48 BULLETIN 836, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
pounds, green weight, produced 142 pounds, or 32.2 per cent of cured 
brush. From these data it is apparent that broom corn harvested 
in the dough stage gives a higher percentage of cured brush than 
when it is harvested at either the flower or milk stage. To obtain 
the highest yield of cured brush, therefore, broom corn should be 
allowed to reach the dough stage before it is harvested. 
In 1917 the harvesting experiment was conducted on an area of 
0.36 of an acre, which was divided into three equal and uniform 
portions. The broom corn was harvested from one portion of 
that area in the flower stage, from another in the milk, and from 
the third portion in the dough stage. Owing to unfavorable grow- 
ing conditions the crop was nonuniform in heading, which made 
necessary several successive harvestings to get the heads as they 
reached the desired stages of inaturity. Counts were made of the 
heads when harvested. Then they were thrashed and put on shelves 
in the shed to cure. After the brush was cured the dry weights 
were obtained. From these weights the number of heads to the pound 
of cured brush was determined for each stage, as shown in Table 
XXIII. 
In 1918 broom corn was harvested at two stages only. Unfavor- 
able climatic conditions prevailed at heading time, which made head 
development slow and nonuniform, and no harvesting was done at 
the flower stage. Later, heads were harvested in both the milk and 
dough stages of development. These lots were harvested on the 
same day and from the same rows of broom corn, as both stages were 
present at the same time. After harvest the experiment was con- 
ducted the same as in 1917. The 1918 results are shown in Table 
XXIII. 
The results from the experiment in all three years tend to show 
rather conclusively that the highest yield of cured brush will be 
obtained when harvest is delayed until the seeds are in the dough 
stage. 
TABLE XXIII.—Data from the broom-corn harvesting experiments conducted at 
the Woodiard (Okla.) Field Station in the seasons of 1917 and 1918. 
Cured brush. 
Heads 
Year and stage of development. har- 
vested. Total Heads per 
* | pound. 
Season of 1917: Number. | Pounds. | Number. 
LO WiC Tei rere ioe ae ace oct ee Set a te ee eo eae aan , 549 53. 0 67.0 
IVA eat Sapeseere, Wea  e ORS it ew oy) Sa ER A en 3,472 60. 5 57.4 
OU eee ee pers cretce ls lees miata apse ace iva jcpaie a eeie apace en et ee ee 3, 200 58.5 54.7 
Season of 1918: 
YH (ee ee 2's nc, yl ay ci Ae Ne el SRR Fe ey a SS 811 18.3 44.3 
DOU Bie eta ee ae a ek ee OU ays sic oc anor | 546 15.6 35.0 
