LI E> RARY OF THE UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS B F9£Z$ II? 25£ x H Q Columbus, Columbia and Dallas 199 appears as president, I want to continue along those lines and not allow a loop-hole for criticism, if I can help it." 80 Funk felt that the Dallas Exposition, under the management of C. P. Bull, would be of great importance to agricultural and experi- ment station men. There were proposals for a series of morning meet- ings devoted to the interests of the men in charge of college exhibits. Exchanges of ideas and practical demonstrations from thirty-seven agricultural experiment stations resembled a post-graduate school. He added, "The exchange of original ideas of research work is the means of progress in every line of business and to have all this going on at an Exposition where the work is brought out in graphic form and demonstrations, it seems to me is approaching the meat of things in the right direction." 81 The New England states presented an exhibit representing all of the eastern colleges. There was to be almost a complete showing from agricultural colleges west of the Mississippi. Funk noted, "This year will have about accomplished the original thought of the organizers of the National Agricultural Exposition. Last year at Columbia, South Carolina, the Exposition presented to the southeastern states such an awakening for agricultural knowledge as they had never dreamed of, and our directors chose Dallas for a similar purpose this year for the southwest. The affair has grown until but few cities can entertain the Exposition . . . Dallas Chamber of Commerce, the Texas State Fair Board and Texas Industrial Congress have signed an underwriting of $100,000 to insure the expenses of the Exposition." 82 Future policy was necessarily under discussion. Two questions were formulated: (1) Shall the movement for the Betterment of Agriculture with an Exposition have a permanent location? ( 2 ) Can the Congress of the United States be appealed to for an annual appropriation to allow the Exposition to become an annual event? 83 Funk was hopeful that A. G. Leonard of the Union Stock Yards, would attend the Dallas meeting. He reminded him of the fact that Illinois was the only state represented at the Exposition in Chicago (1907) while thirty-seven were scheduled for Dallas. He informed Leonard that the "little" corn show had grown to a National Agricul- tural Exposition embracing not only exhibits from the agricultural colleges but all of the products of the soil— corn, wheat, cotton, oats, tobacco, potatoes, flax, sugar cane, etc. Congress granted a govern- ment exhibit covering 12,000 feet of space. Leonard was told: We are anxious to have a representative body of Chicago men some of these who took an active part in promoting the first National Corn Ex- 200 Seed, Soil and Science position to see at first hand, not only the growth of the enterprise but the possibilities of further development and I know of no one to whom I could appeal to at this time to help bring this about than yourself. I would espe- cially like to have E. E. Conway, Charles Stevens and Harvey Wheeler accompany you and any other gentlemen you saw fit to invite to go in a special car and visit the Exposition at Dallas. 84 Before the Exposition opened some effort was made to pay Funk part of the money he had previously borrowed for the work. 85 The Sixth Exposition was well advertised to include grand opera, aviation flights and balloon ascensions, band music, circus and bronco busting and a Texas inter-collegiate track meet. Among the attractions were the National Grand Opera from Canada, Anna Pavlova and ballet of 85 Russian dancers, a Hawaiian theatre, the tango performed by eight couples, a show of 23 ponies. A collection of pictures from the Dallas Art Association and from the Busch and Lowell collections appeared. 86 Words of greeting by Eugene D. Funk pointed to the fact that seven years ago, when the National Corn Association was organized, the Expositions were chosen as a method to bring the best products of the farm and the scientific means of their production to the public. Progress was somewhat slow because the farmer himself did not take kindly to the scientific "book farming." By 1914 this attitude was changing. Farming was becoming one of the most scientific, honorable and profitable of all professions. He added: "The Betterment of Ag- riculture, that we and our posterity may live better, is attracting the attention of thoughtful men and women everywhere." He believed that a great agricultural epoch was under way. 87 The Kellogg trophy was again offered. 88 An exhibit sent by the United States Department of Agriculture occupied something over 16,000 square feet of floor and nearly 400 square feet of wall. This display was to be taken to San Francisco as part of the Panama Expo- sition. Space allowed at Dallas was much larger, so the display was far better in Texas. It was valued at $19,000. 89 The Canadian Grand Opera with soprano Marie Rappold thrilled the audience. The performance of "Samson and Delilah" in French and "La Giocanda" in Italian was especially appreciated. Mile. Pav- lowa, with her partner L. Novikoff, presented an excellent program. Although the auditorium was not completely filled, the attendance was estimated at 4,000 persons. 90 Addresses were delivered by Governor Eberhard of Minnesota and by S. J. Robbins, the Secretary to the Canadian Ministry of the Inte- Columbus, Columbia and Dallas 201 rior. 91 The American Society of Agronomy, the American Breeders Association and the National Southern Highways Association held conventions during the Exposition. Group meetings of Texans held during the two weeks included: Corn Growers' Association, Swine Breeders, Texas Horticultural, Farm Demonstrators, Industrial Con- gress and Dairyman's Association. 92 Colonel Henry Exall, president of the Texas Industrial Congress was president of the Exposition; Mr. C. W. Hobson, president of Chamber of Commerce in Dallas was treasurer of the Exposition; Judge J. J. Eckford, president of the State Fair of Texas was second vice president of the Exposition. 93 Colonel Frank Holland, of Farm and Fireside was instrumental in bringing the Exposition to Texas. Miss Briggs was an excellent publicity man- ager and Mrs. Flippen managed the Women's Day with Dr. Anna Shaw and Carrie Chapman Catt on the program. 94 The Texas Cotton Growers' Association was concerned with the problem of marketing their product. W. H. Olin of the Agricultural College at Boise, Idaho, Professor R. A. Moore of Wisconsin, Professor C. W. Pugsley of Lincoln, Nebraska, Professor E. G. Montgomery of Cornell, and Dr. L. H. Smith of Illinois were among those speaking on Corn Day. 95 "Northers" arrived in Dallas simultaneously with the Corn Exposi- tion. The attendance was cut at first because of five days of disagree- able weather. Then the people of Dallas turned out in force. Activities at the race track held them spellbound in presenting frontier sports of broncho busting, when some of the best riders of the Southwest performed. 96 Mr. Frank Hale and Miss Signe Patterson claimed to have been the first to introduce the original Tango Argentina into America. They also presented a novel form of the national Brazilian dance and danced the Hesitation and Patterson Walk. They were advertised as appearing directly from Ciro's in Paris. 97 The political upheavals in Mexico kept Sefior Dominguez from appearing. 98 The Dallas Exposition was not a financial success. Mr. Funk attrib- uted the difficulties to a number of reasons. The Association kept well under its estimated budget. Severe weather kept the attendance for the two weeks' period down to 43,000. A member of the Commercial Club in charge of entertainment and amusement features spent about $50,000 which endangered the finances of the show because of the small attendance. The Exposition stood to lose $58,000. This situation, Funk felt, would reflect on the Association. 99 The Dallas Sunday News, however, pointed out that the Exposi- tion brought many valuable lessons to thoughtful citizens. This pub- 202 Seed, Soil and Science lication asked, "Will the supply of our own food products ever fully meet our demands?" Every individual who could do so was urged to produce a vegetable garden. 100 After the Dallas Exposition, the future of the Corn Association, and the entire movement it stood for, weighed heavily on its presi- dent's mind. A letter to Eugene Davenport at the University of Il- linois revealed Funk's concern. He believed it was foolish for the men who had sacrificed time and money to continue. The new Armory Building at Urbana seemed to be a most appropriate place for holding a strictly educational show. He wondered if the exhibits from various agricultural colleges might be held there next winter during the Farmers' Short Course. This idea would eliminate com- pletely any commercial part of the Exposition, "for which we have all been striving for a number of years." 101 Difficulty resulted in settling the financial problems from the Dal- las Exposition. The officers of the Association thought they had an iron clad contract, but C. P. Bull found it necessary to remain after the sessions. He endeavored to gain a final settlement in April. The Chamber of Commerce delayed in making payment to the Associa- tion. 102 Settlement was arranged in May 1914 with final cost of about $2,000 to the directors. 103 E. G. Montgomery was among those who thought that the Corn Shows ought not to be continued although he was not adverse to the possible location for one year in New York. He believed the Grain Show did not carry general interest and that the educational exhibits did not make strong enough appeal to the crowd. Amusement features cost more than the total income. He asserted that many large national shows struggled at the beginning but in some cases had heavy finan- cial backing enabling them to succeed. The National Dairy Show, according to Professor Montgomery, was a financial failure for the first three years, until a professional promoter was obtained to handle the business end of the Show. The chief difficulty in the case of the Corn Shows was the problem of financial backing since no large com- mercial interests were directly affected enough to back it in a legiti- mate way. Manufacturers of the farm products were widely sepa- rated from the producers. 104 War and the San Francisco-Panama Exposition interfered with any contemplated activities in 1915. New responsibilities claimed Mr. Funk's attention. The National Corn Association remained alive but dormant until a reviving spark pulled it out of a lethargy at the time of the World's Fair held in Chicago in 1933. Columbus, Columbia and Dallas 203 The historical and agricultural significance of the Six National Corn Exhibitions must be placed in proper perspective. Many have disposed of the corn carnivals, shows and state fairs as dens of iniquity, especially when judged by the amusement concessions found on the ever-present midways. A superficial glance at the fore- going contemporary materials relating to the purposes of the di- rectors of the National Corn Association impresses the reader with their sincerity. It is true that there were often differences of opinion between the officials of the Expositions made up largely of business- men from the locality involved and the representatives of the Associa- tion proper. These differences were largely based upon differing purposes engendered by pride in local accomplishment and the con- trasting national purposes and viewpoints of the agricultural leaders. It would be difficult to say that no benefits were derived from the educational and scientific displays, lectures and emphases of these exhibitions. It would be closer to the truth, probably, to point to the fact that the National Corn Expositions from 1907-1914 admirably filled a real need in bringing cooperative information to a rural popu- lation. These were not the days of radio and television. Dissemination of ideas by the group method was almost a necessity. The National Corn Exhibitions brought together for the first time in the history of American agriculture the best in scientific accomplishments of the various state experiment stations and departments of agriculture. In one sense they marked the beginning of cooperative activities. The efforts of the board of directors, the various state vice presidents and the officers of the National Corn Association cannot be overlooked in estimating the contributions to a progressive period in agricultural knowledge. E. D. Funk, Sr. provided the leadership, enthusiasm, perseverance, and judgment to enable the National Corn Association to work continuously for the Betterment of Agriculture. PART FIVE The Changing Times CHAPTER XVI The Company and the Farms 1913-1920 A visitor to Funk Bros. Seed Co. in 1912-13 could have entered the main warehouse and walked through one of the first and largest seed drying bins, past the germinator and through large store- rooms. One room contained large glass cases of the ten average ears used in breeding work since 1901. The Funks picked corn before there was danger of frost and when corn reached maturity. Experience taught them about drying corn by artificial heat. This knowledge was applied in the construction of a dryer to reduce moisture content from 35 percent to 10 percent in three days without injuring germina- tion. 1 Quick artificial drying held the germinating power at maximum strength, thus contributing increases in yields per acre. The seed corn at this time was stored in warehouses with temperatures never below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. 2 Careful selection of corn sold on the cob was made with germina- tion tests for each ear. Shelled corn was treated in the same careful manner. It was passed along from hopper to mechanical "butters" and "tippers" in order to remove irregularly formed kernels. Grading followed, so that corn would drop uniformly from the planter. 3 Germinators were large enough to handle hundreds of bushels of corn at a time, marking an advancement over earlier methods. Previ- ous methods had employed a large baking pan approximately two inches deep, ten inches wide and fourteen inches long. Folded canvas attached to a wire was suspended over this pan. Corn kernels were then placed in the bottom of each fold. Water in the pan kept the kernels moist. Another method, known as the "rag-doll," utilized strips of muslin about one foot wide and five feet long, marked in three or four inch squares. Ears were numbered to correspond with the numbers of the squares. When the squares were filled with kernels, the cloth was rolled up and the ends tied securely. The "doll" was placed in a container to keep it moist for five to eight days at above room temperature. These ideas were replaced by sand or saw- 207 208 Seed, Soil and Science dust trays to hold the moisture. The marked cloth was placed over the tray as before to designate the correspondingly numbered ears. These trays were placed in a germinator heated by steam pipes. Sufficient moisture was sprayed onto the cloth each day. Improve- ment was sought by boiling the covers or by daily supplies of fresh sand or sawdust. During the winter, sand covered with a light sprinkling of lime acting as a fungicide could be used. Temperature in the room was maintained at 85 to 90 degrees by steam pipes which passed around the room. No corn was shipped out that did not germinate 95 percent or better. The fertility and productiveness of the land were increased by stable manure. Chicago was one of the best sources, and this supply was for the first time employed in large quantities on central Illinois land. Shipments were made in 40 ton cars through the summer months from May to October. During the first year shipments aver- aged about four cars per day. Large stockpiles were established at Funk's Grove and on the farm of E. D. Funk. Clover was used in rotation of corn, oats, and the clover was plowed into the fertilized soil. 4 At LaFayette's farm in the northeast corner of the estates there was a large crib filled by a grain elevator driven by work horses. An observer could travel across 200 acres of virgin blue grass to the next farm. Here an unusual silo contained steam cooked silage. Little was known about this subject. After filling the silo in the ordinary manner steam was admitted in perforated pipes previously laid under the bot- tom in octagonal form some distance from the wall. Live steam passed through the silage during the night. The next day the additional fill- ing was treated in the same manner. The entire mass was cooked for several days when the silo was filled. The result was a slightly darker silage which did not readily spoil. Although this feed was for cattle, horses also were said to eat and relish it. This experiment was carried on for a few years. The tenant system included some cash renters and some who farmed for half the crop. Approximately 250 men were employed on the entire estates. During the winter months less than half this num- ber were retained. The tenant houses were well kept and attractive. The recently organized Ben Funk School was attended by the chil- dren of both tenants and owners. White Leghorn hens were raised in quantities on the Lyle Funk farm located east of McLean. Twelve incubators required 4,300 eggs to fill and demanded the attention of an expert. The brooders and The Company and the Farms • 1913-1920 209 heating arrangement were automatic. Eggs were furnished during the winter at 50 cents per dozen in the crate to the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. 5 The chicken business of Lyle Funk attained national and international recognition. Toulouse geese were also available. The egg farm covered about 1,000 acres. In 1919 Lyle Funk stated that the farm was perhaps the largest of its kind in America. The incu- bators would hold 22,000 eggs and he could brood 15,000 chicks at once. The breeding and laying houses accommodated 5,000 Leghorns and 1,000 geese. The Leghorns were line bred, not inbred. Their value as layers was stressed, and not for show. Lyle Funk founded the egg farm in 1899 and in 1909 came to the conclusion that Single Comb White Leghorns were a more desirable breed for egg production. The International Strain of Mammoth Full Blood Toulouse Geese was established in 1910. 6 The French Government in 1922 conferred on Lyle the Chevalier du Merite Agricole. Charles A. Funk maintained forty-two head of Guernsey cows. The University of Illinois cooperated with the dairy in the matter of milk tests and feed recommendations. The cows received a ration of gluten and cob meal in proportion with corn silage and clover hay. The milk was sold wholesale in Bloomington. Guernseys were also the dairy cattle on Deane Funk's farm. One feature of his farm was a 700-foot round barn with a silo in the center. 7 Arthur Funk raised 1,800 pigs a year. The farrowing home was 16 by 200 feet with pens on the north side for thirty sows with the feed- way along the front or south side. The front was made up of doors which opened to let in the sunlight. A water hydrant stood in the center. After a few days the sows were moved four at a time by crate wagon on low wheels to pastures, with pigs in a box behind. This method solved the difficulties of trying to drive a sow to pasture. One hundred houses for two sows each were cut from home timber. These were placed in the pasture. These houses without floors were easily moved from place to place. The sows were kept in groups of ten, each having a large pasture with water fountain, medicine box and an acre patch of rye. Water was supplied by a reservoir on high ground Each pasture had a concrete feeding floor with an automatically filled water trough and a self feeder. The pastures were seeded with clover and other grasses. When the rye became too large it was plowed un- der and rape was sown. 8 The hogs remained in the pasture until the corn was mature enough to "hog down/' which was about the middle of August or first of September. Most of the hogs were fattened by "hogging down the corn" thus saving the labor of husking and han- 210 Seed, Soil and Science dling the corn. Cobs and manure were left on the land. Prevention of cholera was a great problem. All dead pigs were burned. Lawrence P. Funk developed on his farm the largest hog nursery in America. His decision to manufacture and market the remedies which made the Funk Hog Farm famous marked an important step in the hog industry. He was in 1919 the largest hog raiser in Illinois. On these farms, known as the "Garden Spot of the Corn Belt," his advice and remedies followed the pigs from before birth to maturity. 9 "Pig guns" were owned and used by the McLean County Better Farming Association in Illinois against hog worms. The "shells" or pills were originated by Lawrence P. Funk, and he generously turned over his discovery to the association. After September 1918 this treat- ment was available for all hog growers. 10 The fame of the Funk Farms extended beyond the boundaries of the United States. A member of the D. I. Andronescu family of Roumania who was interested in plant breeding and dry farming visited the Funks in 1913. C. P. Hartley, in charge of corn investiga- tions for the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States Depart- ment of Agriculture introduced him as a representative from the Roumanian Government in the following manner : He has read in European literature of your corn breeding work and is desirous of seeing for himself what you are doing and how you are doing it." An agreement to sell the Farmers Voice to the Prairie Farmer ne- gotiated in July 1913, 12 as well as the sale of some oil properties at Chanute, Kansas for $15,000 aided in paying off some of the indebted- ness. 13 Sale of stock and bonds in the Springfield and Northeastern Traction Company by both LaFayette and Gene brought $3,030 apiece. 