While cotton is the major crop in Yoknapatawpha, Ab Snopes is supposed to grow corn on De Spain's land; both De Spain and the Justice of the Peace measure his penalty for ruining Mrs. de Spain's rug in "bushels of corn" (16, 18). The corn field is next to the tenant's cabin, and contains the "rich black soil" typical of the bottom land in Yoknapatawpha (17). The story briefly shows Ab's two sons at work in the field, "running a middle buster" (17). (A middle buster is a particular kind of plow, designed to create furrows for planting.)
While cotton is the major crop in Yoknapatawpha, in "Barn Burning" Ab Snopes is supposed to grow corn on De Spain's land; both De Spain and the Justice of the Peace measure his penalty for ruining Mrs. de Spain's rug in "bushels of corn" (16, 18). The corn field is next to the tenant's cabin, and contains the "rich black soil" typical of the bottom land in Yoknapatawpha (17). The story briefly shows Ab's two sons at work in the field, "running a middle buster" (17).
