14 BROOM-CORN AND BROOMS. 



or less, to cattle and swine, but as it soon heats and spoils, 

 the greater part of it has gone to the manure pile. Re- 

 garding this seed as too valuable to be allowed to go 

 to waste, Prof. M. Miles, of the Illinois Industrial 

 University, last fall made some experiments in preserving 

 it. He stored it in pits, just as turnips or other roots 

 are stored, putting on a layer of straw, and covering this 

 with some 8 to 12 inches of earth. Pits put up in 

 September were opened the following March, and were 

 found in satisfactory condition ; where the covering was 

 only eight inches thick, the outer portion was dry and 

 molded, forming a compact crust a few inches thick, 

 but the interior was fresh and bright, while a covering of 

 twelve inches of earth preserved it better. A sample of 

 this was sent us, and was found to be perfectly sweet, 

 with much the odor of brewers' grains. What may 

 be the feeding value of these immature seeds has yet to 

 be determined, but there would appear to be no difficulty 

 in keeping them perfectly well, should it be desirable. 



THE FODDER. In the large broom-corn fields of the 

 west, the cattle are turned in after the harvest, and they 

 are allowed to feed upon the leaves ; both these and the 

 stalks are more nutritious when the crop is harvested 

 quite green. No accurate comparisons have been made, 

 but there is a general impression that the fodder of 

 Broom-corn is about half the value of that from Indian 

 corn. 



THE STALKS. Before flowering, the juice of the stalks 

 contains a considerable amount of sugar, but this soon 

 disappears, and the stalks after the harvest are quite dry 

 and pithy. Where the dwarf varieties are cultivated, 

 the stalks are plowed under, which gets them out of the 

 way of the next crop and enriches the soil. This is not 

 practicable with the tall kinds, which are burned to get 

 rid of them, and their ashes are useful to the soil. 



