Agricultural Products Shipped Into Colorado 13 
times it drops as low as $30 a ton, and at present, owing to a severe 
shortage throughout the United States, the best grade of broom corn 
is selling at $275 a ton. 
The extreme high price for broom corn is exciting many Colorado 
farmers, particularly in the dry land sections of Eastern Colorado, 
and many are planning to raise this crop in 1910 for the first time. 
Some Colorado farmers who have never raised the crop are planning 
to raise from 200 to 300 acres each. 
Most of these beginners will probably make failures. The grow¬ 
ing of a good quality of broom corn is the work of an expert of long- 
experience. The differences between strains of broom corn are as many 
and as great as between varieties of corn. The successful Colorado 
grower must start with seed adapted to his locality and seed that will 
produce a tough quick-growing brush, ripening early, and neither brit¬ 
tle nor coarse. He must prepare his soil and keep it through the season 
in such condition that a rapid growth is maintained. He must have suf¬ 
ficient teams tools and labor to harvest the crop at just the right time 
to secure the best quality of brush, and he must have proper sheds and 
racks for curing the crop. Skill, judgment, and experience are needed 
at every step. 
Most of the broom corn grown in Colorado has been of poor qual¬ 
ity, considerable of it almost unsalable in years of good supply. A few 
experienced Illinois growers who have come to Colorado have produc¬ 
ed broom corn of high quality. 
Colorado broom corn is generally brittle and rough, and much of 
that raised under irrigation is coarse. These faults come first from 
the seed. The cool nights tend to make it brittle. Much of the broom 
corn raised in the state is damaged by not being harvested at the right 
stage and by being cured without shelter. 
The southeastern part of the state is best adapted to the production 
of broom corn on account of having warmer nights through the grow¬ 
ing season than other sections. It is probable that in this territory a 
quality of broom corn can he produced that will supply most of the 
demand of the state, if skilled growers give due attention to every 
detail in producing the crop and are well supplied with the needed 
equipment. 
It is probable that the warmer sections of the fruit belt in western 
Colorado are adapted to broom corn. 
A good yield is one ton to three acres, on irrigated land, and one 
ton to four acres on dry land. This gives a good profit in years of 
exceptionally high prices, a little more than pays expenses in average 
years, and returns less than cost in years of low prices. Broom corn 
is a fairly good sod crop. It requires about 4,500 acres annually to 
supply the demand in Colorado. 
HAY. 
Hay. $1,450,000 
About ten thousand cars of hay were shipped into Colorado in 
1909, with an estimated wholesale value of $1,450,000. This hay came 
