How to Construct an Oat Shock

To me as just of the age to have finished seventh grade there was a sense of excitement and change connected with the move to the farm from the little brown house in Gowrie out to the old farmhouse. To conserve funds, the move was made on wagons, a hayrack, etc. furnished by uncle Carl. One of the wagons he had equipped with special springs and the piano (which my father had given to my mother as a gift sometime in the past) was transported in this wagon. I don’t recall if more than one trip was made — however the hayrack was a fairly capacious vehicle so perhaps only a single trip was made, I didn’t assist particularly in the moving — I transported myself on my bicycle.

I don’t recall particularly working in the farm work that summer though I suspect I helped at least with the oat shocking and perhaps I drove a bundle wagon for my father when the threshing operation was in progress. I remember uncle Carl describing how to make an oat shock one day when we were at my grandmother’s house for a Sunday dinner. As usual he was sitting in his particular chair in the northwest corner of the parlor.

The oat shock is made by first standing two bundles leaning slightly against each other. Then two more bundles are added at each of the sides of the two initial bundles, four more are then added two each between the second two on each side of the shock and finally a ninth bundle was taken and shaped to form a cap on the shock. The latter served to shed rain from the short sort of like a small thatched rood. The shock after a rain would need a day or so to dry out suitable for threshing but would shed rain fairly well — rain could of course come at any time during the summer through July and August. July and August though were usually somewhat drier than June and the spring months.

During a rain the cap bundles might be dislodged by an accompanying wind and depending on the circumstances it might be desirable to replace them. When my grandfather started farming after his marriage, binders were not yet in use. The reaper was used — it cut the grain and conveyed it into a windrow. Then the bundles had to be made by hand. This was achieved by using a small handful of oat straws and twisting them around a larger number of straws of an appropriate amount to form a bundle. This when was presumably used in making a shock as just described.