corn shock ties

Corn shock ties were used by farmers who used the stacked corn stalks as fodder for their animals. The corn stalks were stacked together and a shock tie, with a length of twine connected to one end, was wrapped around the stack of corn stalks. When pulling the shock tie tightly around the stalks, they would lock the stalks together forming corn shocks that could be dried in the field and combined with silage for animal feed.
You don't see corn shocks to often in today's fields. Modern harvesting machinery grinds the stalks up during harvest, and spits the chewed up pieces out of the rear of the corn combine.
Today you can still see this process used on Amish Country Farms that are located throughout Lancaster & Lebanon Counties, PA.