14 These transactions relieved Gene of some responsibilities at a time when the National Corn Association was consuming time and money and when his attention was again turned to the affairs of the seed company. When LaFayette and Jacob, the two remaining brothers of the eight sons of Isaac, reminisced about their younger days, they often talked of the old cattle trail to Chicago. On September 8, 1913, LaFayette, Jake, Deane and his son Donald undertook an automobile trip that brought back more vividly the old memories. They managed to follow the old trail to Joliet with little trouble, although the original stopping points were not too definitely located. On the second day they drove west of the Des Plaines River along the old route, arriving at the Union Stock Yards about eleven o'clock. Jake and LaFayette The Company and the Farms • 1913-1920 211 returned by train while Deane and his son returned with the car. A century of transportation changes had erased the historical landmarks of earlier economic enterprise. 15 Mr. and Mrs. LaFayette celebrated their fiftieth anniversary on January 13, 1914. There was no formal reception, but neighbors from the countryside and many friends from Bloomington called. 16 LaFa- yette observed his eightieth birthday on January 20th. Three months later he met with an accident when his horse fell with him. 17 A noteworthy event occurred in the annals of the Funk family when a portrait of Isaac was admitted to the Illinois Hall of Fame at the Illinois College of Agriculture. LaFayette's family, Eugene D. with his wife, LaFayette, Jr., Eugene, Jr., and Elizabeth attended with some twenty other descendants of the pioneer. About a thousand peo- ple attended the ceremony from over the state. Elizabeth drew the flag from the picture. Gene wrote, "Let us hope that no descendant of Isaac Funk ever does anything that will give cause to bring shame on this illustrious man." 18 Eugene and Deane Funk became more interested in the Florida project. They talked with Fred Rankin again and with Messrs. Sconce, L. Burns and a Dr. Finch. Ultimately the Illinois men said they would go into the arrangements if Eugene thought the propo- sition a good one. They would join if he did. Gene, however, refused to take part without convincing his father that it was the right thing to do. He wished to have his approval before going ahead. 19 LaFa- yette and Deane made a trip to Barstow, Florida to look over the land. 20 Gene and Deane finally agreed to invest about $5,000, and James Melluish, an engineer from Bloomington, agreed to take over some of Gene's stock. 21 The total amount due by April 1st was $18,- 575.41. Gene's share was $1,741.44 and Deane's $870.72 22 on the first payment toward 15,000 acres of muck land in Polk County, Florida. Jim Melluish started to Florida April 15 to begin a survey of the area. His report was very favorable. 23 The first payment was made with the proviso that the company also receive some railroad lands— about 5,000 acres in addition. Gene became interested in the problems of organization and in the advisability of having a repre- sentative in Tallahassee who knew leaders in the state assembly. The Lake Fanny tract was also under consideration, but the Illinois group wished to hold decision in abeyance on this tract in view of the possi- bility of the railroad land. 24 DeLoss Funk was with J. G. Melluish when he cross-sectioned the Lake Fanny tract. 25 Finally Mr. Sconce advised the acceptance of 212 Seed, Soil and Science the agreement without the railroad land which he thought would come through anyway. 26 The drainage bill passed the Florida Legis- lature, and organization of the company with the possibility of in- clusion of the Lake Fanny district was underway. The location of the branch of the Sea Board Airline railroad continued to be important. 27 The corporation was known as The Peace Valley Farms Company. Decision was made to organize a stock company known as the Poin- settia Park Company in the Lake Fanny tract. 28 The Peace Valley Farms Company was made up of eleven stock- holders, with a capital stock of $200,000. 29 The Peace Valley Com- pany held 15,162.28 acres of muck lands. There were 14,117.84 acres within the Peace Creek Drainage District. 30 The first payment by September 1, 1913 was to amount to $43,464.88. The Poinsettia Park area itself was once part of the Inman Estate. It claimed about one and a half miles of shore line to be landscaped by Professor Major of the State University of Missouri, one of the foremost landscape gardeners. 31 The park was composed of 600 acres with massive live oaks, palms and pines. It was located on the high lands of the most beautiful lake regions in Florida, fifty miles inland from Tampa, two miles from Florence Villa and three and a half miles northeast of Winter Haven. The altitude of 210 feet above sea level and the many surrounding lakes enabled the owners to boast of immunity from frost for citrus growing. Ten lakes were located in the area. 32 The Peace Valley Company progressed although there were delays in 1915 in the drainage program. Native Floridians had not previ- ously seen perfect drainage of the muck lands and were often skepti- cal of results. Demonstration of the wonderful results to be obtained in growth of vegetables on this soil helped to create interest. It was hoped that the drainage district could be completed within a year. The constitutionality of the drainage act was confirmed by the State Supreme Court. Bonds were advertised for sale by the company. Current expenses were a continuing problem. 33 E. D. Funk inquired again about the completion of the drainage ditch in 1916. He was glad to make a note of some money in the treasury at that time. 34 The Florida Development was not the only organization claiming attention. Eugene was president of the Illinois Live Stock Breeders Association in 1915 and a member of the Advisory Board of the Agri- cultural Experiment Station at the University of Illinois. 35 He became president of the Chester White Breeders Association in 1916. 36 The Company and the Farms • 1913-1920 213 Another memorable occasion for the Funk family occurred July 9, 1915, when the Funk Farms Picnic was held under the auspices of the Funk Bros. Seed Co., The Prairie Farmer and the McLean County Better Farming Association. Ten thousand people attended, and over one thousand automobiles were parked through many acres of land. 37 The registration book showed people present from almost every town within a fifty mile radius of Bloomington. Three men from Missouri came especially to tour the farms, and there were five from Ohio, sev- eral from Iowa, one from Canada and a party from Wisconsin. Dr. C. G. Hopkins of Urbana arrived from South Dakota with his father and brother. A delegation of fifty farmers from Livingston County would have been three times larger if the weather had not dis- couraged some. About 300 arrived from Springfield and vicinity. Four hundred railroad tickets were sold from Bloomington to Funk's Grove during the day. Several sleeping cars were brought down from Chi- cago the night before. 38 The first automobile tour began at 9 a.m. The lead cars were num- bered and each carried an American flag on the front. Five churches were represented with tents to furnish noon dinner. Barrels of ice water were set a few rods apart. Auto dealers from Bloomington were ready with tires for the unfortunate. The autos going in and out of gates resembled busy ants going about their work. Many ques- tions were asked about the work on the farms. The large scale op- erations interested the men, some of whom were observed trying to count 700 brood sows on an alfalfa pasture. The women admired the beautiful farm homes. C. V. Gregory of the Prairie Farmer was chairman for the day. A speakers' platform was arranged in the Grove, canopied with red, white and blue decorated with oats and wheat sheaths. Seats were made of logs and planks. D. O. Thompson gave the welcome. The chief speaker for the occasion was "Uncle" Henry Wallace, editor of Wallace's Farmer. He stressed the point of trying to overlook the things not believed in common in country areas in order to work unitedly for a broader conception of rural life. This could be attained after more work on the part of those who pioneered in certain fields. Wallace was especially impressed with the Ben Funk School. He emphasized social life in rural districts. He urged the building of a dependable race of men upon the prairies. 39 He continued by warn- ing that when the European War was over, production of food would be increased. Here on the Funk farms were men who had learned to bring out the wealth of the land. He added: 214 Seed, Soil and Science I am not here to boast about the Funks, because their work shows for itself, but it is a privilege for you to see not merely one kind of farming, but almost all kinds of farming carried on by the application of brains. . . . Brains applied to the problems of agriculture is great, but I tell you a greater thing to see than that. It is to see a family working together for one great purpose, and that purpose the betterment of human conditions, the development of the soil. 40 President John W. Cook of De Kalb Normal College gave the dedi- cation upon the erection of a great boulder to the memory of Isaac Funk. A bronze tablet listed the names of Isaac and his wife Cas- sandra as well as the descendants of the second generation. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Carl Vrooman, from Bloomington, gave a short talk. Eugene Funk thanked the crowd for interest and their kindness toward the Funk brothers. 41 All in all it was a great day at Funk Farms. The memorial boulder with its bronze plaque can still be seen on the site of the cabin where Isaac Funk settled on the edge of Funk's Grove in 1824. Eugene, Sr. wrote after the celebration: We have just passed through one half or twelve years of the "Dream" and I am well pleased with what has been accomplished. I realize that the next twelve years will require equally as diligent study and if anything more careful guiding. . . , 42 LaFayette fell again on the ice January 19, 1916, the day before his eighty-second birthday, breaking his right hip. He was helping to put up ice as he had done for many, many years. 43 As a conse- quence he was unable to attend the International Live Stock Expo- sition, the first he had missed since the first show in the Old Expo- sition Building on the Lake Front. 44 Efficient cost accounting methods for farm management interested the Funks. E. D. considered the initiation of the system on the Funk Farms as "one of the best if not the best thing that we ever did." 45 A series of reports would prove very valuable. Frank Pearson advised Funk that labor and wages appeared to be better on larger farms. 46 Another Funk Republican Barbecue was held October 20, 1916 at Funk's Grove. 47 There was criticism during the year of a five percent increase on livestock rates in Illinois granted by the State Utilities Commission. Frank Funk was the only member of the Illinois Commission who voted against advancing rates. E. D. Funk thought that the railroads had based their claims on figures compiled prior to 1914 and disre- garded subsequent years of prosperity. The livestock interests also The Company and the Farms • 1913-1920 215 had benefited, he said, but nevertheless every cattle feeder was losing money with corn at about $1.50 per bushel. It was a question how long this prosperity would continue. If railroads would reduce rates when livestock prices dropped, then profits would be willingly shared. 48 Interest in Rotary International was uppermost in Gene's mind in April 1917. He was a charter member of the Bloomington group and deeply interested in the organization. He had difficulty in deciding whether to attend the A. S. T. A. at Detroit or to go to Atlanta for the Rotary Convention. 49 The seed company was continuously active. At a stockholders' meeting, November 29, 1913, Deane Funk was again elected presi- dent, an office he had filled from 1908. Frank Funk was again elected for one year to the board of directors. Eugene D. Funk was also elected for one year. Dwight and Lyle W. were returned to the Board for two years and Lawrence P. for three years. Eugene D. Funk was again chosen general manager, a position he had held since 1908. At a meeting held in 1914, Deane was re-elected to the presidency. Two of the older generation, LaFayette, Sr. and A. B., attended this meet- ing, as did Arthur, DeLoss and Charles A. Funk. Yet difficulties in the corn breeding work still troubled Eugene D. Funk, and during the war years he turned again to search for the answers. CHAPTER XVII The Enemy in the Dark Eugene Funk wrote that he first realized in 1913 that corn breeding work was seriously hampered by unknown diseases. Com- pany records, he said, revealed some trouble as far back as 1900. When the Illinois Corn Breeders had discussed corn breeding prob- lems in the 1890's there had been some expression of ideas about the best types of corn. This association of eighteen men decided on the rough type of corn as the ideal one to produce in the Corn Belt. The score card which they produced was worked out with the ideal ear having the following points: (1) cylindrical, (2) carrying this type from tip to butt, (3) well covered at both ends, (4) with deep medium rough wedge shape kernels. Then these men undertook to grow strains from all varieties in their possession that would measure to this ideal ear. In this period of corn growing history there were seven recognized varieties as standard for the Corn Belt: (1) Reid's Yellow Dent, (2) Learning, (3) Boone County White, (4) White Mine, ( 5 ) Riley's Favorite, ( 6 ) Golden Eagle, ( 7 ) Champion White Pearl. Some of the older men may not have had the academic and scientific training of the younger generations but they possessed an uncanny instinct born of experience and practical application of their knowledge. James Reid of Delavan was one of these with practical experience in corn breeding. Reid favored the smooth type at this time, but he was overruled. The Funks had also been growing a fairly smooth type but in order to cooperate with the majority they adopted the rough type. When Funk recounted this story at Columbia, Missouri in 1922, he said that large acreages on the Funk farms made it possible to carry on work with all of the standard varieties. It was possible to select strains and carry them along for four or five years with big yields. He discovered that strains of rough type corn would "go all to pieces and fall down in yield to less than average farms in the neighborhood." Funk could not then understand the loss. Often he became so dis- couraged that it seemed advisable to give up the business. 1 Gene Funk said little but he did not completely accept this idea. 216 The Enemy in the Dark 217 He decided to experiment in order to test the relative value of dif- ferent types of corn. He selected seven types of the same variety, Learning, securing one lot from E. E. Chester of Champaign and the other from J. H. Coolidge of Galesburg. These seven types ran from extreme smooth to the extreme rough types. Funk explained at Co- lumbia, Missouri that these types were planted in separate rows, usually one half acre to each type. He carried the experiment on for seven years. The smooth type in the corn from the Chester farm out- yielded the rough six out of seven times. The smooth type from the Coolidge farm outyielded the rough five out of seven times. 2 When this evidence was presented at the annual meeting of the Illinois Corn Growers at Champaign in 1909, Gene Funk described the result as a "near riot." About the only person in the audience who agreed with him was Mr. Reid, who danced around saying, "I told you so; now I am going home and tend to my own knitting." 3 Problems in the entire program of corn breeding demanded ad- ditional attention. At Funk Bros. Seed Co. the germinators were giving trouble, or at least they were thought to be at fault. Thousands of dollars were expended to obtain a satisfactory system. All kinds of patented arrangements were secured as well as home made germina- tors and disinfectants. When a few kernels from single ears were placed in a square on the germinator, kernels here and there would show mould. Some of these would germinate 100 percent. Conse- quently they paid little attention at first to the mould, especially when the corn germinated. At a meeting of the Illinois Corn Growers Association held Janu- ary 19, 1912, Eugene D. Funk again spoke on "Some Results from the Ten Years of Corn Breeding." His interest in corn was apparent in his introduction when he expressed his appreciation for an oppor- tunity to talk about "the most wonderful of all American products- Corn." The little kernel was capable of growing to a height of twelve feet or more in ninety days, reproducing itself over 1,000 fold during the short season. Gene believed that the American farmer of the Corn Belt scarcely realized the possibilities in and necessities for corn breeding work. He was able to reproduce before this audience almost verbatim the speech he had delivered in St. Louis on October 8, 1904 during the World's Fair ( the Louisiana Purchase Exposition ) before the Congress of Experiment Stations and Colleges of Agriculture on Commercial Corn Breeding. His ideas had not changed regarding the smooth type of corn. After quoting at length from the 1904 speech he concluded with another of its statements : 218 Seed, Soil and Science Personal experience has proven to us the above facts for some of our highest yielding strains of Corn to-day are anything but ideal ears from the standpoint of the score card. 4 Gene Funk then called attention to a striking and practical demon- stration of ten years' work along this line exhibited in eleven glass cases. He added: For ten consecutive years we have carefully put away in a hermetically sealed can— a bushel of Learning corn representing the seed selected for planting on about 100 acres. Each of these ten ear lots represents the seed selected for planting in their respective years and so these are not the ten best or the ten poorest but as nearly as possible a true representation of the whole. He pointed to the difficulty in determining the exact increase in yield. The average yield in 1902 was sixty-two bushels and in 1911, eighty five bushels. This comparison in itself was insufficient, because as Funk remarked, the soil in 1911, where improved was better than in 1902. An entirely different type of the same variety was prominent in the breeding blocks for highest yields. Here selection was governed by type gathered from the highest yielding rows and by comparison with type of mother ear. Ten ears were then selected from Funk's Gold Standard Learning and Funk's Yellow Dent. Funk said: It is most striking that both varieties show a tendency towards the same type of corn and neither of them conform to the present score card of our arbitrary selection of type for a perfect ear. The general increase had been about fifteen bushels to the acre. The speaker referred to lists of several hundreds of names and to copies of letters from those who had planted this seed. These letters came from practically all of the corn growing sections of the world, from New Hampshire to Texas in the United States as well as from Ontario and other parts of Canada. Increases ranged from five to twenty or more bushels per acre from planting the high yielding strains. 5 He recalled the emphasis on the smooth corn from the seven-year experiment with seven different types of corn within the same variety in the 1909 speech referred to above. Funk also believed that farmers were demanding too large an ear for a seed ear, thus producing corn of late maturity. Large ears were not necessary to a bumper crop. Gene Funk advised corn breeders to strive for a medium sized ear on a maximum number of stalks. 6 This was the general situation on June 10, 1913, when young James Ransom Holbert, then a student in the Purdue College of Agriculture, The Enemy in the Dark 219 arrived to work for the experienced seedsman, Eugene D. Funk. His summer salary was $26 per month. 7 He lived in Eugene Funk's home near Shirley and soon became an accepted member of the family circle, where his piano playing endeared him to the large family of children. The long discussions with E. D., Sr. about corn during and after the evening meal were a real inspiration to the young student. When James Holbert first arrived he asked E. D. Funk for some practical experience. Funk recalled, "I sure gave him what he asked for. I first put him in the hay field and on the corn plows, later on an old planter wheel, dragging between the corn rows to form a dust mulch. We found Mr. Holbert to be above the average student." 8 During his work on the farms in the summers of 1913 and 1914 the young student sought a direct method of fixing desired character- istics in a new strain of corn. He discovered that the corn families de- veloped by Eugene Funk were "remarkably well fixed in characters." 9 These "families" were selected by close ( line ) breeding as explained in chapters VIII and IX. The elder seedsman requested Holbert to "breed a better strain of corn that any we have ever produced." 10 This was one of the biggest assignments that could have been made to a young student. The work of E. M. East and G. Shull, begun about 1905 and publicized in 1909, had attracted the attention of Holbert back on his Indiana farm. Mr. Funk also knew of the work. The dis- cussions in those days of 1913 and 1914 when the world was on brink of the First World War were among the significant steps in the History of Corn Breeding. They also talked about Funk's corn fam- ilies and of the fact that Funk had done inbreeding in 1902. No direct evidence of inbreeding on a commercial scale, except as related above in chapter IX, has been found in the early Funk corn breeding ma- terials. However, the story of experimental work in inbreeding corn was related in later years by E. D. Funk to James Holbert. 11 Eugene Funk also revealed in 1936 that by planting during 1904 the seed from a given ear in one row which was detasselled, and then planting the seed from an unrelated ear in the next row left tasseled, the result was seed of marked vigor. He also added significantly for the record, "about this time [1904] some experiments were also con- ducted by fertilizing the silks of a given plant from the pollen pro- duced on the same plant." 