Growing Hybrid Corn (1950s)

the mana ployed is a ready-made in bread produced in half the time and these 100% pure in breads show a marked degree of uniformity the result is a happy one for the corn breeder the genetic traits are fixed and they can be counted upon to breathe true seed samples of all in breads must be kept until they can be tested in crosses not all in breads are good and many are discarded but once an inbred line has passed the initial testing stage it will follow a standard procedure employed on all new DeKalb hybrids the old-fashioned method of painstakingly pulling out the tassel on every female plant may be on the way out Loring Jones has been developing male sterile inbred lines for several years notice a comparison between a sterile line which has no apparent antlers and which sheds no pollen with a fertile tassel loaded with pollen pollen is the male element changing a proved inbred line to a sterile one is a complicated process Jones describes the method with the use of these diagrams on your left the female cell having sterile cytoplasm is cross pollinated with the proved inbred line at the right this proved line is carrying excellent genetic qualities that have been shown by tests to be desirable and which appear in the diagram as the blue worm like chromosomes the objective is to replace the fertile cytoplasm with the sterile cytoplasm but still retain the same excellent genetic characters of the proved inbred line this is done through six generations of back crossing or breeding back to the original proved line [Music] as generation after generation passes note how the good genetic characters are being built up they were half red and half blue to start with after the first crossing each succeeding generation reduces the number of red and increases the number of blue until the sixth generation when all of the good genetic characters have been built into the line carrying the sterile cytoplasm reviewing the process a sterile line is crossed with a fertile line through six generations of back crossing back to the original proof line a new sterile in red is obtained which is entirely male sterile and still carries all of the good economic characters of the original line used in production fields these sterile inbreds not only eliminate much detasseling but result in a better product this diagram illustrates how the final cross is made using the male sterile on the one side with the addition of a fertility restoration element on the other side which helps assure fertility in the commercial hybrid all phases of the DeKalb breeding programs are speeded up tremendously through the use of a winter nursery at Homestead Florida here as many as two successive generations can be grown in a single winter season and those coupled with the one in the north add up to as much as three years research condensed into one the homestead nursery is devoted to the development of new inbred lines and new experimental single and double crosses Glenn H Stringfield longtime corn breeder with the United States Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Experiment Station is now utilizing his wealth of knowledge and experience in developing new DeKalb inbred lines this encompasses the relationship of high-yield thick population and excellent stand ability with low ears on the stock string as he is known among corn scientists is busy at work harvesting this new material all of the corn of the entire nursery is gathered together and drive before trucking or fly for planting in the experimental plots and breeding nurseries scattered over the Corn Belt probably the most important phase of the entire research program is the comprehensive testing necessary to properly evaluate the results it is only in this way that the corn breeder can know what his work has accomplished experimental crosses are checked in many master plots where as many as 2,500 individual crosses are being compared each row is a separate entity and is carefully checked for appearance shank length standing and weight weighing the twenty rohan planted entry gives a comparison for yielding ability to be increased in isolated plots and the single cross used for planting in Planet fields very limited DEET from the pilot fields are then used in a survivor each new experimental must defend itself in numerous comprehensive variety plots as indicated on the map in addition state official yield trials throughout the country add to the testing information an aerial view of a DeKalb comprehensive test plot shows where the new experimentals are pitted against outstanding DeKalb and competitive varieties already proved by customer acceptance here to various planting rates from as low as twelve thousand per acre up to twenty thousand plants create a severe stress so that only the most outstanding can succeed the plots are viewed by experienced corn scientists several times during the season with extensive notes being taken all of the information is placed on punched cards and then tabulated to bring together all of the valuable data from the many locations one or two new hybrid varieties out of the thousands tested is considered a most worthwhile reward for the hundreds of hours that have gone into the research for a better hybrid for it is here in these comprehensive variety tests that a new hybrid is found and evaluated only the best can be good enough to warrant the farmers confidence in the DeKalb hybrids which he plans east and west north and south america is finding new uses for corn the crop that has nourished the nation from pilgrim days till now some like it green green and tall against the summer sky green and succulent pouring into the feed bunk green and tender for the cattle yes some like it green and some like it gold a golden stream cascading from the spout a golden mountain growing in the wagon box some like it green some like it cold some like it in the crib nine months old a comforting store against the long cold winter porterman feed their cage layers mash is enriched with corn or scatter the bright kernels on the ground all grazers fatten their pigs on corn and marbled steaks come from the great cattle feeders dairyman find that the corn plant makes fine feed for milk cows and that corn is king of the end savage crops it seems like a long and weary road but every step is necessary to ensure the best hybrids for which DeKalb is famous yes in so many ways through the control of the riving moving creeping probing vacillating living cell DeKalb scientists are making sure that tomorrow's harvest will be more beautiful more bountiful more rewarding than ever before acres of science are harnessing the living cell to do what man wishes [Music]