51/185

A crook stick was used in conjunction with a fagging hook to cut corn. This one is made of wood, but they could also be made of iron.

1 crook stick: wood

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'This tool was used to cut corn in conjunction with the fagging hook which replaced the sickle in many places in the second half of the 19th century. Instead of taking hold of the corn with his hand, and sawing through it with the serrated edge of the sickle, the reaper drew the stalks towards or away from him with the fagging stick and slashed through them. The cut corn fell against the standing corn behind it and was collected on the left foot every so often by a scoop of the hook and stick and swung over to the right in a swath. // The crook stick is commonly made of wood, as is this one, but sometimes of iron. This one consists of a handle 2 feet 6 inches long, with an arm projecting at an angle of 30 [degrees] and measuring 11 inches in length. The arm fits through a hole in the end of the handle and is held there by a screw.', MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/185 // NAME: CROOK STICK // NEG NO.: 35/222 // STORAGE: '