CHAPTER X 
THE MANUFACTURE OF BROOMS 
In former years many farmers raised a small 
quantity of broom-corn for the purpose of supplying 
their household with brooms. The crop was har- 
vested, cured and made into brooms by the farmer 
and the members of his family. In some cases the 
entire manufacturing process was completed with- 
out the aid of machinery, while in other cases the 
handling of the crop was facilitated by the use of 
very simple homemade machines which were 
operated by hand. 
According to the Twelfth Census, there are in the 
United States 1,526 broom and brush manufacturing 
establishments, with a capital of $9,616,000. Among 
the states, Illinois takes the lead with 156 factories, 
representing a total capital of $500,000. 
At the present time the manufacture of brooms 
in the home has been almost entirely superseded by 
the factory method. And hand machines have been 
supplanted by power machines. With’ the hand 
machines one man can make seven or eight dozen 
brooms per day, while with power machines the 
process is divided between several operators and 
the output very much increased. Some of the larger 
manufacturing establishments turn out more than 
a thousand dozen finished brooms per day. 
Homemade Brooms.—Several years ago a writer 
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