Broom-Corn (Sorghum vulgare) is described as a "plant of the order of grasses, with a jointed stem, growing to a height of 8 or 10 feet, extensively cultivated in North America, where the branched panicles or heads are made into brooms, clothes brushes, etc., the seed being fed to poultry and the blades to cattle."

Kansas is one of the greatest broom-corn growing states of the Union. It has been raised for years, and seldom fails to yield a handsome return to the cultivator. It grows in every county of the state, though the largest crops are raised in the western portion. In 1900 broom-corn was grown in every county except eleven. The acreage for that year was 47,776; the yield was 18,674,385 pounds, and the value of the crop was $655,344.60. Ten years later (1910) broom-corn was grown in only 77 of the 105 counties. Those counties which produced no broom-corn in that year were Atchison, Barton, Brown, Chase, Douglas, Ellis, Franklin, Geary, Greenwood, Harvey, Jefferson, Jewell, Johnson, Kiowa, Lincoln, Marshall, Mitchell, Morris, Pottawatomie, Pratt, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Smith, Trego, Wabaunsee, Washington and Wyandotte. Although fewer counties engaged in the production, the area planted in broom-corn in 1910 had increased to 111,308 acres, the yield to 39,561,123 pounds, and the value of the total crop to $1,604,603.43. The five leading counties in 1910 were Kearny, with 18,754 acres, 5,626,200 pounds, the value of which was $225,048; Stevens, 15,045 acres, 4,964,850 pounds, value, $198,594; Hamilton, 10,878 acres, 3,263,400 pounds, value, $130,536; Seward, 8,289 acres, 3,000,618 pounds, value, $110,023; Morton, 6,109 acres, 2,443,000 pounds, value, $97,744.

It will be observed that these five counties are all situated in the extreme southwestern part of the state, a region once regarded as the "Great American Desert," yet in one year the value of the broom-corn crop alone amounted to more than three-quarters of a million dollars. Grant, Fiuney, Stanton, Meade and Haskell, in the same section of the state, also produced large crops of broom-corn, and Greeley, Wichita, Scott, Wallace and Cheyenne farther north were likewise heavy producers. Clay, Dickinson, Kingman and Saline counties each reported but one acre.