1873 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
337 
from the treadle (b). The broom-handle is 
placed in this barrel, 'with but seven or eight 
Fig. 3. —MAKING THE BROOM. 
inches of the butt exposed, and held fast by a 
set-screw. A tack is driven partly in about an 
inch and a half from the end, and the wire 
■wound around it; the tack is then driven down 
and the end of the wire thus fastened. The 
handle is revolved two @r three times to get a 
firm hold of the wire around it before any brush 
is put on. The wire is wound on a reel, shown 
in the engraving at c, passes around three pul¬ 
leys, by which the requisite tension is procured, 
and then passes to the broom-handle. When 
the wire is properly fastened, the operator 
takes a handful of coarse, rough brush and 
holds the stalks beneath the wire as the handle 
turns, spreading them smoothly, and pounding 
them down closely with a fiat pounder. This 
brush is the filling, and about three small hand¬ 
fuls are needed for each broom. The wire 
should be wound around the filling three or 
four times, and as the brush revolves the stalks 
are smoothed off with a sharp knife just above 
the last turn of the wire. The wire is then 
slipped off the brush on to the handle and 
wound around it once about half an inch above 
the smoothed end of the stalks. Then a hand¬ 
ful of the sorted brush, suitable for the kind of 
broom to be made, is taken in the left hand, 
Tig. 4.— SEWING THE BROOM. 
and with the knife the stalks are cut half through 
with a sloping cut half an inch above the straw, 
and the half of the stalk split off. The stalks 
are then placed beneath the wire so that it may 
be wound exactly over where they were cut. 
The treadle is turned until the stalks are all 
bound on, when another handful is taken and 
treated precisely the same way, and then finally 
another handful. Each handful consists of six 
or eight stalks, and they should be placed 
smoothly and close together under the wire. 
The wire is bound evenly around the stalks un¬ 
til there is sufficient to hold the broom firmly 
together, when it is fastened with a tack as at 
the commencement. The pounder is constantly 
used to pack the brush beneath the wire and 
make the broom firm and*hard. 
It would be a good practical lesson to take an 
old broom to pieces while studying these pro¬ 
cesses, so as to fix them clearly on tbe mind. 
The broom is now of a round shape, and needs 
to be made flat and to be sewed. This is done 
in the clamps shown at figure 4. These are 
simply a pair of wooden jaws, very similar to 
those used by harness-makers in which the 
leather is held to be sewed. The broom is put 
into the clamps, which are pressed together by 
the lever which is shown projecting at the side 
(d). Before being squeezed in the clamps, the 
Fig. 5.— TRIMMING THE BROOM. 
brush is arranged and put into proper shape. 
Then there are three guides, made of iron, with 
curved jaws, hinged on to each side of the clamp 
shown at e e in the figure. When these are 
turned up against the broom they show the 
exact place where the sewing should be done. 
A supply of twine is on the table; a length of 
it is taken and passed by means of a long needle 
through the broom, from the left-hand side, 
about an inch or less from the edge. The end 
of the twine is drawn just inside of the brush, 
and the twine is passed twice around the broom 
and drawn tight, the guide keeping it in its pro¬ 
per position. Then the needle is passed through 
and through the broom, under and over the 
twine each time, making stitches about an inch 
apart, until they cross the broom. Then an¬ 
other guide is turned up which reaches about 
an inch lower down on the brush, and another 
double turn of twine is made, and more stitches, 
and this is repeated in long-straw brooms yet 
once more. It is only necessary then to trim 
the broom smoothly, which, where large quan¬ 
tities are made, is done by the machine shown 
at figure 5; but in other cases may be done by 
means of a sharp knife or a pair of sheep- 
shears, to finish it ready for market. The 
brooms are packed in bunches of one dozen each 
by being sewed together through the brush and 
bound by a cord at the ends of the handles, 
and the manufacture is completed. 
A Bowline Knot. 
J. A. S., sends the following directions for 
making a sailor’s bowline knot which will 
neither slip nor jam, and which makes the best 
halter knot or farm knot in general. In the 
engraving the different figures with which our 
correspondent has favored us are represented. 
The directions are as follows: 
Take the end of a rope in the right hand (fig. 
1), and the standing part— i. e., the part that is 
fastened to the horse—in the left, passing the 
bight, or part between the hands, around the 
post or through the ring to which it is desired 
to hitch the horse. The end (held in the right 
hand) is laid over the other part, then the wrist 
of the lelt hand is turned and the elbow of the 
right hand until the position in fig. 2 is reached, 
when the palm of the left hand will be upward, 
and that hand is hold¬ 
ing a kink in the stand¬ 
ing part, the part of the 
kink nearest the horse 
being beneath, and the 
crossing of the kink 
held between the 
thumb and forefinger, 
the fore and middle 
fingers holding the 
kink apart, the two 
last fingers holding the rope against the palm 
of the hand. The end of the rope is found to 
be sticking up through the kink and held be¬ 
tween the thumb and forefinger of the right hand, 
as also by the two smaller fingers against the 
ball of the thumb, the hand being below the kink. 
Now the rope is let go with the thumb and 
forefinger of the right hand and seized again 
above the kink, and then let go with the two 
smaller fingers, hauling the end through until it 
assumes the position in fig. 3; then the right 
hand is carried beneath 
the standing or fasten¬ 
ed part, and taking the 
position of fig. 4, the 
end of the rope is 
brought over the fast or 
standing part and tuck¬ 
ed down through the 
kink, producing fig. 5. 
To draw it tight the end of the rope is taken 
in with the part held by the little fingeis of the 
left hand, and taking hold at “a” fig. 4 with 
the right hand, it is drawn gently with both 
