barrel and shock

[Untaught88]

Hi,

What does "barrel" and "shock" mean in the following sentence?

And we raised more than a barrel of corn to the shock.

 

[bhaisahab]

Please quote the source of that text.

 

[emsr2d2]

What [STRIKE]does[/STRIKE] do "barrel" and "shock" mean in the following sentence?

And we raised more than a barrel of corn to the shock.

Note my correction above.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In farming, a shock is a heap. A barrel is a wooden container. They're often used to hold whiskey.

The shocks of corn were so big that they made a full barrel of whiskey out of each one.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Shuck wiould make no sense - it's a verb. The post is about a shock of corn.

 

[Rover_KE]

Let's have no more comments from anybody until the OP responds, please.

 

[Untaught88]

Clearing in the Sky by Jesse Stuart

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

When gathering corn, a shock is a big heap or bundle. Barrels are used to hold whiskey. They were able to produce more than a barrel of whiskey for every shock of corn they gathered.

 

[SoothingDave]

I never heard of "shock" like this before. Learned something new.

 

[jutfrank]

I never heard of "shock" like this before.

Did it come as a shock?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Apparently you are unaware that the outside covering of an ear of corn is called the corn 'shuck'. When this covering is pealed off you can actually see the kernels. If one is only familiar with 'corn in the can', then one can be excused. 'shuck' is a noun.

View attachment 2788

I call that a husk, but you're absolutely right, it is a noun, too, isn't it? Thanks!

But let's not beg the original question. Since the sentence makes sense as Untaught wrote it, why change it?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

And we raised more than a barrel of corn to the shock.

I am not sure what it means. You seem to think that the writer was able to produce a barrel of whisky from each shock/heap of corn. I think it could mean that they were able fill a barrel with the shucks/husks from each shock/heap.

You might be right. I've never heard of putting raw corn into barrels. Doesn't seem efficient. But what I don't know could fill a book.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I've been Googling around to find out more. Haven't found searchable
text yet, but the story takes place in rural Kentucky, USA, which is where bourbon (Kentucky sour mash corn whiskey) comes from.

That's interesting trivia, of course, but it doesn't answer the question.

Untaught, can you give us more of the text? We don't know the context of the quote.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I couldn't open the page, but I believe you. The question is whether the corn for the still, the livestock, or the market.

Let's allow Untaught the honor of typing it out for us.

Are you there, Untaught?

 

[jutfrank]

There's no need to bring whisky into it. Isn't he just saying that the land was so productive that they could get more than a barrel for each shock. A shock is obviously how much corn you can harvest from a certain area of land and barrels are what they would measure the yield by.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

There's no need to bring whisky into it. Isn't he just saying that the land was so productive that they could get more than a barrel for each shock. A shock is obviously how much corn you can harvest from a certain area of land and barrels are what they would measure the yield by.

I've just never heard of storing or measuring corn in barrels.

My wife has worked with a lot of corn farmers in the midwest and in Appalachia, including in Kentucky. Hang on a sec. I'll go ask her what she knows . . . .

Okay. She says it's measured in bushels and usually stored in silos. (I knew that much.) She adds that it's sometimes stored in barrels, although it's prone to going bad that way. She confirms (I think we all know this) that Appalachian subsistence farmers sometimes make whiskey themselves, so that might be what it's about.

But I did find the text, and you're right, Piscean, the little bit I scanned didn't mention making whiskey. (I don't think I want to read the whole thing. That's Untaught's job.)

So I'm ready to agree that they're storing the corn, not mashing it.

 

[jutfrank]

It might be time to dump this whole thread in a barrel . . . .

... before the jokes get any more corny than they already are.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Aw, shucks.