quality of the soil. 

 The quantity of seed to be planted is estimated 

 very differently by different fanners some say 

 that half a peck is enough per acre, while others 

 plant half a bushel, and some a bushel, in or- 

 der to make it sure that the land shall be well 

 stocked. The rule with some is to cast a tea- 

 spoonful, or 30 or 40 seeds, in a hill ; the ma- 

 nure at the time of planting should be put into 

 the hill, and old manure or compost is preferred, 

 as being most free from worms. 



Cul.'iration. The broom-corn should be 

 ploughed and hoed three times the last time 

 when about three feet high, though some hoe 

 it when it is six feet high, and when they are 

 concealed by it as they are toiling in the field. 

 The number of stalks in a hill should be from 

 seven to ten. If there are only five or six stalks, 

 they will be larger and coarser ; if there are 

 about eight, the brush will be finer and more 

 valuable. In the first hoeing, the supernume- 

 rary stalks should be pulled up. 



Harvesting. As the frost kills the seed, the 

 broom-corn is harvested at the commencement 

 of the first frost. The long stalks are bent 

 down at 2 or 2 feet from the ground; and by 

 laying those of two rows across each other 

 obliquely, a kind of table is made by every two 

 rows, with a passage between each table, for 

 the convenience of harvesting. After drying 

 for a few days, the brush is cut, leaving of the 

 stalks from 6 to 12 inches. The longer it is 

 cut, of course, the more it will weigh ; and, if 

 the purchaser does not object, the benefit will 

 accrue to the farmer. However, the dry stalk 

 weighs but little ; if its weight is excessive, the 

 purchaser sometimes requires a deduction 

 from the weight. As it is cut, it is spread on 

 the tables, still farther to dry. As it is carried 

 into the barn, some bind it in sheaves; and 

 this is a great convenience for the further ope- 

 ration of extracting the seed. Others throw 

 the brush into the cart or wagon, unbound. 



&> fling. The process of extracting the 

 seed is called " scraping the brush." Two iron 

 horizontal scrapers are prepared one movable, 

 to be elevated a little, so that a handful of 

 brush may be introduced between them. The 

 upper scraper is then pressed 

 down with one hand, and the 

 brush drawn through with the 

 other, the seed being scraped 

 off. This is the old method. A 

 newly invented scraper is su- 

 perseding the old one. It is an 

 upright instrument, of elastic 

 wood or steel, inserted in a 

 bench of a convenient height 

 for the operator. 



The form is as follows : 



a is a piece of wood or steel, 



immovable ; b and c are pieces 



which are elastic, movable to 



1he right and left at the top, but 



352 



fastened to the central piece below. The de 

 gree of elasticity may be regulated by wedges 

 in the planks d and / wedges in .the hole 

 through which the pieces pass. 



A quantity of brush is taken in the hand, and 

 brought down upon the top of this instrument 

 As it is forced down, and drawn towards the 

 body, it separates the elastic sticks from the cen- 

 tral piece, but their elasticity presses sufficient- 

 ly on the brush, so that the seed is scraped off. 



The advantage of this scraper is, that both 

 hands may be applied to the brush, instead of 

 only one hand, as in the other kind, and the 

 elastic power of nature is substituted for the 

 pressure of one of the hands. The instru- 

 ment also seems to double the scraping 

 surface. The instrument was invented at 

 Hartford. I have been told it has not been 

 patented. 



The following plan may therefore be useful 

 The operator stands at the end A. 



The lower plank may rest on the barn floor, 

 or have short legs. The upper oblique has a 

 hole, through which the scraper passes, and 

 down which the seed may fall. Each side of 

 the instrument, a wedge may be inserted, to 

 regulate its elasticity, or by some other con- 

 trivance this object may be secured. In scrap- 

 ing, the panicles must first be laid evenly 

 together, and the stalks taken in the hand. If 

 this is not done in the field, and bundles not 

 formed, then must it be done with considerable 

 labour at the time of scraping in the barn. 



Product. A common crop is 700 to 800 Ibs. 

 per acre. There have been raised 1000 and 

 1100 Ibs. per acre, with 80 to 100 bushels of 

 seed. The large kind grows eleven feet high. 



Value of the crop. About the year 1836 or 

 1837, the brush sold for 12 cents a pound; 

 and one farmer in Northampton sold his crop 

 standing, unharvested, at $100 per acre. Since 

 then, the price has been decreasing. This year 

 it has been 4 and 5 cents. At 6 cents, the 

 farmer, for 800 ibs., gets $48 an acre, besides 

 60 or 70 bushels of seed, worth a third of a 

 dollar a bushel so that he receives $70 or up- 

 wards from an acre. 



Good farmers regard the seed alone as equal 

 to a crop of oats from the same land. Some 

 land owners have rented their land for broom- 

 corn, at $25 per acre, they putting on five or 

 six loads of manure. 



One farmer, who, a few years ago, cultivated 

 50 acres in broom-corn, must have had an al- 

 most unequalled income for a New England 

 farmer. 



Quantity. In Northampton, probably 200 

 acres are raised ; in Hatfield, 300 ; in Hadley, 

 400; in other towns, Whateley, Deerfield, 

 Greenfield, Easthampton, Southampton, South- 

 Hadley, Springfield, and Longmeadow, perhaps 

 300 or 400 acres more ; in all, in the valley of 



