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“ing fiber, evenly and tightly tied with five strands of No. 9 wire, and. 
| a cross-tied with lighter-weight wire. Only well-cured and 
rchantable brush should be used, and as a matter of protection and 
appearance care should be exer aie in having the brush well 
* butted ” before it is placed in the bales. 
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STANDARD-SIZED BALES. 
_| A standard bale of broom corn is 45 inches long, 26 inches wide, and 
84 inches high. As found on the market, however, a bale usually is 
| about as high as it is long and varies in weight from 300 to 425 
| pounds, depending on the fineness and quantity of brush used. 
' Bales of standard length and width load in cars without dead 
“space, whereas odd-sized bales do not. Standard-sized bales are pre- 
| ferred because shippers are unable to load off-sized bales to the mini- 
mum load stipulated and are thus compelled to pay higher freight 
| pearees. 
iE : CROSS-TYING. 
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2 Since the bulk of the broom corn is shipped from country points to 
terminal markets and is often subjected to rough handling in transit, 
| the regular method of baling is not always sufficient to insure its 
| arrival at destination in good shape. Stocks that present an uninvit- 
ES ing appearance on the sales floor usually command a lower price than 
do well-made bales of equal grade and quality. A comparison of the 
_ two bales in Plate IV, figure 2, clearly reveals the importance of care 
in preparing bales ae oi pent 
es As a precaution against damage in handling, cross-tying has come 
into general use. The method employed is to connect the two opposite 
end wires of a bale with somewhat lighter wire than that used in 
» baling to prevent the outside bale wires from slipping. Usually four 
eross-ties are used. They are placed at each of the four sides, prefer- 
ably underneath all five of the bale wires. As the Dwarf variety has 
‘small stems it is more difficult to bale neatly than the Standard 
| | variety, the ends of the bales tending to taper somewhat. This 
| variety, therefore, particularly needs cross-tying to prevent the out- 
_ side wires from ae 
| Ifbaled broom corn is not marketed immediately after being baled. 
| it should be stored in a dry place protected alike from the direct 
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| rays of the sun and from rainy weather. 
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MARKETING AT COUNTRY POINTS. 
KINDS OF DEALERS. 
és It is practically impossible to classify the various broom corn 
dealers, because of the overlapping of the functions that each per- 
forms. A dealer, for instance, may be generally known as a resident 
