Maize Magic in American Folklore 283 



and the squirrels ravage the outside rows of every cornfield? 

 There was a joke in the Back Woods about the old lady who 

 asked why didn't the farmers plant only inside rows, to cheat 

 the crows and squirrels. 



At those Kentucky and southern Ohio huskings the corn 

 would be piled in a high rick in the farm yard. The two cap- 

 tains paced off the length of the rick to find the exact 

 middle. When that was decided on, a second jug of corn 

 whiskey was buried in the corn at that point. Then, at a 

 signal, the two teams of huskers went to it. Any man who got 

 a red ear was entitled to a pull at the corn-likker jug which 

 had greeted them. The team which reached the middle of 

 the rick first won the jug buried there. The captain was lifted 

 to the shoulders of his team and carried triumphantly about 

 the farm yard, jug in hand. 



Then came the supper, and after that it was time to bring 

 out the fiddles for "Old Dan Tucker" and "Sourwood Moun- 

 tain/' The harvest moon would be going down by the time 

 the huskers started for home, to be in time for the morning 

 milking. 



"Leave out the corn fairies, and there wouldn't be any 

 corn. . . ." 



Apparently these American fairies had to wait for their 

 story to be told until a boy should be born in the corn belt who 

 had hearing and sight that extended beyond the corn-hog 

 ratio and yields per acre. 



A lot of people have heard the corn growing. Practically 

 anyone can hear this on a clear, hot July day. But not every- 

 one has seen a corn fairy. Carl Sandburg has, though. The 

 best time to catch one of them, so he says in his Tales of the 

 Rutabaga Country, is "when the harvest moon comes up red 

 as blood early in the evening." Then, if you are very sharp- 

 eyed, you may see the corn fairies sitting cross-legged and 

 sewing the clothes they have to wear next spring and summer. 



How can you be sure that they are fairies? 