12 It has already been shown that P. G. Holden's work in inbreeding at the University of Illinois was discarded. The Funks accepted the general belief that inbreeding was harmful in their large scale com- mercial work. They knew, however, that the close relationship within 220 Seed, Soil and Science the corn families did preserve desirable characteristics to a marked degree. They stressed the idea of pedigrees obtained through de- tasseling and hand pollination in the earliest years of their work. Yet they were constantly on the alert for information leading to improved corn able to withstand the diseases described by Gene Funk as "Enemies in the Dark." He knew he had been fighting them for twenty years. Funk Bros. Seed Co. can claim a close connection with the chain of events that brought about the experimentation of Professor E. M. East in Connecticut. After East left the University of Illinois he re- quested some of the seed used in the experiments of earlier years at the University. H. H. Love had been an assistant to Dr. Graham for the Funks at Wesleyan in Bloomington during the chemical analysis program. It was largely through recommendations of Funk, Holden and Graham that Love became a professor at the University of Illi- nois. When East made his request for inbreds from Illinois, it was H. H. Love who sent the seed to him. H. H. Love declared in 1957 that these were from Learning Yellow Corn, and that he shelled this corn off himself from inbreds he and East had experimented with at Illinois. 13 As stated above, the important work of Professors East and Shull became known about the same time. Both of these men were botanists who were chiefly interested in genetics. 14 Gene Funk received a sig- nificant letter dated January 17, 1914 in answer to one he sent to G. H. Shull who was then in Berlin, Germany. The letter is interesting enough to quote: Your letter and catalog describing the methods used in your seed corn production have been duly received and I am much obliged to you for them. Your catalog will be very useful to me in preparing for the address which I am to give in June. I am glad to note the growing interest in pedigreed seeds; the excellent results obtained by the use of your seed corn has undoubtedly had much to do with this development. I can well understand therefore your feeling that a change of teaching on your part might jeopardize the gains already made. On the other hand, I think this side of the question can be over- emphasized. According to my view it is not the method which you use but the name of Funk Bros., that has become impressive to the intelligent farmer and if you should find by careful experimentation that some form of direct hybridization will give higher yields with better quality, and so forth, than your present methods, your statements to this effect would be accepted by your constituents quite as readily as they now accept your statements regarding the value of intelligent selection on the basis of per- formance records in the ancestry. TEN YEARS OF CORN BREEDING BY SELECTION For ten consecutive years we have carefully selected and put away in an air-tight box a representative bushel of corn reserved for seed and planted on our seed farms. Each ten-ear lot, taken as a whole, represents a bushel. Commencing with 1901, compare each succeeding year with the preceding one— then compare 1901 with 1911. The Enemy in the Dark 221 Shull also commented that it would be disastrous to recommend growing crops from hybrid seed before convincing themselves that this was the answer. He said that the Funk establishment was on such a sound foundation of high esteem among corn growers in America that "you could afford at least to carry out some fairly extensive ex- periments to test the value of hybridizing methods." He also; thought that Funk owed it to himself and to his constituents to undertake ex- periments along this line, guided as always by the "purely practical consideration of securing the largest possible yields." 15 James Holbert wrote Funk from Purdue during the spring of 1914 that time was passing rapidly. He was already anticipating the next summer's work in Illinois and wondering how much corn, oats and wheat there would be. He hoped to be of more value on the farm "with the two-row cultivator and so on." He called Funk's at- tention to an article that he had written in the March issue of the Purdue Agriculturist concerning the tractor in Indiana. He hoped that Funk would not have too much criticism. 16 Funk answered that he expected Holbert to be of much more value after the winter of study, adding, "We are all anxiously awaiting until the time comes for you to appear in blue overalls again." He also informed him that Wash Barker had been made foreman on his farms. 17 During the month of September 1915, James Holbert returned to Funk Bros. Seed Co. to continue his work in corn breeding at $100 per month. In the meantime Gene Funk came to the conclusion that the root system of the corn plant needed as much attention as the stalk or the ear. "In other words," he wrote, "there was more under- ground that we did not know than there was above ground that we did know." Holbert was asked to study the root system of the corn plant. The first assignment from Mr. Funk included finding a way to correlate what could be seen on the germinator with field perform- ance and to find some method of eliminating diseases on the ger- minator and in the corn fields. Before starting to work for E. D. Funk in the fall of 1915, James Holbert helped to make a cereal disease survey in Minnesota where H. K. Hayes, a student of East, was in charge. From the study of wheat rusts Holbert became "convinced that careful plant selection on the basis of big numbers was an indispensable step in any crop breeding operation." 18 When young Holbert arrived he was again invited to stay in the home of the Funks. There he learned to appreciate the fine contribu- tions of Mrs. E. D. Funk and the characteristics of the eight lively 222 Seed, Soil and Science children. He helped with detasseling in ear to row corn breeding plots where odd rows were detasseled in one half of each plot of ap- proximately 100 rows; in the other half even rows were detasseled. Discussions at the dinner table revealed that Mr. Funk was ac- quainted with men all over the United States who were engaged in corn improvement work. Holbert was impressed by statements pre- viously made about smooth corn by Funk. According to Holbert's later recollection, he and Funk during that first fall of his employment decided that the original standard was "good sound ears on standing stalks with ears at a convenient height and surrounded by other good plants." This objective was de- scribed as exceedingly difficult if not impossible of accomplishment, but they persevered to secure the kind of seed qualities they desired. Selections were made in what Funk considered the most impor- tant strains of Funk's Yellow Dent and Funk's Ninety Day, Learn- ing, Silver Mine and Bloody Butcher. The plant selected ears were not numerous nor did they qualify for entries in corn shows; there was not a rough ear in the group except an occasional Funk's Ninety Day. Holbert wrote: At that time I was very grateful for lack of comment, for I couldn't see very much myself to get excited about excepting that I was very conscious that I had worked long and hard on this difficult assignment. Also that there was great need for improvement. This Mr. Funk never let me forget. Nor did he ever express doubt that some day, some how, this improvement would be accomplished. 19 These plant selected ears were cleaner, and more vigorous in ger- mination tests, than better appearing ears selected at cribbing time from the elevators. These were included in the ear- to-row test plot of more than 1,000 ears the following spring [1916], with the best ap- pearing ears from the thousands of bushels that came into the seed house in Bloomington. Ears used in this study passed the tests for vigorous germination and freedom from disease on the germinator. Some good show type ears were also included. 20 When studying at Purdue, Holbert learned of E. D. Funk's re- port on rough versus smooth corn, referred to above, and he had also studied Shull's "Composition of a Field of Maize," delivered be- fore the American Breeder's Association. 21 At first Holbert hoped that large numbers "without continued reselections from the few highest yielding rows, with only relatively small numbers to start with, would minimize the depressing yield on the inbreeding resulting from these previous attempts." Holbert stated in 1956 that from a large ear-to- The Enemy in the Dark 223 row test field of ear rows in 1916 which filled a forty acre field only nineteen qualified as being good enough for breeding purposes. 22 An interesting and significant event in connection with those nine- teen ears occurred when James Holbert and his assistants finished gathering all of the varieties and strains from the breeding blocks in the fall of 1916. They then asked Gene Funk if he could pick from the seven varieties the rows that had grown the highest and the lowest yields. Gene Funk immediately did this, to the surprise of the young men. Funk asked them to open the old cans containing the types of ears that withstood the seven years' test, when the smooth type outyielded the rough type. Comparison of the types from the crop of 1907 with those of 1916 proved them to be identical. "Here was conclusive evidence," Gene Funk wrote, "that there was con- nection between type of corn and prevalence of the root disease, as well as correlation between type and yield." 23 On the next day Funk announced plans to report that "smooth ears for seed were superior to rough starchy show type ears." Funk recog- nized that the public accepts new ideas slowly. He advised proceed- ing carefully, taking local agricultural leaders and neighbors into their confidence. The problem of determining the highest yielding types of corn attracted the attention of the Better Farming Association in McLean County. Members gathered at the home of E. D. Funk one blustery afternoon in November 1916. Gene Funk and James Holbert ex- plained their ideas about the high yielding types. 24 One of the in- terested listeners, A. J. Bill, farm editor of the Bloomington Vanta- graph, reported that the facts would be accepted slowly but the truth was bound to prove out pointing toward a type yielding better than other types. He added: "A type, understand, not a variety or strain of corn, but a type in the different varieties, probably in any variety." 25 Dave Thompson, the McLean County adviser, was also greatly im- pressed and regarded this first public announcement as epoch-making for the entire country. Funk explained the old ideas of the Illinois Corn Breeders Association and the score card ideal. He stated that he had explained his ideas to a few people— "On one occasion to the Corn Breeders Association in 1909 at the University, and again at the National Corn Show at St. Louis, 1904." By the last he no doubt meant the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The evidence bears out the truth of his statement. Funk also said that he had never spoken of the problem in McLean County. 26 Dave Thompson said that it would be difficult not to believe the 224 Seed, Soil and Science results because they had been carried on in as careful and conscien- tious a manner as at any Experiment Station. 27 According to a con- temporary account, Holbert explained that after he had worked for a year with 1,000 mother ears of corn, he and Funk without previous discussion of the problem found that their conclusions were the same. 28 From Holbert's 1,000 rows of corn there were eighty high yielding rows with the most obvious characteristic being a smooth ear although the mother ear was almost always rough or medium rough. The average ear was nine and three quarters inches long. Seventy-five percent of these ears had only sixteen rows, some eighteen and a few twenty thus differing from the twenty two to twenty-four row corn that had been advocated. The kernels were about a half -inch long. 29 Dave Thompson believed this to be the most fundamental piece of work in corn investigation ever accomplished, and was all the more impressed that the answers and investigations were to be found in McLean County. 30 James Holbert later revealed that of the 100 mother ears 50 per- cent were Reid's Yellow Dent, from thirty three strains; 100 ears of Silver King; 92 ears of Boone County White; 100 ears of Bloody Butcher; 100 ears of Learning from three strains and 100 ears of Ninety Day, making a total of 999 ears. The object was to find the type of corn in all varieties and all strains that would yield the highest. Half of each mother ear was saved in planting the thousand ears. The reserve was to be planted in the plot of 300 ears to be de- veloped by hand pollination from similar high yielding corn. Another 100 ear experiment was tried in 1917. 31 Four accounts of the subsequent significance of work by Holbert in producing Utility Type Corn called 176A are interesting. One of these appeared in 1920 in an article in the Florists Review regarding corn improvement in Bloomington: In 1918 Funk Bros. Seed Co., advertised the Utility Type for the first time. It included ten of the most disease-resistant strains maintained for twenty years or more by Mr. Funk and twenty new strains developed by Mr. Hoibert. It was called 176 A. In 1921, the Illinois Crop Improvement Association recognized the advantages of the new type and conducted the first Utility Type corn show at Galesburg. 32 The Catalogue for Funk Bros, in 1923 in describing Strain 176A reads as follows: In testing thousands of ears of corn on the germinator during the winter of 1915—16, a few ears were found which were much superior to all others. They produced clean, healthy, vigorous root systems. Next season their The Enemy in the Dark 225 yield in the experimental plots far outclassed all others. These superior ears were of Funk's Yellow Dent variety. They were the origin and founda- tion of Strain 176A. 33 Another statement describing this same process appeared in 1940 in the twenty-fifth anniversary booklet of the company: The fall of 1915 found Holbert back at the Funk Farms. Without wait- ing for the next growing season he went to work. From the great seed fields of Funks Yellow Dent he plant-selected several thousand ears. The best 1200 of these were shelled and put in envelopes. Half of the seed was put into ear-to-row tests in the standard techniques. Holbert, though, found that from 1200 ears a mere two dozen were the outstanding yielders. Uni- formly medium dent and all out crosses of line bred "corn families" in the Funk's Yellow Dent variety, these 20 ears formed the foundation of Funk's 176 A Yellow Dent, which, introduced in 1917, far excelled any variety established by prior methods. 34 These activities marked the beginning of study for the young scien- tist on the relation of physical appearance to field performance in open pollinated corn. From nineteen top performers came a very important contribution to the acceptance of Utility Type Corn and eventually to good germ plasm for future Hybrids. Holbert related the procedure many years later [1956] as follows: Some of these 19 performers came from plant selections from several different farms owned and operated by different members of the Funk family. Mr. Funk informed me that some of these men had been keeping their corn separate and distinct for a considerable period of time and for that reason, he was anxious to have it tested separately. Others came from ears selected from a number of other different strains of Funk's Yellow Dent. As years passed Holbert came to regard his accomplishment as singularly significant. From the bulked remnants of the nineteen per- formers there was planted a small plot on the east edge of Funk's Grove the following year. Results were good despite severe frosts. This smooth type corn came to be known as Utility Type corn. After some discussion with the company's manager, H. H. Miller, who recognized the commercial value of this good appearance and per- formance, it was agreed to call it 176A. This development pointed the way. Holbert noted in 1956 that "From this variety have come di- rectly and indirectly more widely used inbreds than any other single open pollinated variety with which I am familiar." He also pointed to the fact that from this new seed, Mr. St. John, then stationed with the U. S. D. A. at Purdue, developed Inbred 38-11. The important 226 Seed, Soil and Science work by Holbert is further described in Yearbook 1936 of the United States Department of Agriculture. 35 It can be readily seen that the early work in highly selected corn on the Funk farms also contributed to Holbert's findings when he verified the earlier conclusions of E. D. Funk in regard to smooth corn, and produced 176A. Probably E. D. and his cousins were closer to the real secrets of the corn plant than they knew. The experimental plot for 1917 was located on the Lyle Johnstone farm near Bloomington. There were 156 rows of corn, each from a separate ear of corn; each row was 74 hills long with three kernels to the hill. This plot was a Better Farming Association project directed by County Adviser Dave Thompson. 36 Lyle Johnstone was president of the Association. The three years of work already done by James Holbert under the direction of Mr. Funk proved to be invaluable. 37 It had been determined that there were different kinds of damage to the kernel from moulds which might also harm the stalk. When Carl Vrooman, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and a long time resident of Bloomington visited the warehouse of the seed company, he was shown the corn germinator by Gene Funk. Funk explained the trouble that had arisen in testing corn which eventually led to the discovery of the effect of the mould. James Holbert explained his work in studying the moulds. He found it necessary to set up standards for the terms he used. Kernels of corn showing every shape, characteristic or diseased condition were glued to boards. They could be distinguished by a code term. Hours of study and exhaustive work produced these standards. Dif- ferent kinds of fungus disease affected the kernels in different ways. Germinating corn seedlings were preserved in alcohol in jars to show the status of injury. Sometimes the tap root was destroyed. Typical kinds of injuries were visible in ten glass tubes. If the germinating seedling lived, the fungus or rot would follow up the stalk as it grew, finally destroying or reducing the ear. 38 Hundreds of ears were kept on hangers. They were numbered and results were recorded. Half of the ear was kept in a tight tin can. Holbert also candled the kernels of corn. This process was a kind of x-ray in order to determine con- tent of starch or oil. Here then was the beginning of investigations that were of tremendous significance to the Corn Belt of the United States. Eugene Funk appealed to the Farmers Congress meeting in Peoria during September 1917 for assistance in influencing Congress to make an appropriation for this work. As he spoke he answered a running The Enemy in the Dark 227 fire of questions from men from all parts of the continent. He ad- mitted that: I talk corn in my sleep. It is my deepest thot and 20 years ago I thot I knew more about it than I do now. We are only beginning in the breed- ing of corn. 30 The test that the Better Farming Association was following so closely on the Lyle Johnstone farm emphasized the fact that yield from healthy plants was continually important. This test also favored smooth type corn. Vigor in germination was only part of the secret of strong corn. This corn might also carry disease that would reduce the crop. James Holbert believed that the results of this test plot should be checked with results for two succeeding years. Then, he felt, he would have valuable data for practical corn production. 40 The day at Lyle Johnstone's farm was a memorable one. Dave Thompson acted as master of ceremonies and brought the corn to the rack where James Holbert weighed it while DeLoss Funk re- corded the weights. E. D. Funk put a sack over his shoulder and helped. Lyle Johnstone and others participated in this important event. 41 Those first years when James Holbert worked so hard on the dif- ficult assignment from E. D. Funk, Sr. became especially significant in the development of the company and of better corn. In addition to the findings with regard to smooth corn, other important ideas were in the process of crystallization. Holbert found during his summer vacation work for Mr. Funk that a number of the corn families de- veloped by Funk were remarkably fixed in characters. "So nearly pure were these line bred families," he stated, "that they exhibited many characters which breeders have subsequently learned emerge only after three or four years of direct inbreeding." Holbert made a number of crosses in Funk's Ninety Day families. At the same time in 1916 he made thirty self-pollinations in Funk's Ninety Day and Funk's Yellow Dent. These inbred lines were combined into experi- mental crosses with the resulting Funk's 329 as an outgrowth of these hand pollinations between the linebred families. This work was de- scribed in 1940: It was the first variety ever established by controlled pollination of two families. Neither family was inbred as closely as is done in self-pollination, as it is practiced today, but they have been purified to a remarkable degree by a long period of line breeding. Funks 329 outyielded its parent strain, 228 Seed, Soil and Science Funk's 90 Day, by 20 bu. per acre and showed vigor and uniformity that was for the period truly amazing. Another interesting experiment occurred in 1915. Holbert and E. D. Funk, Sr., completed a cross of three varieties, Learning, Funk's Ninety Day and Funk's Yellow Dent. The three line-bred families produced a "Tribrid" which was sold in 1916 as the first hybrid corn ever marketed commercially. The word hybrid at that time did not refer to the single cross and double cross recombinations in general use today. But the lines in this "Tribrid" were not inbred sufficiently, so Holbert turned again to his inbreeding and to further testing. It must be remembered that the word hybrid describes any result of cross breeding. Holbert produced some good looking inbreds by 1918. He planned ahead to the planting of a field in 1920. All went well the first season in 1918, "and the inbred ears ( were multiplied by hand pollination to further enough seed for an isolated breeding plot of two acres in 1919. Into this two acre plot went the two inbreds in alternate rows." The summer was hot and dry— and the pollinator failed. Only enough single cross seed was produced to plant 20 rows of the field that was planned to be forty acres. But these few rows of hybrid single cross produced corn that was greatly admired. Many predicted that it would sweep the Corn Belt, but few paid any attention to the drought stricken nubbins from which the crop came. The pollinator parent of this first hybrid went "the way of thousands of weak inbreds that perished for every strong one that has survived." 