338 



COBN CROPS 



time, the cheapest way is to pull and load directly on 

 wagons. When it must be pulled twice, that harvested 

 the first time over is laid on the ground and covered with 

 leaves. It is not possible to get a uniform grade in this way. 

 Standard broom-corn is first " tabled " and the heads 

 are then cut by hand. In tabling, one man passes backward 



Fig. 118. — Threshing broom-corn 



heads or brush. 



between two rows, bending the stalks at a point about 

 30 inches above the ground toward each other and across 

 the row, so that the heads hang about two feet past the 

 other row. Two men following cut off the heads and 

 place them evenly, on every other table. Three men can 

 harvest about two acres per day.. Later, a team with a 

 wagon passes over the empty tables and the brush is 

 collected. 



Threshing and storing. — The heads are threshed 

 directly from the field, or within a very few days after 



