To such a field, after the laggard sun had changed the hoar frost to dew, would they hasten of an October morning, to begin the corn-husking. The enthusiastic youngster, who had an eye to artistic unity in the situation, invariably selected a pumpkin for his seat, scorning his more sordid fellows who had brought milking-stools from the barn, when nature had placed so many golden thrones at their disposal. Too soon a discovery was made about this that applies as well to other thrones,--it proved an uneasy seat, and was abandoned for a sofa constructed of corn-stalks. Here, leaning back with a full sense of luxury, listening to the rustle of the dry leaves and husks and the monotonous song of the cricket, enlivened now and then by the lazy call of the crow from the hemlocks on the hill, the sweet note of the belated meadow-lark from the valley, or the excited bark of the dog as he chased a squirrel along the fence, the busy husker passed the autumn day. On either side of him were evidences of his labor. On the right stood great disheveled stooks of corn stalks bereft of their pockets of gold; on the left lay in a heap the shining yellow ears, ready to be measured in the waiting bushel-basket; in front was always a little pile of noble ears with some of the husks still attached,--the seed corn. Proud was the boy when he had learned to select successfully "the ear of good length, cylindrical rather than pointed, the cob firm and well filled from butt to tip with grains uniformly large, of good color and in regular rows that showed no space between." Now-a-days, we challenge this ideal of the "perfect ear." [Illustration: _Fig. 278. The Harvest of the Corn._] As "chore time" approached, came the wagon afield to gather the harvest of ears and take them to the cribs, where their gold gleaming between the boards gave comfortable assurance of peace and plenty. But the seed corn was stored in a way learned by our forefathers from the American Indians; the ears were braided together by their husks, by the skilled farmer, who could make a braid two or three feet long, strong enough to hold the weight of the ears that hung a heavy fringe along each side; this braid when completed was tied with a bit of soft, tow twine, long saved for the purpose, and then was hung on hooks on the granary walls. There, until spring, waited the elect of the cornfield, holding in perfect kernels all the future corn wealth of that farm. From the first day's husking a bushel of ears was reserved from the crib and was spread on a chamber floor to dry quickly; later this was taken to the mill and ground into samp, one of the prized luxuries of the autumn bill of fare. Other corn was ground into finer meal for the delicious Johnny-cake and the Indian bread, the latter reaching fullest perfection when baked in a brick oven.