42 The other inbred was famous Inbred A, which was continuously used in good hybrids all over the country. Looking ahead a few years, it can be noted that a double cross hybrid known as "Pure Line Double Cross 250" was sold com- mercially by Funk in 1922. It was later described in Funk Bros. Seed Co. catalogues and was followed by Funk's Hybrids 365, 517, 220 and 206 and many others. An additional accomplishment during these years immediately preceding the entrance of the United States into World War I re- sulted from Funk's realization that the germinators must be watched carefully. As has been noted, Gene Funk suspected a hidden enemy. Holbert wrote in 1955: . . . We hardly knew where to start except to record behavior on the germinator and to follow through on performance in the field with hun- dreds and thousands of individual ears. Different degrees of vigor in ger- mination and on the germinator also were recognized and recorded. 43 The Enemy in the Dark 229 Usually but not always vigorous seedlings free from disease on the germinator were selected. Holbert wrote: As we might well have judged from what we now know, and didn't know then, results were not always consistent. Some ears slightly diseased on the germinator were better in performance in the field than some that had an unusually clean bill of health on the germinator. The young scientist and the veteran seedsman became convinced that they were on the trail of something valuable in the improvement of the corn crop. The fancy show ears, carefully selected from thou- sands of bushels of seed corn, were consistently inferior on the germinator in both vigor of seedlings and freedom from disease. These findings "shocked" Jim Holbert during that first year 1915-16. He prized his official corn judge's certificate and therefore thought that he should vindicate its principles. Possibly something was wrong with his tests. So he included the fancy ears in his field tests to deter- mine results. But the so-called show type had no better comparative record in field performance. Severe frosts during the last weeks in September created problems. The country was at war in 1917, and good germinating seed was essential to the general welfare. All regular germinator facilities at Funk Bros. Seed Co. were in operation. Extra tables were left outside the heated germinator room. The seed corn situation was serious enough to influence Governor Lowden of Illinois to appoint a Seed Corn Administrator. Eugene D. Funk, Sr., was chairman of the Ad- visory Committee. Holbert continued to check the germinator tables before they were read off. Usually good results were marked so that corresponding ears could be saved. By this method several hundred good germinating ears were accumulated. They lacked "uniformity and eye appeal." E. D. Sr., paid little attention to them, and Holbert did not blame him. But he also conducted some special germination studies in a small room next to the big heated germination room. Temperatures fell at night in this room to 60 degrees or below while they remained about 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. Results were slower here than in the heated room, but differences in behavior were more distinct, and disease infections showed up that were not observable under higher temperatures. An article by R. A. Moore of the University of Wisconsin was known to Holbert relating how Moore had used an ice box as a germinator. He decided to run a repeat germination test in the cooler room on the good ears from the heated room. This eliminated some of 230 Seed, Soil and Science the ears that had passed the first test. Several bushels of good seed resulted. Holbert wrote in 1955, "In terms of present understanding, that was a first rate modified cold test." 44 This seed was sent to Frank Moberly, a valued friend of E. D. Funk. Moberly preferred to plant corn during the first weeks of May. From this seed he planted the first field in McLean county in May 1918. Other fields were planted with ear tested seed as good as that tested in the warm germinating room. But because of the frost, seed was not so good as usual and by the middle of May demands arrived for seed to replant. Frank Moberly, however, declared that he never had a better stand and asked: "Say, what was that seed you gave me?" H. H. Miller, general manager for Funks, immediately sensed the importance of this corn and its valuable characteristics. From the Moberly field Funk Bros, selected some seed which was given the special germination test. Mr. Funk had become aware many years before that shellers sold better than craters. Shellers were not from the show corn as were craters or ear selected corn. Smooth seed ears were merchandised as shellers. He had become aware that they had a good bright appearance. This in general was the appearance of the Moberly corn. Now Holbert had proved for himself that some scien- tific selection was producing good appearing seed that had excellent qualities in field performance. In another instance he had proved that acid phosphate on recently plowed virgin soil northeast of the residence of DeLoss Funk, where an ear to row test was planted, did not cut down on disease although it increased yield. There was one exception— a strain from the farm of Charlie Funk— which was satisfactory on light soil. Increased fer- tility of soil did not help. Many years later some hybrids responded in the same way. Vital questions became apparent, and according to Holbert, writ- ing in 1955, they included: 1. Just how far can open pollinated corn be moved and still give good results? 2. Would smoother, heavier ears give the same benefits in other open pollinated varieties as they did on Funk Farms and in McLean County? 3. How important were these corn diseases, anyhow? 4. What control measures could be recommended for these corn disease problems that were whittling away at the nation's corn crop? With these important years of work behind them and a nation now at war, both E. D. Funk, Sr., and James Holbert were called upon for participation and advice. Holbert, as Mr. Funk always said, was The Enemy in the Dark 231 "loaned" in 1918 to the government. A Federal field station was lo- cated on the E. D. Funk farm, where the young scientist undertook to find some of the answers. His position with the United States Department of Agriculture enabled him to work with well qualified men from this department, from Purdue University and from the Universities of Illinois and Wisconsin. During the years 1917-18 Eugene Funk, Sr., also was contributing effectively as a member of the Food Commission appointed by President Wilson with Herbert Hoover as chairman. These were the formative years. The following decades brought continued difficulty and an economic depression, but also opportunities for experimenta- tion, experience and expansion. CHAPTER XVIII War and Price Fixing . 1917-1919 Eugene Funk was engaged in important research work on corn during the years 1914-1918. His interest in the development of the seed company is apparent from the record. Events of pressing na- tional significance led to the declaration of war by the United States on the side of the Allied Powers in April 1917. The price of grain, espe- cially of wheat, became a problem not only to the farmers of the coun- try but also to the Allies. Eugene Funk as president of the National Corn Association attained national recognition. He was among the agricultural leaders chosen to represent the farmer's point of view during the Wilson administration. Wheat as a basic food has considerable economic and psychological importance, especially in time of war. Any rise in its price influences prices of other cereals. As an index of living for the poorer economic groups, the price of bread affects more consumers than price rises in other foods. 1 An increasing price level for wheat and flour occurred in a twelve month period ending June 1917. Net exports ending June 30, 1917 of wheat were 45.6 percent over the average of the three pre-war years. There was only a carryover of 55,918,000 bushels, the lowest amount since 1909. 2 A rapid rise in prices occurred from the first of February to the middle of May 1917 when the price was nearly three times as high as twelve months before. During June and July prices were well over twice the level of the same months in 1916. Wheat sold at Chicago May 1917 at $3.45 per bushel with the con- sumer paying for flour on the same basis, whereas the Department of Agriculture had estimated the average price received by the farmer for his 1916 crop at $1.44 per bushel. 3 Poor crop prospects indicated lessened supplies in the United States and Canada in addition to little or no production in other countries, and this situation helped to push up the price. Uncontrolled buying in American markets by representatives of Allied and neutral countries contributed to the spiral. Mr. Julius Barnes said wheat and wheat products had become munitions of war. 4 Consumers tried to stock up. Jobbers, dealers and operators speculated. The public 232 War and Price Fixing • 1917-1919 233 paid well for panic but the farmers received little benefit from the high prices. 5 The Chicago Board of Trade stopped trading in May futures on May 15, 1917 and forced settlement of outstanding contracts at $3.18 per bushel for the May contract when cash wheat sold for $3.45 per bushel. Similar action for July and for September futures on outstand- ing contracts brought prices to $2.75 and $2.45 respectively. The American marketing system fell "like a house of glass." 6 A Committee on Grain Exchanges in Aid of National Defense to- gether with one representing western exchanges conferred with Herbert Hoover who had recently returned from Europe. A tentative plan was submitted recommending among other ideas direct govern- mental control over transportation of foodstuffs; also the fixing of a price for wheat and its maintenance without change for the entire crop year. These recommendations outlined many policies later implemented by the Food Administration. Representatives of the wheat milling industry were also consulted. A letter from ten repre- sentatives of this trade recommended a Food Administration and Administrator as well as price fixing. The millers tried to stabilize their own industry under a committee of nine appointed by Mr. Hoover. 7 The Lever act, providing for the control of food, was not passed until August 1917. Meanwhile wheat prices at the principal interior terminal markets approximated $3.00 per bushel. Herbert Hoover announced his plans regarding wheat flour and bread August 12, 1917. Among these ideas was the proposal that the President should appoint a Fair Price Committee to determine a fair price for 1917 wheat. 8 The Food Control act guaranteed a minimum price of $2.00 per bushel for the 1918 wheat harvest, but this did not apply to the 1917 harvest. Eugene D. Funk was asked by Hoover to attend a preliminary meeting in June 1917 in Washington, D. C. Funk was inclined to oppose price fixing of any kind before hearing Hoover's analysis but he changed his views after looking over the situation. 9 This request from Herbert Hoover to proceed to Washington settled the question of attending either the Rotary meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, or the Na- tional Seed Trade Association convention in Detroit. Funk, when he left for Washington, was also concerned about the exemption from military duty of those engaged in seed production and distribution. Funk believed any man who was capable of carrying out the intricate business of the seed trade or of plant breeding could never be called 234 Seed, Soil and Science a "slacker/' He should rather be classed as one of the true patriots for working day and night to preserve for future use the seeds which go into the ground to produce the food to feed and clothe the world. 10 There were expressions of approval when Funk's appointment to the committee became known. 11 After Funk's return from Washington he immediately sent out a form letter of inquiry to farmers through county agents regarding their ideas of a fair price 12 for wheat in the event of the passage of the Lever act. Replies from Indiana and Illinois indicated that the average price for 1917 wheat should be $1.87/2 per bushel. 13 Funk received a wire from his good friend, William Stull, a banker of Omaha, Nebraska, regarding his survey of conditions among farmers in Illinois and Iowa, August 30, 1917. His ideas were further described in a letter on the following day. After a 600 mile trip, Mr. Stull concluded that grain wasted because of lack of labor was most discouraging to the farmers. He believed that the minimum price should not be less than $2.75. Conditions were worse than Stull had thought before he undertook his trip. Of the 2,400 farms observed, two tractors were at work in the fields although the general opinion seemed to be that every fifth farmer had at least one or two tractors. He wrote that those who believed that the farm was out of debt with plenty of stock were in error. Total personal property and permanent improvements on an average farm in the Corn Belt were not equal to the mortgage on the land. Stull pointed to the fact that oil went up from $1.70 to $2.00 per barrel. Before the war oil sold from 45 to 50^. Oil men said that the increase was not on account of increased cost of production but to further development in order to meet de- mands. Stull felt that the production of agriculture needed the same kind of help. 14 Funk became a member of the Committee of Twelve appointed by President Wilson after the passage of the Lever act to fix the price of wheat for the 1917 crop. This committee was made up of three col- lege professors, one economist, one representative of a farmers' organ- ization in the South, one from the cooperative elevators of Iowa, an ex-president of the Chamber of Commerce, one representing the Grange, two from Labor, one from telegraph and telephone groups and one real Farmer. E. D. Funk remarked that some said they were farmers during the discussions but he was the only one actually re- siding on a farm. 15 Eugene Funk presented his point of view August 28, 1917 before the committee. He said that he had tried to forget himself and think War and Price Fixing • 1917-1919 235 of his country first, and referred to the fact that he was not certain what group he represented on the committee. For some twenty years he had tried to teach the doctrine of cooperation along conservative lines in agriculture, principally through conducting agricultural edu- cational expositions. 16 He noted that at one time he had experienced the dominating influence of large corporations. He also declared that he favored constructive organization, but was fearful of "radical farmers. " Funk added: "Frequently this class of men are the loudest talkers and the greatest calamity howlers. However, nature is so constituted that a man who will lambast and rave over the poor downtrodden farmer, merchant, miner or laborer will be able to secure an audience on almost any corner, while the man who is try- ing to teach cooperation, education or advancement will more often entertain the smaller audience." Funk asked for peace and harmony during the war. He spoke of the willingness of the farmer to sacrifice anything within reason. He referred to the fact that at one time farmers would have accepted $1.85 a bushel for the 1917 wheat crop. The explanation continued with reference to the price of cash wheat from July 1 and during August at $2.25 to $2.50 per bushel, Chicago. Funk reported a conversation with Mr. Griffin, president of the Chicago Board of Trade, who said that if it were not for the rumor of $2.00 per bushel as a fixed price, wheat would be selling at $3.00 or more per bushel. Despite this rumored price of $2.00 the posted daily reports of Chicago markets showed cash wheat in Chicago from $2.23 to $2.32 per bushel, while No. 1 hard wheat sold at $2.30 per bushel. Mr. Funk also pointed out that farm boys had been drafted since July 1st although harvest— threshing of wheat and oats— was less than half finished. The farm labor situation created a real problem. Be- cause of scarcity of labor some farmers were changing their plans and were talking of less wheat acreage. Funk believed that the price of $2.25 would satisfy the great majority of farmers and influence them to increase acreages. He reviewed the general situation in which the farmers found themselves, concluding: I am placing $2.25 per bushel as a fair price for the crop of 1917 wheat, fully realizing as I do that the price is 50.8 percent above the average price for wheat for the past three years, but at the same time I realize that it is asking the farmers to accept at least seventy-five cents per bushel less for their wheat if they were allowed to have an open and unrestricted market. 17 There were real problems to be encountered in the fixing of the 236 Seed, Soil and Science price for 1917 wheat. Funk's account of the discussions was pub- lished in 1919 when he led a plea for organized agricultural groups, especially in Illinois. According to this account, sessions were held by the committee day and night for two weeks. He felt keenly in 1917 the fact that he represented no particular organization of farmers. He realized how much the farmers needed a spokesman. Men knew that Gene Funk would not shirk such a responsibility. Believing that he was at liberty to speak about the situation after the war was over, Funk told how he had favored at first a price of $2.25 for wheat. He preferred to go up instead of down on the price. Funk told of a threatened strike from Maine to California within 30 days during the crucial discussions. His description follows: You could have heard a pin drop. Nobody seemed to dare to open their mouth. We were cowed, there wasn't any question about it. Some of the biggest men in the country were there and they sat as though they were statues. I did not know what to do myself. I expected some of the agri- cultural colleges, men who had studied the situation all their lives, would be able to answer such a demand. I expected some of the business interests would answer. I waited for them to answer. I expected the economist who had studied the situation would be able to answer. Not one spoke. I know the beads stood out on my head. I saw it on others. It was a strike in this country right when we were getting into war. What would it mean? Then Funk leaned back in his chair, saying to himself, "Funk, you are a foolish man, but if nobody else will say anything, maybe you had better." He knew that he represented no one in particular, but his listeners did not know the long chance he was about to take. Turning to the gentlemen Funk asked in the name of agriculture in the United States that it be recorded that agriculture was now reply- ing in the same way it had been spoken to. He asked permission to accompany the gentleman who would send telegrams to his organiza- tions regarding the strike. Funk said that he also would send tele- grams that would include the other man's message with his own state- ment. Then he repeated that he intended to advise farmers to store their goods in their cellars; to put away enough food to last in- definitely; to lock their doors and refuse to put any grain or food or livestock on the cars to be shipped to any point until the strike was called off. Then Funk asked: "Now who holds the key to the situa- tion?" This was a moment in history charged with tension. Gene Funk seized the dilemma by the horns. He spoke for agriculture in a moment of need. Support came almost immediately from the repre- War and Price Fixing • 1917-1919 237 sentative of the National Farmers Union. Agreement on price re- sulted. Funk's account in 1919 read: In the next few minutes an agreement was reached and it was the dif- ference, gentlemen, between revolution in this country and compromise on wheat. 18 This incident is reminiscent of the speech of Isaac Funk in 1863, when he spoke for his section of Illinois against the Copperheads. His words received national acclaim. His grandson also spoke well at a critical moment. 19 Ten years later the events of the price fixing days rose again for consideration by the American public. Their revival belongs to the 1928 Presidential campaign. E. D. Funk was called upon at that time to recall the sequence. His memory served him sell. He re- membered that he was the second man called by Hoover to Wash- ington regarding the possibility of price fixing. Funk wrote: "Yet he, Hoover, expressed himself as being opposed to price fixing and he proposed to avoid it as far as possible." 20 According to Funk's ac- count, Hoover should receive neither credit nor criticism for the deliberations and findings of the committee's decision for the price of 1917 wheat. Hoover procured the rooms on the sixth floor of the old Albany Hotel where the sessions were held. He appeared before the committee on the first day and outlined purposes and duties. The committee said Gene Funk did not see Mr. Hoover after that first day. Herbert Hoover corroborated this statement in 1955. 