120 AUSTRALIAN AGRICULTURE. 



yield. The seed is much the same as sorghum seed, and 

 where a quantity has to be planted a seed-dropper does the 

 work rapidly and well. From 15 to 20 Ibs. of seed per 

 acre are sown, in drills, 3| to 4 feet apart. The plants are 

 thinned in the rows to from 3 to 6 inches apart, and ordinary 

 good corn cultivation is followed, in order to get the plants 

 to grow up straight and clean. The " broom " fibre is at 

 the top of the plant, and the object is to have it straight 

 and tough. It would be well for those who may try this 

 crop to examine the fibres of a good " American broom," to 

 see what is required. 



Harvesting. In order to toughen the fibre and hasten 

 maturity, the heads of the " corn " are bent over just as 

 the blossoms appear. The bend is made about a foot 

 below the seed head or " brush." The plants of two rows 

 may be bent over and made to hold each other in that 

 position. The blossoms come out while the " corn " is in 

 this bent position, and when they begin to fall the crop is 

 fit for cutting. At this stage a good deal of the seed has 

 formed, and it has all to be got out, a common hackle 

 being used for the purpose. The heads are laid on the 

 ground as cut, when the soil is dry and clean. The fibre 

 would be injured by dirt of any sort. The drying or 

 curing is done in barns or sheds. All the moisture has to 

 be dried out, which takes from a month to six weeks. 

 The heads are then sorted into bundles of uniform length 

 and color, and are ready for sale. From 500 to 600 Ibs. is 

 the yield in Indiana, where broom corn is a general crop. 

 The value ranges according to the length and color, at 

 from 30s. to 2 per 100 Ibs. 



SIDA RETUSA, or Queensland Hemp. This, the 

 " paddy's lucerne " of colonial farming populations, 

 is one of the best known fibre-yielders. In the 

 coast districts of New South Wales it grows like a 

 weed, and becomes a serious nuisance where neglected. 

 It is an enormous seed-bearer, and being perfectly 

 hardy, when it gets possession of a piece of good 

 land its eradication is a difficult matter. Nothing 

 appears to injure the plants; on good land, they 

 grow up a dense mass of straight, supple twigs, about 



