The "corn-husking" was a winter sport. These, at times, were held at
night under the light of hand-lanterns the mountaineers used to guide
themselves with over the rough roads and along mountain-paths. But day
or night, the husking ended with a feast. The ears to be husked were
piled in a cone on the corn-crib floor, and usually at the bottom and in
the very center of the cone a jug of whisky, plugged with a corn-cob
stopper, was hidden. With songs and jokes they made sport of the work,
each trying to be first to reach the jug. Once the jug was secured, the
huskings ceased, and it was a fair contest between the corn's owner and
his guests to see how much or how little could be done before the
jug-shaped goal was reached.
Seated on the floor around the pile each of the huskers sought to make a
narrow cut in the corn before him to reach the prize more quickly. It
was the farmer's part to have the corn piled in such a toppling cone
that the ears above would roll down as fast as the inroads could be
made, and often the sliding ears entirely buried a husker. He must then
draw back to the edge of the pile and start again. The shout of victory
that went up when the prize was pulled forth warned the women folk at
the house that they must make ready for the coming of hungry men with
appetites well whetted on a product of corn.
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