"Now we'll husk the corn," said Daddy Blake, after the peas and beans had
been stored in the barn to dry until they were ready to be threshed or
flailed.
He showed Hal and Mab how to strip back the dried husk, and break it off,
together with the part of the stalk to which the ear of corn is fastened
when it is growing. It was hard work, and the two children did not do much
of this, leaving it for the older folk.
But they took turns using the flail, and thought this great fun. On a big
cloth, on the floor of the barn, were spread the dried bean vines that had
been pulled from Mab's part of the garden. Then the swinging end of the
flail was whacked down on the dried vines and pods. Out popped the white
beans as the pods were broken, and when the flail had been used long
enough Daddy Blake lifted up the vines and crushed, dried pods, and there
was left a pile of white beans.
"Oh, what a lot of them!" cried Mab, when they had been sifted, cleaned
and put away. There were about two bushels of the dried, white beans,
enough to last all Winter, baked or made into soup.
Some dried peas were threshed out also, but not so many of them, and they
could be cooked soft again, after they were soaked in water.
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