In The Story of WISE COUNTY Virginia by Luther F. Addington there is a statement that "even after grist mills became common, people grated grain into meal in the autumn before it was mature enough to be gound. This oftentimes had to be done because the old corn had become exhausted and there was an immediate need for bread". I suspect that corn that was not "mature enough to be ground" was called "shortcorn." JackDale 2/18/1999