No. 9. 



Broom Corn — Lime. 



267 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Broom Corn. 



P. D. inquires, in the last number, why 

 "broom coru is not more extensively culti- 

 vated in this region of country." This arti- 

 cle is successfully grown to a consiilerahlc 

 extent by the farmers of the upper part of our 

 county, and generally manufactured into 

 brooms by themselves during the winter 

 months. It has often struck me, however, 

 that farmers from other neighborhoods did 

 not take hold of it; and I had intended, pre- 

 viously to seeing P. D.'s mention of it, to 

 make it the subject of a communication ; hav- 

 ing had some experience in raising it, and 

 the plan generally adopted by those engaged 

 in it in our latitude, being somewhat differ- 

 ent from the New England method, it may 

 be apropos, to give here the modus operandi ; 

 before detailing it, it may be worth while to 

 examine one or two points of the extract from 

 H. Colman. 



He says that " the soed is dropped in 

 hills about 18 inches from each other;" this 

 practice is pursued in the northern states, 

 so as to allow as free an admission of heat 

 and light as possible, the season there being 

 but barely of sufficient duration for the corn 

 to arrive at perfection ; this objection not 

 existing in this latitude, it is customary to 

 sow the seed in a continuous line. Again, 

 we have, " the manuring is more than for In- 

 dian corn;" this I dissent from, and am sup- 

 ported by the opinion of persons who have 

 grown it largely for many years, indeed part 

 of the general corn-field is mostly devote'd to 

 it, and without any extra preparation. He 

 also says, "the stalks are not even browsed 

 by cattle ;" this may be the case in New 

 England where the early frosts destroy the 

 juices of the blades; but the remark is not 

 applicable here, although the stalks are not 

 considered nearly as valuable as of the Indian 

 corn, cattle rejecting them for the latter. 

 But to return, the ground intended, being 

 put in fine tilth, at early corn planting time, 

 should be struck out with shallow furrows at 

 least four feet apart ; the seed is then sown 

 by drill or sprinkled along the furrow by hand. 

 It requires great care, in sowing by hand, to 

 get it distributed evenly and in a direct line; 

 the drill which I have seen used (and which 

 did the work much better than can possibly 

 be done by hand) dropped a grain every two 

 inches. A practised hand will use but about 

 four quarts of seed per acre. A light harrow 

 follows the sower; if the seed fail in coming 

 up, Indian corn must be used to supply the 

 deficiencies, as even our season is too short 

 for a replanting of the broom corn to arrive 

 at maturity. The culture, during the grow- 

 ing season, is much the same as for common 



corn. Towards the latter part of summer the 

 heads will "start" and spread out; the tops 

 of the stalks should then be bent down about 

 three joints from the end ; this operation 

 should be performed at intervals ofaftiw days, 

 until all the stalks are bent; if the corn is of 

 tail growth it will more easily be performed 

 on horseback. When tiie seed becomes ripe, 

 the wisks are in a tit state to cut, which is 

 done with a sharp knife, above the last joint, 

 so that the blade which encloses it may easily 

 be stripped off. Throw four or five rows to- 

 gether ; cut down some of the butt stalks to 

 spread them upon, if not completely dry. Be 

 careful to protect from dnws or rain by co- 

 vering with the butt.-3. When dry they may 

 be bound into convenient sized bundles and 

 housed ; they are very bad tilings in a mow, if 

 not put in well dried. The seed may be 

 taken off very expeditiously by most thresh- 

 ing machines. Ground with oats or corn it 

 makes pretty good feed, but is of two binding 

 a nature to be fed much without admixture 

 with some other grain. 



1 was pleased to see the proposition on page 

 256 to form a State Society ; it is a matter 

 worthy the attention of farmers. C. B. 



Pliilaiia. county, 3rd mo., 22, 1839. 



liiinc. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Sir, — I have bean reading Vancouver's 

 Agricultural Survey of the county of Devon, 

 (England,) and am struck with astonishment 

 at the course of bid management which is 

 there exhibited, and the very small crops 

 which are obtained, on a limestone district, 

 whose soil and climate are not inferior to the 

 best in that country. Permit me to make a 

 few extracts and observation.s, in the hope 

 that our friends in this country will derive 

 instruction from the perusal. 



The Surveyor says, "when old lays are 

 fallowed for wheat or turneps, they are either 

 ploughed clean, or skirted (pared, for the 

 purpose of burning,) in the month of Febru- 

 ary ; the usual dressing lime is applied in 

 both cases, but the ashes (arising from burn- 

 ing the turf) being considered a sufficient 

 stimulus for turneps, the dressing (of dung or 

 compost) for wheat, remains prepared in the 

 field until after the turneps are fed off, when 

 it is spread and ploughed lightly under: the 

 wheat is sown any lime between November 

 and the Ist of March, and harrowed in. Upon 

 land which is ploughed clean in winter, and 

 receives the thorough summer fallow, the 

 usual dressing is spread previous to the last 

 ploughing, the wheat is then sown and har- 

 rowed in. The stubble of this crop is fre- 

 quently refreshed with about 80 horse loads 

 of dung per acre, sown again with wheat 



