IMH 75:2 203-204

"Chronicles of Upper Burnet" (1)

1881

Monday, May 9th.

Before breakfast came Hemp Lewis and about ten o'clock
he departed again with a bushel of seed corn. I plowed all the
forenoon on the east side of the field south of Hand's wheat and
cut stalk till 4.30 o'clock on the west side of it. Father departed
on the assessment errand shortly after Lewis left. Alvin
painted the hack-skeleton the first time; worked in the garden
and chored around occasionally It was very warm but the
clouds afforded some respite from the sun's heat. It sprinkled
rain once in a while till 4.30 o'clock when a hard dashing
shower came up and I did'n't work any more in the field. Bill
Hand came after the rain to get some "Bloody Butcher" seed
corn but could'n't find much. Bob Foster boys brought the fro
home about the same time. John F. did'n't work in his contract
to-day. Pap got to town before he came home Bill H. took away
the corn drill.

Teaching note: All corn planted in 1880 was what is called open pollinated corn. The
seed was from the last years crop. Fifty years would pass before the development of
hybrid corn which revolutionized gowning corn. With the hybrids, the yields were
significantly higher. Other characteristics such as stalk strength ( so it would not blow
over) and better rates of drying down for harvest and other desirable traits were
able to be bred into the seed.

Here is an interesting article from the US Department of Agriculture about the history of Hybrid corn