BROOM CORN

a plant of the same variety as Kaffir corn and sorghum, native to the East Indies, but now cultivated in both this country and Europe. It is said that the American industry is due to Benjamin Franklin, who picked one seed from a whisk brought to Philadelphia by a lady and planted it. It differs from other plants of the same species in having seed heads with longer, straighter and stronger branches or straw. The Standard plant gives the large heads used for carpet brooms, etc., and the Dwarf those made into whisks, etc.