Fifty-four or fifty-five ears were commonly braided to a string; but the number varied more or less. In my father’s family, we often braided strings of fifty-six or fifty-seven ears.
I do not know why this number was chosen; but I think this number of ears was about of a weight that a woman could well carry and put upon the drying stage.
When the string was all braided, the braider took either end in his hand, and placing his right foot against the middle of the string, gave the ends a smart pull. This stretched and tightened the string, and made it look neater and more finished; it also tried if there might be any weak places in it.
We braided all varieties of corn but two, atạ´ki tso´ki, or hard white, and tsï´di tso´ki, or hard yellow. These varieties we reckoned too hard to parch, and for this reason they were not braided. We did, however, sometimes parch hard yellow to be pounded up into meal for corn balls.
The strings of braided corn were borne to the village on the backs of ponies. Some families laid ten strings on a pony; but in my father’s family we never laid on so many, believing it made too heavy a load for the poor beast.
The braided strings were hung to dry on the drying stage upon the railing that lay in the upper forks; and if there was need, poles or drying rods were laid across the rails and strings were hung over these also.[15]
These drying rods were laid across only where the forks supported the rails (at the same places the staying thongs were tied), for at these places the stage could better bear the weight of the heavy strings of corn; the drying rods were bound at either end to the railing, to stay them.
The Smaller Ears
Meanwhile the smaller and less favored ears were being carried home in baskets. It took the members of my father’s family a whole day, and the next day following until late in the afternoon, to get this work done.
Each carrier, as she brought in a basket of corn, ascended the log ladder of the stage and emptied the corn on the stage floor. Here the corn lay in a long heap, in the middle of the floor; for a free path was always left around the edge for us women; having this path for our use, we did not have to tread on the corn as we moved about. Also, if a pony came in with a load of braided corn, the heavy strings could be handed up to us women on the stage as we moved around in this free path.