21 According to Funk's account in 1928, the price fixing committee was handicapped from the beginning by "certain interests that de- manded of us to find a price that would permit the consumer in the east to obtain a loaf of bread that would not cost him over five cents." The investigations of the committee disclosed that five cent bread could not be purchased even if farmers grew wheat gratis. Funk added "We were then confronted with a demand and a threatened strike in all of the ship yards and army munitions plants in this country, if we would not set the price of wheat at $1.87/2 per bushel." 22 As a member of the committee of twelve to set the price of wheat for 1917, Funk received letters, he said, stating that if he appeared in a certain district a convenient rope and limb of a tree were waiting for him because they had not obtained $3.00 wheat. 23 Funk believed they were lucky to receive $2.20 at that time. Affairs in Washington were not the only responsibility of Eugene 238 Seed, Soil and Science Funk while his country was engaged in war. There he recognized the national and international problems of agriculture especially during war times. There were also difficulties in the central Corn Belt. Funk became chairman of an advisory committee to the State Board of Agriculture in Illinois. The seed corn situation throughout the Corn Belt was precarious. Funk's knowledge was based upon a personal mailing list of over 60,000 of the best farmers in Illinois, Iowa, Min- nesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky. A careful survey in Illinois alone showed a shortage on January 22, 1918 of about 40,000 bushels. It was Funk's opinion that seedsmen could not begin to handle the problem. He inquired about Federal assistance. 24 The State Council of Defense and the State Department of Agricul- ture told the Advisory Committee to proceed. One more responsibility was given to Eugene Funk. As chairman of the committee he was in charge of looking after, purchasing, and distributing 400,000 bushels of seed corn for Illinois. The seed houses were practically sold out. This meant that corn would have to be taken largely from cribs. 25 The price of seed corn was fixed at $5.00 per bushel. While Funk was in Washington during March 1918, he received a telegram from the Secretary of the Advisory Committee in Illinois asking that he request the Secretary of Agriculture for a million dol- lar appropriation from seed stock funds to the Illinois Seed Corn Administration to buy up a reserve of seed corn. 26 Funk replied that some help would be forthcoming, possibly for 50,000 bushels. 27 Funk was one of three members on seed corn for the Agricultural Advisory Committee. The entire appropriation available up to March 26th for emergency purchase and sale of seed was only $2,500,000. The De- partment of Agriculture was thus limited. An urgent deficiency act, passed March 26, carried an appropriation of $4,000,000 for the emergency purchase and sale of seeds. 28 By June 1st the seed corn campaign was nearly completed. The as- sistance of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the State Agri- cultural Administration and the State Council of Defense, backed by fifteen Chicago banks, procured sufficient seed corn for a prospective big crop. 29 Funk was also on the Executive Committee of the Illinois Live Stock Association in 1918. An official notification of appointment to the advisory body for the Department of Agriculture and Food Administration was received by Eugene Funk March 2, 1918. 30 As a result of accepting this ap- pointment Funk spent considerable time in Washington working on these perplexing problems. He served on the sub-committee on live- War and Price Fixing • 1917-1919 239 stock and was appointed Chairman of the seed committee mentioned above. During these deliberations Funk thought that the interests of the farmers were often placed in jeopardy. Prices for grains and livestock during the first world war were de- pendent upon many factors. The European Allied countries secured much of breadstuffs, feed, fodder and some fats, meats and sugar from overseas sources. These supplies were practically cut off except from the United States. Difficulties were apparent. This was especially true after the U. S. ships were needed to convoy troops. Consequently, in the weeks before America's entry, the Allies tried desperately to secure supplies. They organized their buying under a single head in an endeavor to dominate the market, and agricultural problems developed in the United States. The American farmer could better sell his crops because of the European demand and cease to grow animals. Therefore, production of animals rapidly decreased. With the wheat crop failure in the U. S. in 1917, the situation was difficult. These were the problems at the time the United States entered the war. The Food Administration was faced with these prob- lems. Frank M. Surface saw the challenge as one to bring exports not only up to the pre-war normal of around 6,000,000 tons of food per year but also to increase the supply to upwards of 20,000,000 tons annually. This would enable the U. S. to replace the inaccessible markets and to feed the allied populations and armies. In order to accomplish this, allied demands were to be shifted to animals rather than feed. The total would be greater if American agriculture concen- trated on production because concentrated foods were more easily shipped. Surface described the situation: 31 The Food Administration had to set up price levels that would be just and that would stimulate American and Canadian farmers; it had to secure a decrease in consumption and to create agencies that eliminated the vast speculation and profiteering by middlemen then in progress. Shortly after the war began in 1914, an increase in demand for pork products arose. Numbers of hogs on farms at the beginning of 1914 were less than 59,000,000, rising to 67,760,000 January 1, 1916. Higher prices contributed to heavier marketing. Inroads on breeding of stock occurred in the early part of 1917 when the higher prices continued to prevail. When the Food Administration was inaugurated in August 1917, it was estimated that the number of stock hogs was below 60,000,000. Requests were mounting from the Allies. 32 The situation was not a simple one. Wheat and corn prices in 1917 rose, but prices of hogs and pork did not increase to the same extent as the grains. 240 Seed, Soil and Science By August the ratio between price of corn in leading corn and hog states and the Chicago price of hogs fell to 8.6, the low ratio for several years. This meant that 8.6 bushels of corn equalled the price of 100 pounds of live hogs at Chicago. Under the best conditions, the ratio of 11 or 12 bushels was required. Farmers, therefore, found it more profitable to sell corn than to feed it to hogs. Mr. Hoover recognized the situation. He and Secretary of Agri- culture Houston called a committee of the American National Live- stock Association. Members believed that the situation would con- tinue unless producers could be convinced that market price would cover cost of production and a fair profit. This point of view was sup- ported by the National Swine Growers and Swine Growers of the Corn Belt. 33 After several meetings in September and October 1917, Mr. Hoover informed Secretary Houston that as a result of the conferences he believed it would be possible to get the packers to maintain a price for hogs related to price of corn. His plans were ex- panded to include the appointment of a committee consisting of seven men to investigate the cost of producing hogs : John M. Evvard, Chairman Ames, Iowa Lawrence P. Funk Bloomington, Illinois N. H. Gentry Sedalia, Missouri W. A. Williams Merlow, Oklahoma J. H. Skinner LaFayette, Indiana Tait Butler Memphis, Tennessee E. W. Burdre Herner, Nebraska The committee's recommendations included the comment that hog production for ten years ending 1916 at the ratio of 11.67 bushels of corn to 100 pounds of hog equalled little if any profit. The normal number of hogs was 65,000,000. The supply was 60,000,000 at the time of discussion. They believed that the equivalent of at least a ratio of 14.3 bushels of corn for every 100 pounds should be estab- lished in order to stimulate production 15 percent above normal. To prevent premature marketing of light unfinished pigs and of breed- ing stock, a minimum emergency price for good to select butcher type hogs of $16.00 per 100 pounds was to be established on the Chicago market. To stimulate production of swine for the next year they recommended establishing of a ratio to become effective February 1, 1918. 34 A statement by Joseph C. Cotton formulating the basis of Food Administration toward hog prices was issued November 3, 1917. It embodied the following: Prices so far as they could affect them War and Price Fixing • 1917-1919 241 would not go below 15.50 per hundredweight for average of packers' droves on the Chicago market. This statement was not a guaranty backed by money. It was not a promise by the packers, but it was a statement of intention and policy of the Food Administration which meant to do justice to the farmer. 35 There was some question whether there was power to maintain the policy. 36 Mr. Hoover knew one of the major problems was the supply of fats. It was recognized by the Food Administration that this minimum price for hogs was not a guaranty backed by money, but a policy to be maintained so far as the control of allied and government buying would permit. A proclamation from President Wilson, October 8, 1917, required that meat packers among others would be required to secure a license from the Food Administration as a condition for doing business after November 1, 1917. Profits were limited to "fair and reasonable" re- turns. 37 The ratio appeared to work as long as the price of corn re- mained relatively stationary. William Stull wrote to E. D. Funk December 24, 1917 that he had received a copy of a report on hog prices as related to corn prices, made by the commission ap- pointed by Mr. Hoover. Stull thought the findings correct but be- lieved they should be immediately effective instead of waiting until February 1, 1918. He noted that packers held the prices down through a monopoly of the market, buying hogs at prices that resulted in a loss of 4-6 bushels for every 100 pounds of pork sold. Stull attended the Farmers' Congress, which he believed was controlled by com- mercial interests. Few members ever had a copy of this report. He believed it should have been distributed. 38 Again on January 2 y 1918, Stull requested copies of the October 27, 1917 report. 39 Surface pointed out that the November 3, 1917 announcement of the policy to stabilize the price of hogs resulted in checking prices. Time, however, was required to increase the supply. Hogs were being held back on farms to consume the soft corn from the 1917 crop. From November 1917 through January 1918, hogs marketed were light for the season of the year. From February 1 to May 1, 1918, the number of hogs killed under Federal inspection rose to 14,305,000 or 17 percent more than the corresponding months of 1917. The total export of pork and lard in March 1918 was almost double the amount exported in any previous month. But difficulties in transportation in- creased cold storage holdings of packers. 40 Rumors of cessation of war began to circulate in August and Sep- tember 1918. It was realized that low-priced corn in Argentina and South Africa would be thrown on market. A price decline for corn 242 Seed, Soil and Science in the U. S. occurred between July and October 1918 of from 25 to 40 cents per bushel. 41 If this were incorporated in 13-1 ratio, de- clining prices for hogs would occur. A heavy run of hogs made it difficult for packers to maintain prices. 42 The influenza epidemic af- fected home consumption. The Agricultural Advisory Committee, especially the Livestock Committee, was kept informed. At a meeting of the subcommittee September 25, 1918, the continuation of the 13-1 ratio was recom- mended. 43 A special committee of the subcommittee composed of Eugene D. Funk, John M. Evvard, John H. Skinner, A. Sykes and N. H. Gentry recommended that the Food Administration should at once announce its intention to maintain the minimum price of not less than $15.50 continuously during the war. 44 A special meeting was called in October by Hoover, and representatives of the swine in- dustry were included. The committee abandoned the 13-1 ratio. Eugene Funk was among fourteen producers— four representing the Food Administration, two from the Department of Agriculture and twelve packers— who were in attendance. 45 The packers agreed not to purchase hogs for less than following minimum during November: Daily minimum $17.50 per hundredweight on average of packers' droves; no hogs except throwouts defined as under 130 pounds, at less than $16.50 per hundredweight. The average of packers' droves to be average of total sales in the market of all hogs for a given day based on Chicago. 46 Funk recalled ten years later the problems of the Advisory Com- mittee regarding the price of hogs at the ratio of 13-1 to the price of corn. 47 He declared that Hoover insisted that the packers maintain the price of $15.50 for hogs and if they did not the entire packing industry would be taken over. This was after it was proven to and approved by the Advisory Committee that it was impossible to main- tain the 13-1 ratio of the price of corn to 100 pounds of hogs when the price of corn reached $2.00 per bushel. The price was placed at $15.50 and afterwards advanced to $17.50. Funk recalled also that the buying power of surplus meat was concentrated in the hands of one man representing England, France, Belgium and Italy. He refused to place additional orders until a compromise was reached. Up to this day hogs had advanced to $18.50 per hundredweight. Funk wrote: "I plainly saw that we had better take a loss of $3.00 per hundred than to run the risk of a slump that would run five or six cents decline." Funk and his family had 8,000 hogs on hand ready for market. 48 War and Price Fixing ■ 1917-1919 243 Gene Funk honestly believed that the dip would have been greater if they had not accepted the $15.50. The committee sent out to Iowa, including Lawrence Funk and Nick Gentry, found it took thirteen bushels of corn to produce 100 pounds of pork. This committee pre- sented its findings to the twenty-four men on Hoover's Advisory Com- mittee. This Advisory Committee knew it had no authority to make a guarantee. The members were instructed to plan for a ten-year war. 49 Funk also recorded that before the price was decided upon, and unknown to Mr. Hoover or to the committee, the packers shipped a lot of their surplus fat pork to England in order to clear their cellars. The Englishman in whose hands purchasing was placed took ad- vantage of crowded yards, slaughter houses and cellars. He refused at first to buy. The committee saw that if he went out of the market for a week or ten days as he threatened, the hog market would go to pieces. Finally he agreed not to get out entirely, but to take pork on a basis of $15.50 as the minimum price. 50 Mr. Hoover then invited the seventeen packers to Washington. 51 Funk recalled ten years later that the Advisory Committee later appointed in 1918, made up of twenty-four farmers, had almost daily conferences with Mr. Hoover. This was the committee that decided on the minimum price for wheat in 1918 and on the ratio 13-1 as the price of hogs. This was the time when Wallaces Farmer criticized the procedure. 52 An account of the difficulties encountered was recorded: I vividly remember one of those trying days when Mr. Hoover stood before 75% of the packers throughout the United States and told them in very plain words that he would give them just ten minutes to decide as to whether or not they would continue to maintain their part of the program or the Food Administration would be compelled to take over the entire packing industry. 53 A copy of resolutions from the Agricultural War Board in Illinois adopted October 18, 1918 was sent by Eugene Funk to Herbert Hoover. These resolutions referred to the nationwide appeal to farm- ers to increase pork production with the understanding the price ratio would guarantee them a fair profit; to the average price of $18.00 for hogs at Chicago for October as at least $1.00 per hundred- weight below the 13-1 basis; and to the failure to mention the 13-1 ratio as a serious breach of faith. 54 A copy of a letter from Herbert Hoover to Samuel Insull, chairman of State Council of Defense for Illinois stated: 244 Seed, Soil and Science ... as to the purpose of these resolutions I wish to say that their in- terpretation of the thirteen to one formula is entirely contrary to the promise made by the Food Administration and even of the interpretation given by the Producers in Conference last month in Washington. I cannot entertain the suggestion of bad faith of this administration nor do I be- lieve such a suggestion will be entertained by any single one of the gentle- men who have attended the conference including Mr. Funk, to whom you refer. 55 Lewis Straus enclosed a copy to Funk of an editorial from the Boston Evening Transcript, October 28, which accused the com- mittee of raising prices of pork to consumer. Straus said "The fact that we catch it at times from both producer and consumer is a pretty good evidence of impartiality." 56 Eugene Funk was appointed as a member of the Special Com- mittee on Agriculture by President H. A. Wheeler of the United States Chamber of Commerce in August 1918. 57 The committee had as its immediate task an investigation of the so-called Non-Partisan League, which accused "Big Business" of dealing unfairly with agri- cultural interests. 58 The problem of the December price for hogs immediately arose. Funk received an inquiry from Snyder Powell of the Food Adminis- tration saying that hog men believed over-shipments during the latter part of November would be prevented if December price were the same as for November. The price should be immediately an- nounced. 59 Funk disliked any change in arrangements already made that might bring dissatisfaction, but said that he would agree to raising lightweight hogs to 150 pounds. 60 These situations in Washington impressed Funk with the lack of organization among farmers. He knew that he spoke for no strong farm organization when he acted as a farmer member of these com- mittees. Realization of this situation influenced him to support W. G. Schmidt and C. V. Gregory in giving what may be described as the final convincing argument at the Peoria meeting leading to the for- mation of the Illinois Agricultural Association. Three other important events followed the war years: the organization of the Farm Bureau in Illinois and other states, the introduction of the Grain Show at the International in Chicago, and the reorganization of Funk Bros. Seed Co. During the troublesome war years, Eugene Funk realized that his company would of necessity undergo some change. At a meeting in January 1917, it was agreed by the cooperating cousins to assume War and Trice Fixing • 1917-1919 245 debts to themselves of $34,918.26. Eugene D. Funk assumed the largest amount of $12,344.74 and Deane cancelled a debt of $8,997.47. Other amounts were under $5,000. All accounts of individuals with the company were to be settled. Real estate for the time was deeded to Lawrence Funk. This action marked the termination of the com- pany in its original form. 61 For many years members of the third generation maintained ac- counts with the company. This cooperative effort proved advanta- geous as an ingenious idea for focusing cooperative interest within the ever-growing branches of the large family. Faced by an agricultural economy adjusting from the impact of the First World War, many of the cousins, with their diversity of interests and responsibilities for their own families, believed the time had come for change. Scientific problems needed solution. Corn breeding experiments required more attention. Eugene D. Funk continued his abiding faith that results could be obtained. Officers of the company resigned at a meeting held January 17, 1918. The number of directors was reduced to three. Eugene D. Funk, DeLoss Funk and H. H. Miller, the new manager, were elected to these positions. They also became the new officers as president, secretary and treasurer respectively. 62 E. D. and DeLoss acquired 140 shares of stock held by other members of the family. Funk Bros. Seed Co. was now in reality directed by two Funk brothers, sons of LaFayette Funk. PART SIX A Spokesman from the Corn Belt CHAPTER XIX Through the Years, Eugene D. Funk, Sr, and Family at Home During the third decade of the twentieth century, Eugene D. Funk, Sr. reached his fifty-fifth birthday. The twenties brought many trials and tribulations as well as increasing responsibilities. There was always the retreat from the city to home and the com- forting realization that his family of eight children, four boys and four girls, had enjoyed the advantages of growing up in the country. During the middle years of his life his dark hair and mustache showed a slight greying tendency. Despite business problems there was usu- ally a twinkle in his very blue eyes. As he greeted people with a smile, his manner indicated a shy and unassuming person, yet there was firmness in his attitude and voice conveying the impression that he meant what he said. His eldest daughter Gladys wrote, "His temper rarely showed, but its flash was one you did not want to kindle again." He stood about five feet eleven inches and kept his trim figure to his later years, walking with a firm, quick step that took him directly about his business. His tanned complexion indi- cated that he spent almost all of his time out of doors. He possessed a polite manner reflecting his dignified home training and a flavor of eastern schooling. Gene Funk always described himself as a "coun- try boy" and never sought again to move to the city. 1 As Mr. and Mrs. Funk thought back to their decision to move to the South place and to complete their new home in 1907, many memories crowded across the years. When the large frame house was finished, a decorator from Chicago made it a beautiful and comfortable place. The family of six increased to eight in the first four years of occu- pancy, and the home was managed with the help of two country girls, one to cook and one to clean. The older children soon learned to help one another and to look after the younger ones. The seventh child, Ruth, arrived in August 1907 only a few months after the family moved into the new home. Mrs. Funk later remarked, "A house is not a home until children have been born into it." 2 The last of the eight 249 250 Seed, Soil and Science children, Mary, was born in 1910. Gladys, as the eldest of the chil- dren, always assumed the greatest amount of responsibility. Realizing that her mother could not be everywhere at one time, she washed many 1 a face and curled many a ringlet. This same sense of responsi- bility continued into later years when she often rose quickly to the defense of her brothers and sisters. The children missed their helper, Fugii, who had returned to his homeland in Japan. With the aid of the two women, Gladys had more time for her favorite pastime, horse- back riding. She helped to drive the sheep, hogs or cattle, and rode with Grandfather LaFayette as he looked over the fields and live- stock. His was a familiar figure when he set forth with his hoe over his shoulder as fair warning to any courageous weeds that reared their unwanted heads. When it became difficult to obtain efficient help in the country and financial problems pressed during the twenties, Mrs. Funk again resumed the duties of cooking. "Liffy," as Elizabeth was known, made cakes and other desserts. Gladys cleaned the house and kept it straight. All of the children, boys and girls, helped with table and dishes. The young men who came from the University to learn practi- cal farming did their share. 