LUTHER BURBANK 



long selection for the special purpose of making 

 brooms and brushes. The product of this plant 

 is familiar in every household, but the plant itself 

 has not been very generally grown in the United 

 States until of late. 



There is a vast difference in the different 

 varieties as well as individual plants of broom- 

 corn as regards length, strength, and symmetry of 

 the group of panicle stems, or brush as it is tech- 

 nically called, and equal diversity as to the quan- 

 tity produced per acre. 



My experimental work with the broom-corn 

 has been directed toward the development of a 

 long, and in particular a straight, panicle stem. 

 Most of the broom-corns have long but crooked 

 stems — that is, stems with crooks or crinkles near 

 the base. Moreover, most of the broom-corns 

 under cultivation vary as to the quality of the 

 brush, some of them being long, some short, and 

 there being a corresponding diversity as to color. 



I have succeeded, in a few generations of 

 selective breeding, in greatly increasing the num- 

 ber of straight stems of the brush, and giving 

 them a more shapely form. The broom-corn 

 responds readily to selection and care. 



My experiments were made by selecting seed 

 from the plant or plants in a lot that showed the 

 best individual characteristics. 



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