Broom

a well known household implement. The name belongs first of all to various shrubs of the pea family. They have long, pliant, willow-like branches. The common Scotch or Irish broom is about twenty feet high, with a wealth of erect, slender branches and large yellow locust-like flowers appearing in early summer. The twigs were much used in the making of coarse household and stable brushes or besoms, just as bundles of willows, hazels, or other twigs were used for similar purposes in our colonial days. Through the use of this particular plant for sweeping, the old name of besom fell out of use in favor of broom. In America a very excellent besom, or broom, as it came to be called, was made from a suitable length of a hickory sapling. The upper part was shaved down to form a handle. The lower end, usually a tough butt, about four inches in diameter, was divided or shredded into fine splints, making a heavy, but exceedingly durable and effective broom for coarse work. A turkey wing was used for lighter work. The broom now in common use is made from broom-corn, a variety of sorghum. The "tops," or slender, tough, seed-bearing panicles, proved to be an excellent material for carpet brooms and whisk brushes, and came into general favor for that purpose about 1850. The last United States census reported 1,526 broom factories with a capital of $9,616,780, and an annual output valued at $18,490,847. Many protests have been made by these manufacturers against the making of brooms in penitentiaries, but as the broom makers have formed large combinations or trusts their complaints now have a less just foundation.