3 The new home, later called "The Outlook," impressed the children. There was ample room for the entire family to gather in the spacious living room. An electric bell system was an intriguing method for notifying the help on the second or third floor that they were needed below. Gladys recalled many years later that the building of this new home had been almost a family enterprise: The new house was an interesting project from the night Father took us all to the new plot and set stakes by the North Star. I felt the heavens had a part in it. Dad could inspire one with a dream or an idea in which he had faith. Perhaps that is one reason he could accomplish so much, and always with his hard work and plans things became a reality. It was never he who gave up but others who lacked his clear vision who faltered now and then. 4 The children grew to realize that much of The Outlook came from their mother's "inlook," for her devotion to her family and her con- sistent belief that they would do the right thing profoundly influenced their lives. The house was set upon a slight rise in the rolling prairie land. Gladys summarized it: Surrounded by fertile fields of clover, alfalfa, swaying fields of wheat or oats and tall corn rows reaching for miles and miles. Different fields of 60 to 300 acres squared off and edged with osage orange hedge fences Through the Years 251 or sturdy posts and strong wire. Weeds and bluegrass kept trimmed by the roadside, yet wild roses and strawberries bloomed and fall goldenrod, asters and ironweed gave proof that the meadowlark had nested and found shelter. . . . Horizons boundless except by the skyline. 5 Gate posts of native stone, bordered by a spirea hedge pure white in spring, gave wide entrance to a two-acre lawn as a setting for The Outlook. A Y-shaped gravel driveway circled the house. A tulip tree bloomed white near tall oaks by the front entrance. Close by the house stood a redbud tree. Wisteria vines circled some of the fourteen pillars of the brick and concrete porch on three sides of the house. A screened porch on the east provided a restful eating place in the summer and a comfortable place for conferences. The south and west porches were open under a slate roof. The front entrance was in the center of the south side. A large front door held a square-paned glass. This door led to a tiled vestibule and to another door opening into the front hallway. 6 To the right an interesting collection of canes, long the pride and joy of Mr. Funk, could be examined. Mrs. Funk often quoted poetry to describe her love of the country and to express her welcome to the many visitors who came to her home. She saw the tall straight lines of corn stretch far away until in the distance they seemed to touch the sky. She urged her friends to remain away from the crowded cities where hurry and worry pre- vailed. A long summer day in the country was her remedy for urban strife and toil. Rest, calm and quiet were just rewards for those who lived on the farm. 7 In the large living room to the left of the front entrance, the long fireplace against the west wall was always a center of attraction. Pic- tures of corn by the famous artist Montgomery were fittingly placed above the mantle in later years. Windows were hung with yellow curtains in a waffle weave. Walls were buff Japanese grass cloth, and brown and green rugs covered the floors. The library to the right of the main entrance was shelved with glassed book cases of walnut fence rails, originally from the Grove, presented to E. D. and his bride by Mr. Duncan Funk many years before the house was built. Down the hallway a large dining room was paneled with four foot high light honey locust, also from the Grove. Beams of the same wood crossed the ceiling, providing effec- tive decoration. 8 The side walls between the panels were covered with light blue grape decorated wallpaper. The ceiling was painted blue gray. A large glass lightshade, inlaid in blue, tan and green was 252 Seed, Soil and Science suspended above the light wood table. A long sideboard of the same wood stood against the wall. The table seated ten and could be lengthened to accommodate eighteen as was often required. For large gatherings, an additional table of the same size was brought in, so that a total of thirty-six could enjoy hospitality and friendship in the room. Mr. Funk always carved at the table. Good manners were early taught and always demanded at table. Back of the dining room, a spacious kitchen was located at the rear of the house with an en- trance to the east. Acetylene gas light fixtures added a truly modern touch during the early years of occupancy. 9 Although Mrs. Eugene, Sr. affiliated early with the Presbyterian church in Bloomington, it was difficult through the years while bring- ing up a large family to maintain regular attendance. The children were baptized into the church. Fond memories remain of early Sun- day school attendance before 1907 in the Mcllvain school and later at the old white church in Funk's Grove, where services were con- ducted by ministers of different faiths on succeeding Sundays. The family often held picnics in the Grove on Sundays. Gene, Sr., who treasured moments of quiet and peace in the timber, often looked over the trees on these afternoons. He read his paper near Timber Creek and as was his custom smoked his favorite cigar. This could be a significant occasion for the family when the wild flowers were beginning to bloom. Hepaticas, trillium, dutchman's- breeches, jack-in-the-pulpits and violets were all watched carefully. Mrs. Funk knew when spring flowers were in bloom. Whenever she spoke of this to the children they knew that they would be off on a searching expedition. This recognition of the beauty of Mother Nature especially in the Grove has long been a cherished custom of the entire Funk family. From their early activities came the intention to preserve the natural appearance of the timber and to protect the flowers. Such a plan was often in the thoughts of E. D. Funk, Sr. When the carpet of bluebells covered the bluffs above the branch of Timber Creek as it wound its way back of the church in the Grove, the sight was one that called the Funk family again and again to view the soft, eerie effect, especially as the sun sank in the west. The sunlight during the warm summer days as it penetrated the new green leaves of an early spring reminded one of the yellow to be found only in a Rembrandt painting. Deep in the Grove there was a solitude and a calm that bespoke the sermons in Nature. Gene Funk, Sr. kept this deep religious recognition of the wonders of Nature as a guiding principle throughout his lifetime. He was not a regular attendant at 4& Mr. and Mrs. Eugene D. Funk *•• fl^RS|BSSSW|p SSSWJSS)* ffiHR Eugene, Jr. LaFayette Eugene D. Funk, Sr. Paul Theodore Aerial View, Funk's Grove area where virgin timber still stands. The University of Illinois Natural Forest Area outlined. Presented to the University in 1950 by the Funk Family. Some trees with diameter of 4 to 5 feet estimated 500 to 700 years old. Here students conduct botanical studies. Across from the church is located the outdoor chapel, erected 1956, attended by thousands of people each year. Funk's Grove Church, erected 1864-65, open to any denomination. Supervised by members of the Funk and Stubblefield Families— who represent the Funk's Grove Cemetery Association. Through the Years 253 church but one could never describe him as anything but a reverent man. His quiet and easy manner both on the farm, with his family and associates inspired confidence and respect. E. D. Funk, Sr. often related the story of his Illinois oak sapling to his children. This sturdy tree, rooted deep in the timber of Funk's Grove, towered high above all others like a sentinel. During one of many visits to Florida, Funk had witnessed the burning of a number of pine trees. Funk believed that the owner intended to create a "Nebraska town" in this area, and such destruction moved him deeply. When the same man from Florida visited him later, Funk showed him the towering oak and explained how much it meant to him. The presentation must have been effective because in his last hours the Florida visitor later talked to his son of "The Illinois Sap- ling." 10 Mrs. Eugene Funk quoted on many occasions the comment of Theodore Roosevelt: "A mother who raises a family is greater than a general in the army." She was widely known throughout Illinois for active participation in both agricultural and literary groups and was affectionately called "Mother Funk" by all who visited the Farms. 11 She believed implicitly in her children and always recognized their good points and traits; consequently they tried to overcome weakness to gain her praise. If they disappointed her now and then she praised their accomplishments and they responded to her expectations. 12 Discipline in the family was provided by E. D., Sr. The presence of eight lively children produced noise that could not always be ignored. As the large rooms rang with their laughter and play, his even-voiced "Let's quiet down" never needed repetition. When he said "That's enough now" as he picked up his paper to settle down in his black leather chair in the living room, all was quiet. Other vivid memories of this family group include Fourth of July picnics and displays of fireworks held at a different Funk home each year. There were always enough youngsters to form teams and groups to play baseball, cro- quet, horseshoes, duck-on-the-rock or tag on any large front lawn. 13 At E. D.'s place a tennis court was available for week-end parties of visiting cousins or for guests who came from town. Generally it was a case of the more the merrier. Many a time there were fourteen or fifteen guests for dinner. Often it was necessary for the cooks to bake bread every other day. 14 Eugene D. Sr. inspired his children with the wisdom of dreaming a little in order to set their course by an objective worthy of accom- plishment. His wife contributed an appreciation for the surrounding 254 Seed, Soil and Science beauty in nature and in literature, especially in the poems she loved to quote. Through the years the new home continued as a center of activity, and it became a meeting place for agricultural leaders from all parts of the United States and from foreign countries. 15 Mamie Funk was a gracious hostess, and some of the best-known names in agricultural circles were counted as her welcome guests. Many an important question affecting the future of an agricultural program was discussed from the extraordinary vantage point of the comfortable top of the wood box in her large kitchen. The children were trained to assume their individual responsibilities when groups came to view the experimental work on the farm. Food was always plentiful, and numbers rarely disturbed the family. The first Home Bureau meeting was held at her home under leadership of Clara Bryan. Mamie Funk became interested in Home Bureau work and was later president of the local group. Her interest in the League of Women Voters and in the D.A.R. continued into the later years of her life. Gene Funk was not a little surprised that his charming wife could assume so well the responsibilities of leadership within these groups. Her love of literature and poetry had won for her a cherished place on the program of the History and Art Club of Bloomington. She was often asked to repeat her poems for the group. Her favorite poems, running to the hundreds in number, were committed to mem- ory as she ironed, rocked the latest baby, churned or picked potato bugs from the vines. This appreciation for poetry was part of that literary interest during her college days back in Oregon. Over the years her selections served to emphasize the wide range of her in- terests. Her love for poetry may have been inherited from the Bryant side of her family. Memories of early trips include the visit to Oregon in 1901-02 and the trip to Florida in the winter of 1905 when Mr. and Mrs. E. D. Funk with six children visited New Smyrna. Florida. The two older children attended a private school there. They learned to ride bicycles on the crushed shell streets and made trips to the beach and up the river. These events remained long in their memories and were often relived in the telling. 16 All of the interests of the family, however, did not center in the home. Deeply aware that their children should have educational ad- vantages, both Mamie and Eugene Funk, Sr. became interested in the consolidated school movement. They contributed their ideas, energy and leadership to the Ben Funk School constructed in 1911-12. Mrs. Eugene D. Funk served as a director for this school for Through the Years 255 twelve years. She was followed by her son, LaFayette, who became president of the board for the next seventeen years and was president of the board four years at Heyworth. For many years she was con- sulted regarding programs and policies. Her children attended this school along with those of neighbors and tenants. They wrote for the school paper. The Ben Funk School early became a model in the area. Seven districts in Funk's Grove Township were brought together. When Eugene D. Funk was in Nebraska at the Omaha convention of the National Corn Association, he and P. G. Holden took the op- portunity to visit a consolidated school. The University of Illinois had published a bulletin in 1904 tracing the movement from Massa- chusetts under a law of 1869 which became operative in 1874. By 1904 twenty states had adopted the idea. The first consolidated school in Illinois was at Seward in Winnebago county in 1904. A superin- tendent's report for Indiana in 1900 reported 181 wagons transport- ing 2,599 children in 51 counties. 17 Certainly the grant of land from Ben Funk and the leadership contributed by many of the Funk family in the establishment of the Ben Funk School was a forward step in the development of the consolidated school movement in Illinois. Later the children lived in Bloomington during the week while they attended University High School on the campus of Illinois State Normal University. The boys played football. LaFayette was captain in 1916. Gene played fullback in 1917. They made many friends in town, where they attended dancing classes and parties. Gladys at- tended I. S. N. U. for one year after going to Frances Shimer College in northern Illinois. She later attended National Park Seminary in Washington, D. C. Elizabeth attended Washington University in St. Louis and also enrolled at National Park. The boys all attended the University of Illinois. Ruth specialized in art at the University of Pittsburgh. Mary attended the University of Illinois. 18 While the eight children were growing up, young University stu- dents came to help with the scientific programs. They learned to understand and to appreciate the family solidarity. Some of these young men lived in the new home or at the South place. Among them were Curt Rehtmeyer, James Holbert, Du Bois Marquis and Frank Pearson. Rehtmeyer was in charge of the pedigreed sheep and hogs. He also helped Mr. Funk with the buying, selling and showing of stock in many states. He loved the large family of children, read stories to them, taught the boys to box or took them off to Heyworth on Saturday to the old swimming hole on Kickapoo Creek, ending with a banana split in town. 19 These were indeed happy days. He 256 Seed, Soil and Science would discuss plays with "Mother" Funk or help Mr. Funk with correspondence and business problems. He was offered a position with the company, but his personal interest in Gladys led him to seek his fortune elsewhere, only to return when she finished her schooling. 20 During the evening, after the discussions about corn, "Jim" Holbert would play the piano and Du Bois would bring his violin. The strong young voices filled the air and it was not unusual for Mr. E. D., Sr. to join with the group. One of the fondest mem- ories of his children is being taken to their grandmother's home, "over the hill and far away," to the tunes of familiar operas sung by their father. James Holbert recalled the enthusiastic discussions regarding the practical problems relating to corn during these days. His many con- versations with Mrs. Funk deeply impressed him. He remembered with gratitude her kindly interest in the years before he established his own home in Bloomington. His loyalty and responsibility to the Company were in no small part due to the continuing influence of his early associations with the family. A persistent guiding principle in the lives of the E. D. Funk family was the desire to contribute to the betterment of the whole group. Possibly the early dream of E. D., Sr., to bind the diverse families of the third generation together, was responsible for his continuing emphasis on the idea of cooperative responsibility in his own family. He did not demand that his sons and daughters follow any set pat- tern of training or line of responsibility. Yet it was expected that from their heritage, opportunities and understanding of the prob- lems, and by following their own initiative, they would find a place and contribute substantially to the general scheme of things. Over the years it often appeared that they were growing up slowly. This may have resulted in part from not being given definite areas of re- sponsibility early in their lives. But there were no "bent twigs" in this family. There was indeed a feeling of responsibility on the part of the four sons which appeared in the twenties when they realized that their father needed their help. Conferences held on Sunday afternoons became customary, when E. D., Sr. exchanged ideas with his sons and charted the next steps in the development of the business. Gladys often attended these meet- ings. She, in fact, helped to initiate the idea. Realizing that her brothers often hesitated to offer suggestions until they were re- quested, and that her father was waiting for them to speak up, she arranged opportunities for discussion. The custom has remained part Through the Years 257 of the procedure of the four Funk brothers. As children they were not commanded to act, nor were they given full rein in the modern method of self expression. They were expected to learn how to ex- press themselves diplomatically if they were to be heard. Gladys wrote, "We stood on our own feet, but we stood, and most of the time we knew why or we boiled inside until we knew how to express our case. The quick Funk temperament of generations was there; but it was, as a farmer would say, 'A field disked over/ as far as our family was concerned." 21 Gladys was married August 23, 1917 to C. A. Rehtmeyer, who was established in Chicago in the automobile sales business. Their wed- ding occurred in the spacious living room, with the family in attend- ance. Mary and Ruth were flower girls. Elizabeth was at the piano, accompanying Du Bois Marquis on the violin. The scene reminded all of the happy days of their childhood. Almost immediately the army called the young husband to duty near Washington, D. G. Gladys remained at first near home, with occasional trips to Wash- ington, where her father was working with the Food Commission. Later she lived there, and Elizabeth attended National Park Semi- nary. LaFayette, Jr. entered training for the Navy while at the Uni- versity of Illinois, and Gene, Jr. also was in uniform on the same campus, obtaining S.A.T.C. instruction. After the war Gladys and her family were in Chicago and then moved to Pittsburgh where they established a successful automobile sales agency. "Aunt Bert," sister of Mrs. Eugene Funk, was a welcome visitor during vacations from her position with the Railway Express in Kansas City, Missouri for some twenty-five years. Her love of art produced oil paintings of the Grove, church and timber. Marriages in the family occurred with rapidity during the twenties. LaFayette, Jr. married Cleda Otto on July 23, 1919. They built a home across from the Funk farms processing plant, preferring to live in the country. After Elizabeth's church wedding in Bloomington to Robert McCormick in 1923, she and her husband moved to Gibson City, but returned to Bloomington in later years. Gene, Jr. married Maeotta Divelbiss in July 1925 and established his home in Bloom- ington. Three years later Ruth's wedding took place in the beautiful setting of her Grandmother LaFayette's flower garden near the fountain. Theodore and Elizabeth Holmes were married in 1928 and made their home in nearby Normal. The youngest daughter, Mary, whose wedding took place at home, became Mrs. Lester Ahroon in 1935 and lived for some time in Washington. Paul is a bachelor. 