HARVESTING BROOM-CORN 31 
By this means about one ton of seed to the acre 
may be-secured, but the quality of the brush is such 
that it rarely brings more than half the market 
price of good green brush which has been harvested 
at the early bloom stage. The seed secured in this 
manner is used as feed for hogs and poultry and is 
sometimes ground into a fine meal and used as a 
breadstuff. 
The practice of growing broom-corn for grain 
production is of doubtful value, since a much better 
crop can be secured by seeding the land to kafir corn, 
a crop which has been improved and developed for 
seed production. 
The harvesting of broom-corn comprises three 
operations: (1) cutting or pulling; (2) threshing; 
and (3) baling. 
The cost of bringing the broom-corn up to the 
harvest period is about the same as the cost of pro- 
ducing a crop of corn, but experienced growers 
claim that the former crop requires $3 to $4 extra 
expense an acre for the harvesting. After the 
bloom stage is reached the quality of the brush 
deteriorates rapidly, hence it is necessary to employ 
a large force of men in order to get the crop all 
harvested at the proper stage of development. 
Cutting or Pulling—In Oklahoma and in other 
localities where the dwarf type of broom-corn is 
grown it is more convenient to pull the heads from 
the inclosing sheath than to cut the head off with 
a knife and then remove the sheath which incloses 
the lower part of the head. If the seed is selected 
carefully from plants ripening at the same time, a 
