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See previous entry: Little Home Histories, Part 76 -- Anecdotes Written by William G. Steer: Oxen.
There was plenty of floor space in the large barns built before and after 1864, so we often used this space to tramp out grain.
The sheaves were unbound and placed in a circle. Then we brought in four or six horses and colts, tieing them two and two. With someone to ride the leaders and another person in the center to keep the horses in place, they soon learned how to go.
Of course it was necessary to keep a large shovel nearby to remove the droppings. It was necessary to use a flail to thresh out that which was not tramped.
The Flail
This was made by taking two sticks of wood about the size of a fork handle. One was four or five feet and the other two or three feet. A knob was made on the end of the longer one and a hole was bored in the shorter one. The two were tied together with a flexible rope or raw hide. Thus the loop on the long piece would turn around when swinging the shorter stick.
The short piece would sometimes strike an inexperienced person, if not careful in using the flail.
See next entry: Little Home Histories, Part 78 -- Anecdotes Written by William G. Steer: Sugar Camp.
For the table of contents and first entry in this series, please see: Little Home Histories, Part 01 -- Table of Contents and Introduction.
This entry is adapted from Little Home Histories in Our Early Homes, Belmont County, Ohio, which was published in 1942. Its publication was coordinated by Robert D. and Beulah Patten McDonald. This entry has been reedited for inclusion in the Pierian Press Fulltext eBooks database, and is included on the Stratton House Inn Website by special permission. This entry is licensed for use ONLY on this Website. It may be used for educational purposes and personal pleasure under fair-use provisions via this Website. Please note that the Stratton House Inn iteration of this entry does NOT include the subject headings assigned each chapter for use in the Fulltext eBooks database.
DATABASE: Fulltext eBooks: Copyright (c) 2002 The Pierian Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ENTRY NUMBER: EBK30013777