Fibres. 



20 



[January, 1912. 



is made. The sides are then taken away, 

 the pressure or? the lid being maintain- 

 ed. The wires are brought up and put 

 through besides the battens and tied. 

 After removing the lid the bale is 

 rolled out. In addition to the body 

 wires, it is wise to put a wire from end 

 to end of the bale, if the fibre has to be 

 sent any great distance, especially by 

 rail. Slats are sometimes used on each 

 edge of the bale, but the custom is rare 

 in this State. 



Commercial Returns. 



The amount of marketable fibre taken 

 from an acre is from 5 to 10 cwt., 

 the value ranging from £35 per ton. 

 Taking the yield of fibre at 7 cwt. per 

 acre, and the average value at £25 per 

 ton, the fibre alone is worth £8 15s., 

 whilst the value of the seed (3 bags per 

 acre, at 7s. per bag) is £1 Is., or a total 

 of £9 16s. 9ct. per acre, without taking 

 into consideration the value of the 

 stalks as fodder. 



If all labour is paid for, the cost of 

 growing will be as follows ; — 



£ s. d. 



Ploughing twice, and harrowingO 15 

 Seed (4 lbs. per acre) ... ...0 U 8 



Sowing ... ... ... ...0 1 



Horse-hoeing (three times be- 

 tween rows) ... ... ...0 6 



Harvesting ... ... ...i 10 



Curing and Threshing ... ...0 10 



Baling for Market 10 



Winnowing seed (three bags 



at Is.) 3 



Bags 1 



Sundries, including wiie, twine, 

 &c 1 1 



3 18 2 



Leaving a profit of £5 17s, 10d. pei acre. 



Where the grower has his own labour 

 and that ot the members of his family, 

 much of the foregoing expenditure 

 would be saved, and with heavier yields 

 than those taken for an estimate, the 

 returns would be considerably enhanced. 

 Growers ou the King River reckon the 

 net average returns at from £0 to £8 

 per acre. 



Fodder Value. 



Besides the utility of broom corn for 

 manufacturing purposes, it has a high 

 fodder value. The crop should be har- 

 vested before it is thoroughly ripe and 

 the stalks made into silage. On analysis 

 the quality of the latter is equal to 

 maize ; cattle eat it greedily and thrive 

 upon it. The stalks are more easily 

 harvested than maize for this purpose, 

 and can be handled better for the chaff- 

 cutter. The seed, which is of value as 

 fowl feed, and for pigs, contains a fair 

 percentage of oil and flour. As its 

 properties, however, are fattening, it 

 is not conducive to egg-laying when 

 fed to poultry. Horses do well on the 

 seed for winter teed, but care must be 

 taken to have it well cleaned and 

 winnowed, otherwise the dust is liable 

 to have bad effects. 



Prospects. 

 As stated previously, the fibre is uti- 

 lized in the manufacture of American 

 brooms ; whisks are also made. Mr. 

 Albert Oates, of North Melbourne, one 

 of our largest manufacturers, to whom 

 I am indebted for photographs of the 

 finished article, states that the market 

 for whisks is a growing one, and that 

 he is compelled to import fine textuied 

 fibre for their manufacture. He has, 

 however, obtained for the purpose some 

 locally-grown fibre of which he thinks 

 highly. He is of opinion that the grow- 

 ing of fine fibre would pay, as the price 

 per ton would be considerably higher, 

 ranging to £40 per ton. 



In addition to our local market, there 

 should be a fair opening for broom fibre 

 in Tasmania and Western Australia. A 

 sample of Victorian millet sent to Eng- 

 land was valued at £22 per ton, aud 

 inquiries made for a supply. 



Good millet will always pay, and a 

 careful grower will never fall short of a 

 market. On any fairly-equipped farm, 

 the crop can be grown with little ex- 

 pense for machinery; and, in conjunc- 

 tion with other farming pursuits, is 

 worthy of a trial in suitable districts, 



