Make Every Week a Safe Week! 



NATIONAL FARM 



SAFETY WEEK 



JULY 24-30, 1949 





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NATKSNAl SAnir COUNCIl 



"G 



OING to try to get that little 

 patch of weeds over yonder 

 mowed before it gets dark. Got 

 to get this mower off, so's 1 

 can hook up to the combine and get it 

 going. That back forty of wheat will be 

 ready tomorrow." 



How many times have you said this, or 

 heard it said ? You rush all day every day 

 during the summer to get what's got to 

 be done, and then try to keep the place 

 from looking like the weeds and termites 

 have taken over. The Mrs. complains 

 because you're always so tired when you 

 get in. You work long hours, but you're 

 making out, in fact, saving a little money, 

 and the corn looks good. You think 

 you're doing pretty good — you are, 

 but . . . 



What about that old ladder, with the 



broken rung you've been aimin' to fix.' 

 What about that penny you put in the 

 fuse box and promised yourself to get a 

 new fuse, then forgot about it.' What 

 about those 127 different things you are 

 going to fix when it rains.' You have 

 lowered your guard, haven't you? You're 

 trusting luck will keep your name off the 

 hospital list. 



Can you afford this.' Accidents can be 

 prevented. A little prevention is worth 

 all the doctor and hospital bills you can 

 afford, to say nothing of the lost time 

 while you're "out ". 



The President of the United States has 

 asked you to observe National Farm 

 Safety Week, July 24-30. We ask you 

 and warn you to be especially careful 

 during the coming weeks. MAKE 

 EVERY WEEK A SAFE WEEK. 



I 



Illinois Broom Corn is Best 



F YOU talk to certain farmers 

 in Coles county about corn, you'll 

 have to specify what kind of corn 

 you mean. They speak of broom 

 corn and Indian corn. 



Many of the older farmers speak of 

 broom corn with a great deal of respect. 

 "It has paid for a good many Coles 

 county farms," they will tell you. Coles 

 at one time was the leading broom 

 corn county in the nation. 



J. I. Weddle, Mattoon farmer, who 

 grows broom corn says, "It's still a good 

 cash crop, although last year the Indian 



corn growers had a little edge on me". 



Weddle estimates his crop yielded 300 

 pounds an acre, selling for at least 20 

 cents a pound. He grows the White 

 Italian variety. 



Growing it differs little from grow- 

 ing Indian corn, Weddle says. Corn 

 is drilled about 90 seeds to a rod on 

 well-prepared seed beds. It is cultivated 

 two or three times like seed corn. 



It is cut when the seeds are in the 

 dough by hired crews of men who break 

 the corn over, crossing the stalks from 

 two rows, to form a table. A table is 



two rows, 80 rods long. The seeds are 

 not saved. 



The tassels or brooms are then re- 

 moved and loaded on a wagon. A cutter 

 can cut an average of four tables a 

 day and is paid $3 a table. It is hard 

 work. 



Why have broom corn acreages 

 dropped? "It's a good money crop," 

 Harry Edwards, a Mattoon buyer said 

 recently. "But it's a big labor crop, 

 too. Farmers here have made enough 

 money with Indian corn so they don't 

 bother with broom." 



(Continued on page 25) 



Noble Jackson shows how broom corn is Brooms are then dried in open shed after 

 harvested. Stallcs are bent, crossed to seeds are removed. This shed is in Coles 

 form "table." Then tassels are cut off. county, once broom corn center of nation. 



Farm Operator Weddle, right, and Jaclcson 

 hold "about a dollar's worth" of brooms 

 almost dry enough to bale for market. 



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I. A. A. RECORD 



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