258 Seed, Soil and Science Fortunately for Eugene, Sr., his four sons recognized his need for their help in the middle twenties. They took their places in the op- eration of the farm and the seed business. Increasing responsibility devolved upon them as their father undertook many tasks requiring absence away from home during these years. LaFayette managed the farm from 1919 to 1927. During the difficult decade of the twenties his knowledge of farming problems enabled him to assume greater responsibilities. Later, as a director of the seed company, he gained considerable practical experience in the business of construction, en- abling him in later years to assume supervisory responsibility in the organization. Gene, Jr. worked summers for the company while at- tending the University of Illinois. After 1925 he worked continuously for the company, learning every phase of the business under the able instruction of H. H. Miller and his father. Although the demands were many, the skills and information he acquired were of immeasur- able help to him in later years when he became president of the company. Paul traveled for the company in the years when it was making the transition from a mail order house to a wholesale busi- ness. The contacts he established as a member of the Funk family engaged in selling proved beneficial in later years. Theodore took over the responsibility of farm management after 1927, during the difficult years of financial pressure. His businesslike methods and his recognition of the value of increased emphasis on livestock proved to be unusually successful. 22 Mrs. Eugene D. Funk was chosen as one of the twenty Master Farm Homemakers in the nation and one of five from Illinois during 1929. The movement, less than two years old in March of that year, sought to bring a belated recognition to countless farm women and to celebrate their steady progress. 23 A short biographical sketch of Mrs. Funk included reference to her belief in providing recreation for the children at home. Illustrative of this idea was the pool table in the attic belonging to the boys of the family. 24 In a speech over WLS in connection with this award during the Homemaker's Hour, she spoke on the subject, "What it Means to Be a Master Homemaker," saying: I am one of several hundred women who have been so honored. It is not so much what we have done but that we represent a type of modern homemaker. For many years Mrs. Funk continued to attend yearly reunions of her Illinois group and gained considerable pleasure in the national meet- Through the Years 259 ings of this group. She believed that such recognitions gave dignity to life on the farm. With her constant emphasis on the home as the center of life she recalled how her children had gone almost every week on picnics to the woods from the time early spring flowers ap- peared to late summer when purple asters and goldenrod bloomed. She also recalled how in 1936 Bill Braid taught the boys to play polo. The field was located north of the house. Hired men, boys and some older men from McLean joined the teams. E. D., Sr., often tried his hand, much to the delight of the onlookers. All of the Funk chil- dren loved horses and learned to ride early. 25 The entire family were accomplished riders. They early acquired their own horses. This was especially true of the boys. At one time sixty head roamed the pas- tures including mares and colts, and eight or nine Palaminos. Mrs. Funk never relaxed her belief that the country is the only place to live, especially when there are boys and girls to bring up. She was of the opinion that her own children gained a tenacious grasp upon strong traits of character that would bring them the richest returns in their everyday lives. 26 At a Farmers Institute meeting held in Galesburg, she led a dis- cussion after the main speaker had enlarged upon the role of home- maker as a profession. Mrs. Eugene, Sr. turned to her favorite topic, "Home," describing it as a place to work and "a place of love and re- laxation ... an abode of sympathy and understanding, a place to take all one's troubles and a place to leave them." She added that in her own life, "lived so much within the four walls of home, which might tend to give a narrow view, I have felt the need of going far afield for inspiration to the master minds of the ages. How beautifully the poets see this old world of ours!" She quoted from Edna St. Vincent Millay the poem beginning, "Oh, world, I cannot hold thee close enough," saying that Miss Millay saw the world through rose- colored glasses. She added her own statement, "And sometimes we need them." She chose selections from Walt Whitman and from Robert Browning, two of her favorites, and closed with one from John Burroughs. The wide choice of poems committed to memory by Mrs. Eugene D. Funk Sr., brought beauty and inspiration to her friends and to her children. She realized that happiness does not come for the asking but is often the reward for a difficult task well-done. She often told her children and her grand-children to ask for strength equal to their responsibilities. 260 Seed, Soil and Science By the decade of the twenties the children of Eugene D. Funk Sr. were ready to assume their places in the operation of the Farm, the Company and community activities. During these years E. D. faced many problems. His friends suggested his name many times for na- tional appointments; he received deserved recognition in the seed business. He continued to speak effectively for the farmers always considering himself one of this group. As economic difficulties arose to plague the United States Eugene D. Funk did not cease to search for methods to improve corn and for new cash crops to help the farmers in the mid-west. CHAPTER XX Appointments and Appointees After the experiences of World War I Eugene D. Funk, Sr., accepted additional responsibilities and was accorded considerable recognition by his contemporaries. His leadership was evident in three areas: (1) as a spokesman for agricultural interests (2) as a leader in the American Seed Trade Association and ( 3 ) as one of the pioneers in the processing of soybeans and in the introduction of commercial hybrid corn. Although these activities occurred simul- taneously through the decade of the twenties, each carried a clear thread of continuity thus forming important chapters in his life. The first two have been combined in the following account. The third is discussed later under the development of the seed company. During this interesting decade Frank Funk was a member of the national House of Representatives. Again in the history of the Funk family of McLean County as in the decade of the 1890's the same two branches of the family received recognition by their participation in the affairs of the nation. They continued the proud tradition of the past by con- tributing effectively to the present in order to prepare for the future. Eugene D. Funk participated as a member of the committee on resolutions at a meeting of farmers from the states of Indiana, Illi- nois, Missouri, Michigan and Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio held in Octo- ber 1919 at Indianapolis. Recommendations included a ten-hour day in all productive industries "because shorter hours would reduce the amount of production and increase the high cost of living." There was also a suggestion for a league for all industrial organizations to determine controversies arising among them and for enforcing in- dustrial peace. Funk was complimented for the position he took on these subjects. 1 The University of Wisconsin recognized the "eminent services of Eugene D. Funk in improving a great cereal crop and in devoting time and energy to the upbuilding of American Agriculture." This testimonial was presented February 4, 1920, on recommendation of the College of Agriculture. Eugene Funk was a leader in all agri- cultural groups. 261 262 Seed, Soil and Science Early in 1920, after two conferences with Herbert Hoover, J. G. Brown of the Indiana Farm Bureau from Monon, Indiana was in- quiring from E. D. Funk regarding Hoovers chances as a candidate for the Presidency on the Republican ticket. 2 Funk answered that when he left for Winter Haven, Florida, where he spent the winter, he promised to do all that he could for "my friend and fellow citizen, Frank O. Lowden. I called on a number of Southern leaders and with only one exception they were for Lowden/' While at Winter Haven, Funk received a telegram from the New York World asking his views on Herbert Hoover for President. He did not answer for publication because he knew that Hoover was not a Democrat. Later he learned that the World supported Hoover regardless of politics. Funk, in his acknowledgment of the letter, referred to his great admiration for Hoover and to his experience in working with him during the War. If Hoover were nominated over Lowden from Illinois "you will learn of one man from this state volunteering to stump this or any other states in his behalf and I will be proud to have the opportunity to tell of some of the personal acts of Mr. Hoover of which but very few people know, and so far as I know have never been published." 3 He felt that he would be classed as "two sided" if he were to come out for any other than Lowden. He added, "He also would make a great President and I would not say so if I did not know him." Then he stated that he never would have brought Lowden before the meeting of the Farm Bureau in Chicago if he had not believed him a man for agricultural people. Funk wrote that he and Harvey Sconce brought Lowden over to their meeting from a room where he was speaking to soldiers. Funk stated that Mr. Lowden did not know of their meeting. Funk's idea of a proper candidate for the Presidency was a business man who knew something about agricultural problems. He believed that Lowden and Hoover were alike in many ways. 4 When Funk was invited to attend a meeting in New York April 8, 1920— apparently in support of Hoover— he refused, saying that he believed that Hoover would not wish him to change from his support already announced for Lowden. He then wrote Hoover directly, en- closing his answer to the invitation. He excused his absence on the grounds of being president of a company attempting to finance a machine to husk corn on the stalk with the annual meeting occurring April 8th. 5 He explained that he promised to support Frank Lowden not only because he was his friend and from Illinois, but also because like Hoover he was "fearless and tied to no clique, gang, or backed by no particular interest." 6 A copy of his Peoria address was en- Appointments and Appointees 263 closed, thus recalling the days of wheat price fixing. Funk was asked by Harry Wheeler and Robert Stevenson in Chicago to join the Hoover movement. He again explained his position, saying, "Mr. Hoover fully concurs with me." Lowden was never at any time assured of the nomination, but his political position was important as the support for both Leonard Wood and Hiram Johnson increased. Many factors contributed to turn the choice of the nominating convention to Warren G. Harding of Ohio. 7 Funk supported his party's choice. Following the November election of Warren G. Harding to the Presidency, Funk wrote Brown informing him that during the sum- mer and at fall fairs a number of men had urged him to allow his own name to be presented to the President-elect as a possible appointee for the position of Secretary of Agriculture. He stated that his reply had invariably been that he believed the office should seek the man; that he had never sought political or other honor. He was aware that full support would be necessary "during the evolution of the New Agricultural Era that is now in the making." He asked Brown for a frank answer as to whether he should give any consideration to the matter. 8 The McLean County Farm Bureau adopted resolutions unani- mously calling attention to the eminent qualifications of Eugene D. Funk of McLean county as a "dirt farmer." The eleven reasons for his appointment to the secretaryship outlined in these resolutions were described by the Pantagraph as not overdrawn. The editorial con- tinued: His record as a practical farmer, his understanding of the problems of the farmer, his original research work calculated to increase the yield of grain and to eliminate grain disease, his invaluable service to the state and nation as an always active member of innumerable national and state boards having to do with farming and livestock interests, his "international as well as national version of the place and relations of agriculture to all other industries and occupations," his constant square dealing which has gained him the respect and confidence of farmers every where— all these attributes and accomplishments mark Eugene D. Funk as the best fitted and the logical man for Secretary of Agriculture in the Harding cabinet. A significant concluding paragraph declared that there was some- thing more than these personal qualifications involved, namely that the great Corn Belt of Illinois— the richest purely agricultural region in the world— was entitled to highest honors occasionally in the Fed- eral Department of Agriculture. This Bloomington, Illinois news- paper stated that Iowa was a great agricultural state also, but that 264 Seed, Soil and Science fact did not entitle it to a monopoly on the office of Secretary of Agriculture. The article stated that "Tama Jim" had been secretary from Iowa for sixteen years. The secretary in 1920 was also from Iowa. 9 President Harding's administration did not heed the request. Henry C. Wallace from Iowa was appointed to the position. Funk, himself, wrote that he had known the new secretary for many years. He was also intimately acquainted with his father who visited him shortly be- fore his death. The elder Wallace gave Eugene Funk, Sr., credit for bringing him before the public in Illinois at the Farmers Institute when his paper was at a turning point in 1894-95. 10 Funk took no part in advancing his own name for consideration. He recognized the difficulties immediately inherent in the selections when he heard of the appointment to the Secretaryships of Com- merce and Agriculture. The animosity between Secretaries Hoover and Wallace owing to the stand taken by the latter in his editorials during the war would not, in Funk's opinion, lead to harmony in the Cabinet. 11 He commented: Both men are in the habit of having their own way and neither likes to give in to the other. Hoover knows he was right and had the unanimous backing of our committee. Wallace did not stay long enough in the con- ference that was called to Washington in October, 1918 to learn the main facts of why the 13.3 ratio could not be maintained and he has continued to put the blame on to Hoover through editorial after editorial in his paper. Of course, this was good stuff for his subscribers to read, and in truth was pretty good politics but you and I know how Hoover feels about it. Fortunately there are only a few of us who know the facts. 12 In view of later interpretations of the strained relations between Secretaries Hoover and Wallace during President Harding's adminis- tration this comment by Funk is interesting. Funk believed that the misunderstanding between these two men began before their re- spective appointments occurred. As J. H. Shideler points out, the differences continued throughout the administration and were accen- tuated by the belief that the Department of Commerce encroached upon the operating responsibilities of the Department of Agricul- ture. 13 There was no lessening of responsibilities and demands. A letter from Congressman Frank Funk referred to E. D.'s possible appear- ance in 1921 before the Joint Commission of Agricultural Inquiry. Frank Funk was a member of this commission. E. D. wished to re- main at home until after threshing, but in the meantime he set about obtaining information. 14 He also sent notes to Secretary of Agri- Appointments and Appointees 265 culture Henry C. Wallace and to Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover asking for conferences. 15 He wrote his old friend Dave Thompson, now with the Illinois Agricultural Association in Chicago, asking for an interview on his way to Washington. 10 He appeared before the Joint Commission appointed by Congress during June and July. The Joint Congressional Commission of Agricultural In- quiry referred to above was created by Congress in June 1921. Frank Funk of Illinois, Ogden Mills and Peter Ten Eyck of New York, with Hatton Summers of Minnesota and Sydney Anderson of Minnesota, were selected from the House of Representatives. The Senate mem- bers of the commission were Lenroot of Wisconsin, Capper of Kansas, McNary of Oregon, Robinson of Arkansas and Harrison of Mis- sissippi. 17 Late in the year 1921 E. D. Funk wrote to Secretary of Commerce Hoover at the request of many members of the American Seed Trade Association regarding relief work in Russia. Grains were requested from farmers in the central West to be sent both to Russia and to the Near East Relief. Funk favored sending garden and farm seeds by members of the A. S. T. A. He remarked that farmers of the Middle West were not financially able to contribute as they had during the war and immediately thereafter. He said, "Corn is selling as low as 16 cents in Nebraska ( I have heard of some selling as low as 9 cents in the Dakotas ) and 30 cents in Illinois at a cost of about 58 cents per bushel to produce the crop. Thousands of farmers are facing bank- ruptcy. Last year a great many landowners either extended credit or cancelled the tenant's share of the rent. Now both landowners and tenants are facing a serious situation. 18 Secretary Hoover replied that it was indeed "a lot of gall" to ask the American farmer to contribute to any charity for anybody, anywhere, at that time. He thought pos- sibly the government would find it possible to purchase grain to ship to Russia, thus relieving two groups at once. The gift corn campaign resulted in the passage of the Russian Relief Act, December 22, 1921. 19 Secretary Wallace also requested E. D. Funk to participate in the Agricultural Conference called in Washington, January 23, 1922 to consider present and future agricultural problems. 20 Funk attended with two or three hundred other men. 21 Invitations were issued to 439 22 including farmers, representatives of cooperatives, farm or- ganizations, agricultural journalists, educators and economists, ex- periment station directors, industries, bankers and congressmen. The real "dirt farmer" appeared to be in the minority. President Harding 266 Seed, Soil and Science opened the conference saying that legislators could probably only give the farmers a chance to organize and help themselves. 23 When the executive department called its conference, it was interpreted as an answer to the growing strength of the "farm bloc" in Congress. 24 Sydney Anderson, who was chairman of the joint commission, re- ported to the Agricultural Conference in January 1922 regarding the conditions uncovered by the commission. He commented on the rapidity with which all the familiar features of a business cycle were condensed into the two and one half years following World War I. He thought there had never been a time when more public misun- derstanding occurred of the fact that the conditions were world wide, growing out of a long period of economic and political dislocations. According to his view, it would be a long time before that continued economic stability described as "normalcy" could be reached. He stated that President Harding recognized this by calling together the conference. The Congress had recognized the problem by creating the commission. The purposes of the commission were to investigate the agricultural situation and to report upon remedial measures. The work of the commission was divided into the following parts: The agricultural crisis and its causes; credit, particularly agricultural credit; transportation; marketing and distribution. Reports on the first and second topics were made before the conference opened. Ac- cording to Anderson, data for the last two topics was in the process of compilation. 25 M. Benedict described the analyses of the commis- sion as essentially correct but far from satisfying to farm leaders who sought quick action. 26 Delegates to the conference listened to sum- maries of agricultural conditions throughout the United States. A. Sykes from Iowa analyzed the problems in the Corn Belt, declaring that in forty years of farming he had never seen the farmers' pur- chasing power reduced to such a level. 27 Eugene D. Funk was listed as a "farmer" in the group of men at- tending the conference. He was appointed chairman of a subcom- mittee under the general division of Committee No. 6 on Crop and Market Statistics. The subcommittee dealt with farms and market statistics. This subcommittee recommended a number of methods whereby the United States Department of Agriculture could improve its informational services. A summary of the conclusions of the sub- committee included ( 1 ) collection and publication periodically by the U. S. D. A. of information showing prices received by producers for crop, livestock and live stock products; prices for classes of farm lands and their total value; prices farmers pay for hired labor, Appointments and Appointees 267 seed fertilizers, machinery, equipment and supplies; wholesale and retail prices of principal agricultural products by classes and grades at important market and consuming points; (2) price factors to be published periodically; (3) analysis, correlation and interpretation of data to be presented graphically; (4) statistics from foreign countries should also be made available; (5) there should be Con- gressional appropriation to enable greater cooperation with the In- ternational Institute of Agriculture at Rome; (6) appointment of Agricultural Attache to foreign nations; (7) more adequate dissemi- nation of information, by the U. S. D. A.; (8) commendation for the voluntary crop reporters in the United States; (9) the U. S. D. A. should publish frequently reviews of commodity conditions; (10) dates and details of questionnaires should be decided by adminis- trative departments; (11) there should be higher salaries for statis- ticians concurred with recommendation of joint commission to enlarge the statistical services of the U. S. D. A. 28 Several points of view were presented during the conference. A group minority advocated price fixing with the major discussions occurring in committees. It was recommended that the idea receive further study. George N. Peek, a delegate, also offered a remedy, now endorsed, for fair exchange value of farm products. However, there was a recommendation that Congress take some action. Con- gressman Frank Funk elected to the House in 1920 with a plurality of 24,878 votes was a member of the subcommittee on transportation in the Corn Belt. 29 When the report of the committee on transporta- tion was presented, W. H. Stackhouse, representing manufacturers of farm implements, offered a resolution from the floor condemning wage scales of labor. Shideler stated that there was no evidence of any plan by anti-labor industrialists to use the conference for their purposes. Samuel Gompers spoke at length. 