American Hybrid Corn History: a Century of Yields
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1-1-2001 American hybrid corn history: a century of yields Gregory Scott Bennet Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Recommended Citation Bennet, Gregory Scott, "American hybrid corn history: a century of yields" (2001). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 21072. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/21072 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. American hybrid corn history: A century of yields by Gregory Scott Bennet A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Maj or: History Major Professor: Dennis M. P. McCarthy Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2001 ii Graduate College Iowa State University · This is to certify that the Master's thesis of Gregory Scott Bennet has met the thesis requirements oflowa State University Signatures have been redacted for privacy iii DEDICATION The author wishes to acknowledge the special woman in his life, for all her help, understanding, patience, and sacrifices she made during the research and writing of this thesis. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION . Objective ........................................................ :·······························································1 Introduction.................................................................................................................... 1 Outline of Chapters ........................................................................................................ 2 CHAPTER 2. THE BEDROCK OF CORN: FROM RUDIMENTAL FARMING INNOVATIONS TO SCIENTIFIC DOCTRINE The Origins ofCom ....................................................................................................... 4 Jethro Tull ...................................................................................................................... 6 Stephen Hales ................................................................................................................ 9 Carl von Linne ............................................................................................................. 12 Nicolas Theodore de Saussure ..................................................................................... 15 Jean Baptiste Dieudonne Boussingault ........................................................................ 17 Sir John Bennet Lawes and Sir Joseph Henry Gilbert ................................................. 19 Gregor Mendel ............................................................................................................. 23 Charles·Darwin ............................................................................................................ 26 Summation ................................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 3. CORN ORIGINS, GROWTH CONDITIONS, AND SEASON Com Origins ................................................................................................................ 30 Nomenclature ............................................................................................................... 31 Types ofCom .............................................................................................................. 32 Climate Requirements ................................................................................................. 34 Com Growing Conditions (U.S.) ................................................................................. 37 Seasonal Weather for Com Growing ........................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 4. CORN ANATOMY, GERMINATION, AND GROWTH Introduction.................................................................................................................. 46 Com Anatomy.............................................................................................................. 46 Germination Cycle (Seed Development) ..................................................................... 53 Kernel Growth ............................................................................................................. 56 General Com Plant Growth ......................................................................................... 62 Vegetative Levels _and Maturation ............................................................................... 63 Stages of Reproduction and Kernel Growth ................................................................ 66 CHAPTER 5. THE LEGACY OF HYBRID CORN DEVELOPMENT: FROM PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS TO PRIVATE BREEDERS Introduction .................................................................................................................. 68 Legislation ................................................................................................................... 68 The Early Light of Dawn: Darwin, Gray, and Beal ..................................................... 72 East, Shull, and the American Breeders Association (ABA) ...................................... 75 Hybrid Development ................................................................................................... 78 Developments by Jones ............................................................................................... 81 Early Independent Breeders ......................................................................................... 83 Hybrid Com Commercialization ................................................................. :............... 86 V Commercial Production ............................................................................................... 90 Moving Beyond Traditional Hybrids ........................................................................... 94 CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS .............................................................................................. 96 GLOSSARY ........................................................................................... :.............................. 102 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................................. 110 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION Objective. To illustrate how early researchers established the foundation for today's hybrid com seed industry. This was initially accomplished by individuals, then later via institutions with governmental involvement, and ultimately the private sector and commercial industry. Most early traditional studies concerning the history of com have independently accounted for its origins and ancestry. For example, distinguished academician, Paul C. Mangelsdorf, compiled extensive data concerning the ancestry of com. In addition, businessmen, such as the esteemed statesman Henry A. Wallace, have authored historical business aspects of the modem-day hybrid com seed industry. Initially, the purely scientific aspects of maize breeding and genetics were investigated in university settings. Few of the early researchers have recognized the contributions of the first historic scientific discoveries (farm experiments), nor linked them to the current status of modem research (gene manipulation). Furthermore, few published works explore the background information required for successful multi-disciplined approaches regarding the academics of agriculture, business, and history. Recognition of the accomplishments of early researchers (chapter 2), combined with the life cycle of com (chapter 3), and its anatomy (chapter 4), provides a basis for better appreciation of the challenges that modem-day breeders face (chapter 5). Future works will investigate hybrid com seed producers' recent entrance into multinational corporations, the globalization process of com production, and the subject and controversies of genetically modified organisms (GMO). Introduction. Agricultural historians traditionally have overlooked the critical relationships and associations between business and agriculture. In the same way, business historians have been reluctant to examine the origins and development of agricultural 2 practices. These shortcomings exist both in the United States and abroad. Each discipline seems to fear to cross the boundary into another's territory or field of expertise. Agriculture historians intuitively tend to align with sociologists and economists, and attribute agricultural practices to cultural, social, legislative, and political influences. Historically, the role of business in agriculture has been underrepresented. The practical applications and learned experiences of "simple discoveries" have often had tremendous business implications. The triangular relationship between _agriculture, business, and research has rarely been analyzed with historical perspective. The scholarly bias of agricultural historians tends to view agriculture business history as a vocational study, which, like academic business studies, suffers from its immediate practical applications and businesslike subjectivity. Outline of Chapters. The chronology of events is not linear or accumulative from chapter to chapter. Chapter 2 describes the early