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Page 5493
Source: folder #399. July 2002 clippings.
I grew up in the heartland, smack dab in the middle of the most productive farmland in the world. Near Kinsman, Illinois, 60437 the soil is superb and the rain falls naturally every year. As I will explain later, the depression was the turning point. Prior to the depression, corn farmers were more vulnerable to drought. Prior to the recent European immigrants who settled my home town around the time of the civil war - 1861 - the land was considered inhabitable because of the cold winters. Although few people have enough span of knowledge to see the perspective, another difference between then and now is that improved corn can now survive the 50 year drought. Today farmers are less likely to be driven out of business periodically by drought.
Three of the pioneers in the production of corn worked their miracles about 30 miles southwest of the farm where I did my own humble experiments with corn. These corn improvers were Lester Pfister of El Paso, Gene Funk of Bloomington, and Jim Holbert who began work for Gene Funk in 1913. Closer to my home town was Arthur Walter Seed Company where I worked as a teenager in the seed corn fields. Today seed corn is continues to be grown just miles from where my family farms. My childhood friends Johnny Trewartha studied seed corn production at the University of Illinois and works in the industry. His brother Bobby Trewartha works for a seed corn company next to the abandoned right of way of a railroad - perhaps the Wabash link to Streator Illinois.