MARKETING BROOM CORN. 9 
| for the purpose should be erected. A typical broom-corn curing shed 
‘is shown in figure 2. 
Whatever the method employed in curing, the essential thing is to 
arrange the brush while green in thin layers away from rain and the 
direct rays of the sun and where winds will not disarrange it. It 
‘must be thoroughly dried. No attempt should be made to bale until 
| the stems will break readily under pressure of the fingers. 
KILN DRYING. 
Another method of curing is kiln drying, which follows a wilting 
period of a day or two. This method is still in the experimental 
stage and as yet is confined to the districts in southern Texas. To 
facilitate quick drying a plan for artificially heating the broom 
corn is being perfected. A brief description of one of the plants 
will best serve to describe the process (see plate IV, fig. 1). 
Fic. 2.—A typical curing shed for broom corn. 
The drying room consists of an airtight compartment about 20 
by 70 feet and 8 feet in height. This room is asbestos lined to 
retain the heat. Beneath the floor, throughout the length of the 
room, extend two large flues, through which hot air is conducted to 
openings in the floor, which permit the hot air to enter the drying 
room at designated places. At the top of the room at one end are 
Openings to allow the air to return to the heating chamber. ; 
The heating chamber, which contains several hundred feet of 
_steam-heated pipe and is equipped with blowers, is connected with 
the flues that pass under the drying chamber and also with the 
return, flues that carry the air back from the drying chamber. Thus 
there is provided a means for a complete circulation of heated air 
_ from the blowers, around the heating coils, into the drying chamber 
| and back again to the oe. Provision is made at the top of the 
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