30 E. D. Funk commented on the circumstances as follows: We had quite a time down at Washington. Mr. Gompers again tried his tactics of attempting to dictate to the super advantage of those he represents but he barked up the wrong tree this time. At one time he had a goodly number of the delegates with him, but he spilt the beans by attempting to go too far and it was an interesting sight to note how quickly the crowd changed against him when they fully realized the object of his plans. 31 The international situation appears to have been given some con- sideration. An academic economist, Clyde King, is quoted as com- menting that the committees gave attention to world problems. The 268 Seed, Soil and Science known opposition of the President evidently prevented a resolution requesting American participation in a conference at Genoa. 32 The depression of 1921 gave impetus to the analyses of the joint commission. The national conference was to provide some kind of national approval for the recommendations of the commission. At least there was an awareness of farmers' problems exhibited by the administration. 33 Funk could see no appreciable relief for agriculture before the next summer, but he believed that Mr. Hoover was doing all possible to secure export of grain to the foreign countries. 34 He declared in February 1922 that the farmer had been hit harder than ever before and that even on the most fertile lands of Illinois, 90 per- cent of the farmers would be obliged to borrow. He added, "We are hoping for better days, and if they don't come in spite of thunder, every blooming other industry will be drawn into the whirlpool with us." 35 If things were not better he would be obliged to call all his children home from college. Congressman Frank Funk undertook a trip at the request of the Secretary of Agriculture, who asked him to bring home a report on European conditions. One of the stipulations was that Funk pay his own expenses. In a speech before the Young Men's Club, July 1922 in Bloomington, Illinois, he reviewed situations in France, Austria, England, Scotland and Germany. The falling value of the mark, atti- tudes of the German people and the Treaty of Versailles were com- mented upon by the speaker. Cancellation of the war debts and reparations were also discussed. Funk was expected to present a for- mal report to the Secretary of Agriculture before the Congress met in December 1922. 36 The agricultural situation continued to worry Gene Funk. He ob- served in March 1922 that there had been a rise in the grain market but about 90 percent of the farmers were borrowing money to pay taxes. Many were bankrupt. There was a late season with rain throughout the central West. Oats were not planted and the seed corn situation was bad. He wrote: "We are running our germinators to capacity and throwing out from 20 to 50 percent of diseased in- fected seed corn." There was a short pig crop which he attributed more or less to diseased corn. He believed that farmers would not listen or realize their difficulties for at least another year. He added, "I wish we had the old 'Exposition' going so we could demonstrate some of these things." 37 Appointments to the Federal Reserve Board were always of in- terest to the farmers, especially when the question of credit might Appointments and Appointees 269 be involved. This question also arose in early 1922. J. R. Mitchell of the Reserve Board advised Funk in March that the bill amending Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act increased the number of ap- pointed members on the Board from five to six. This provision had passed the Senate. He described the activities of the Board and ex- pressed himself as pleased at any prospect of Funk's appointment as the agricultural member of the Board. 38 Funk's old friend George Stevenson thought the Farm Bureau would have to become active in order to secure the amendment. If it passed, Funk would have a good chance for the appointment. 39 Funk received many letters from friends, but desired to remain silent. Funk continued to be inactive in his own behalf because of his original belief that the job should seek the man. Public honors, he insisted, should come unsolicited. 40 His good friend Frank I. Mann met with President Harding and at that time urged his appointment. About this time the President in- quired if Eugene Funk were the husband of a Mrs. Funk who had made many political speeches. Mann advised him to the contrary, 41 and informed Funk that he had better clarify the matter. Fred Rankin then wrote to Senator McKinley on behalf of Funk, saying that he had known Gene Funk for years and knew that his friends were the ones urging him to seek office. He described Funk as conscientious and unselfish in public service "and has probably given more time without any recompense to public service work than any other man in our agricultural group." Rankin added Gene Funk stood high in all agricultural councils in Illinois and in other states. 4247 N. H. Owens of Farm, Stock and Home pointed out that Funk combined knowledge of and sympathy for farmers' problems with successful business operations. 48 Appointment was delayed until after the November 1922 election. Funk advised Mitchell on November 23, 1922 that he was certain that he expressed the views of a large percent of the farmers of the central West when he said, "Things in general seem to be moving slowly in Washington and that the farmers are doing a lot of thinking." Al- though there is some question as to whether this letter was posted, the ideas were certainly indicative of Funk's thinking and of his clear insight into agricultural problems. In the copy found in his files he remarked that he had so informed Senator McCormick before the election in 1922. The results showed that he "was not far off the scent." Funk advised thinking seriously of 1924. He emphasized the fact that the transportation situation for both grain and livestock was in deplorable condition. Farmers were in a 270 Seed, Soil and Science mood to listen to any argument and to blame the administration. 49 Funk did not receive the appointment to the Federal Reserve Board. Milo D. Campbell of Coldwater, Michigan was appointed to the newly created position. His death, however, occurred within a few months, leaving the position vacant. Friends of Eugene Funk urged him to come out in the open at this time for the appointment. His good friend C. P. Bull of St. Paul, Minnesota was interested in the situation. Funk finally addressed a communication to Secretary Hoover upon the insistence of Senator McKinley during a meeting in Champaign, Illinois. He merely advised Hoover that the two senators from Illinois were supporting him. He did not ask Hoover's support because he did not wish to put into words his reasons for willingness to serve on the Board at this time. Generally speaking, he thought that he could serve agricultural interests to their advantage. 50 Information arrived indicating support by eleven United States Senators and seven livestock associations from western states with more to follow from Montana and California. Funk realized that he was not too well known in the East. He informed Mitchell of the situ- ation. 51 Senator M. McCormick described Funk as coming from "the greatest family of farmers and corn growers in Illinois"; as an or- ganizer, manager and president of Funk Bros. Seed Co. known all over the Union, "and furthermore is a bank director." He said he knew of no man better fitted for the place than Eugene Funk. 52 Funk re- minded Owen T. Reeves of the Corn Exchange National Bank in Chicago that Chicago banks were favorable to his appointment the previous summer but the matter had been handled "by you and others and I had nothing to do with it." He hoped, however, that the support could be revived. 53 He told Senator McCormick that "I am not enough of a politician to know just how to manage this campaign but am going to leave it largely to you and to Senator McKinley." 54 He advised A. G. Leonard of the Union Stock Yards of the situation 55 and then wrote to Secretary Wallace in much the same manner as he wrote to Secretary Hoover— not with the expectation of active sup- port, but to inform him in case the President consulted him. 56 The situation soon changed. Senator McKinley advised Funk on April 18, 1923 that he had no desire to withdraw his recommendation but had understood from Fred Rankin that Leonard was not a can- didate. 57 He was then in receipt of eight telegrams asking for A. G. Leonard's appointment with one signed by C. V. Gregory of the Prairie Farmer and another by W. H. Thompson, president of the Illinois Agricultural Association; one from Carlton Trimble, member Appointments and Appointees 271 of the executive committee of the I. A. A., as well as from other mem- bers of this committee. The Senator feared the practical result of having two candidates in the field. 58 Funk replied that he doubted that Rankin knew of Leonard's candidacy and that he himself had learned of it by accident one day during the previous weeks when Leonard himself asked Funk to withdraw his name. Funk told Leonard that had he known a week or so before he would have con- sidered the request but could not now do so. Funk recognized two factions in the Farm Bureau set-up, so believed that one faction at- tempted to bring Leonard forward in opposition to another candi- date, Mr. Cunningham. He added: "Thank goodness I have nothing of that sort hanging over me." He referred to many years spent attempting to coordinate various agricultural interests with other ac- tivities. He also deplored the actions of those who would ruin the Farm Bureau movement by introducing politics saying, "For this reason I have not sought the endorsement from any state Farm Bureau associations." 59 He had a talk with the president of the Ameri- can Farm Bureau, Mr. Bradfute. They were in accord. The president would not support any one person. 60 Funk wrote to De Witt C. Wing of the Breeders' Gazette that he greatly appreciated what he and many others had done for his can- didacy. 61 He realized, however, from the beginning that the President was not inclined to recognize Illinois on account of political reasons, "as I told those who first insisted on my allowing my name to be pre- sented." Funk believed that the best had happened as far as he was personally concerned. He preferred to remain at home with his family and had only considered the matter because he thought he might help agricultural matters along. 62 He was also interested in the Christmas 1923 number of the Gazette because it contained an article by Frank O. Lowden on "Grain Mar- keting." He stated to Lowden in reference to the article: I am more glad than ever that we had our conference before I had an opportunity to read your article, for now it is not necessary for either of us to waste words in explaining how nearly both of us agree on all of the fundamental principles of the great question. 63 He also referred to how Mr. Mehl changed his mind about Mr. Lowden as one opposing the U. S. Grain Growers Organization. Freight rates were reduced, but this effort did not prove to be the first answer to the farmers' problems. A national wheat conference was held in June at Chicago during 1923. Conservative groups pre- dominated, with Anderson who was president of the Congressional 272 Seed, Soil and Science Joint Commission as chairman. Then the Farm Bureau called a con- ference July 23-24 of the same year. Again those who were instru- mental in this action were more concerned with long range planning and development of cooperative marketing. Aaron Sapiro, attorney for several California cooperatives, spoke. The conference through a committee of seventeen brought forth a plan for the establishment of the United States Grain Growers, Incorporated in the spring of 1921, with a ratification conference in April of 1921. The Grain Growers Incorporated grew out of the Sapiro movement stressing "cooperation American style." He advocated centralized producer cooperatives entering terminal markets to take over grain selling, warehousing normally handled by commission merchants, line elevator companies and others. 64 What came to be called "administered pricing" was to replace normal procedures of shipping major farm products to large competitive terminal markets at prices determined by the interplay of supply and demand in those markets. Surpluses were not to depress prices but would be held off the domestic market and would be sold at whatever price they would bring, probably abroad. 65 This organi- zation was said to have included representatives from nearly every farmers' organization. G. H. Bustafson of Farmers Union was named president and W. G. Eckhardt, director of Grain Marketing Division of Illinois Agricultural Association became treasurer. Internal dis- sension broke out almost immediately. The grain exchanges were displeased and the membership campaign lagged. Mehl was the secretary to the first set of directors who saw and protested against the quarrels and internal disorders as well as the extravagance of the board. Funk said he had been drafted as a mem- ber of the new board, starting with a bankrupt situation and the loss of confidence. Menl's office door was directly opposite the elevator door. Those who might have helped often walked swiftly by. Funk felt the American farmer would follow leaders when the leaders show that they are "on the square." During December 1923 he inquired of his cousin, Congressman Frank Funk, who was reelected in 1922 with a plurality cut to 6,224 votes, about the merits of the McNary-Haugen bill. He understood that the President and Secretary Wallace were not in agreement about the bill. Legislative proposals during the early 1920's empha- sized more direct action. Outside the Congress, George N. Peek and Hugh S. Johnson advocated a two-market system with the producer absorbing his share of the loss. Wheat growers were having con- siderable difficulty. The first McNary-Haugen bill drawn up by Appointments and Appointees 273 Charles J. Brand, former chief of The Bureau of Markets, was intro- duced in 1924. Five McNary-Haugen bills came under consideration 1924-1928. The central idea was to provide for a government export corporation to buy up the specified agricultural commodities and bring up the price in domestic markets to the "ratio price/' The Farm Bureau Federation did not support the plan. In January 1924 an amended McNary-Haugen bill was introduced providing for an ex- port corporation. The House debated the bill in May 1924, and it was defeated. Peek became president of the American Council of Agri- culture. Efforts were made to gain favor for the plan in the election of 1924. President Coolidge, however, was unfavorable to the McNary-Haugen idea. He did appoint a commission November 7 after the election. 66 Eugene Funk had also heard in a confidential way that Secretary Wallace was going to leave his position. There was a request that Funk get in line for the job. Senator McKinley and Mr. Hoover were reported to be favorable. An old school friend, one of the leading judges in Boston and a friend of President Coolidge, circulated a pamphlet describing Funk's activities together with mentioning him for the Secretaryship. Funk did not know of this activity until he re- ceived one of the circulars. In reply to one letter he answered: The position you are asking me to consider, should the opportunity pre- sent itself, is one of tremendous responsibility. Whoever accepts such a position should feel that he has the cooperation and confidence of those he represents and in a general way also the public confidence. Of course, he cannot expect to please everybody. Funk believed that something must be done to place agriculture on a parity with other commodities. He thought that cooperative mar- keting was acceptable in theory but would take years to apply. He also considered the various nationalities composing the farm popu- lation as a deterent to cooperation because each wished to judge for himself when and where to market his own product. E. D. took the opportunity in 1924 to advise his cousin, Frank, re- garding the political situation at home. It looked as if the Democrats had helped nominate Republican Len Small for Governor in order to return to the support of their own ticket at the election because they knew that many Republicans would not support Small. He thought Small would not carry McLean county on a Republican vote. Many people had asked him to tell Frank not to line up with any faction but to come home and meet all on an equal footing. He advised, "Saw wood and let the other fellow do the fretting." Then he asked Frank 274 Seed, Soil and Science for advice on what action he should take. His boys could run the farm; the seed company was well organized, and he could spare the time to make his living at something else and perhaps save the farm for his children. 67 E. D. Funk became a member of the Advisory Committee on Agronomy at the University of Illinois in December 1921, an appoint- ment he held until 1944. 68 During the same month he received a letter from his old friend, E. G. Montgomery, then with the Bureau of For- eign and Domestic Commerce. Montgomery referred to a communi- cation from the Illinois Manufacturers Association asking for someone from the Department of Commerce to be present at a joint meeting of manufacturers and farmers the following January in Chicago. He requested information from Funk. 69 The latter answered that he also had received an invitation but was leaving soon for Florida with his mother. Personally he expected nothing from the meeting but "wind- jammering and perhaps a few resolutions in order that the news- papers may make it appear that the poor ( ? ) farmer is being thought of." He reminded Montgomery of their experience in 1908 at the Great Northern Hotel when "certain interests" attempted to influence them when they "tried to show our brother farmers a way to pros- perity." 70 He recalled that he recently had had the opportunity to tell a few of the younger generation now striving for the "Betterment of Agriculture" how true it was that history repeats itself, adding: "To you and to some of us it is a bit of history." Funk reiterated that what was needed was a leader in Agriculture. He referred to Farm Bureau problems. He also informed Montgomery that when in Lincoln, Nebraska recently he paid the dues for the National Corn Association —so it still lived! 71 Personal difficulties, largely financial, troubled E. D. during the decade of the twenties. His father's estate, while a substantial one, nevertheless necessitated borrowing to meet the inheritance tax levies. He wrote his cousin, Congressman Frank H. Funk, to inform him that the papers had been sent to Washington. He and his brother De Loss had borrowed $4,000 more to pay both taxes and interest only the previous week. Gene wrote that borrowing to pay taxes and interest often suggested "another of the Funk estates that will be placed on the market before long unless something happens with our agricultural conditions and that very soon." 72 When labor on the farms demanded $45-$50 a month plus board, E. D. wrote: "We just cannot compete for labor against the high wages of the hard road, garages, and factories in general." 73 Appointments and Appointees 275 The economic plight of the farmer in the Middle West was of con- tinuing concern to Gene Funk. During the spring of 1924 he brought to the attention of Secretary of Commerce Hoover the poor prospects for the corn crop. This situation occurring after three years of diffi- culties would spell more misery for the farmer. He spoke of his four sons who worked like beavers: "I can see them going through a period of gradually slipping and losing interest in the farm ... I have no argument with them when they say, "Dad, you cannot mention an- other occupation but what we can make more money, less hours and less hard work than farming." Funk regarded this as a typical situ- ation among farmers. 74 Funk, himself, experienced severe financial strain during these years when his own farm income was often chan- neled to support the seed company. Heavy mortgage obligations and current expense brought agricultural problems into sharp focus for the Funks. Secretary Hoover answered that he was not so despairing of the future for agriculture. He based his encouragement on the growth of the population and the practical absorption of agricultural reserve areas. He thought that within ten years we might be a food importing country. He added, of course, that this might not occur if there were interruptions such as panics and slumps. 75 Problems arose with the Grain Growers Association and its rela- tionship to the Grain Marketing Company organized in 1924. The formation of the Grain Marketing Corporation occurred July 28, 1924 with Gray Silver as director. It went out of existence in the summer of 1925. This corporation was to serve as a channel through which several of the largest terminal grain elevators in Chicago, owned by Armour, Rosenbaum and others might be acquired by the Bureau on behalf of the cooperative wheat marketing associations. The concerns would purchase $4,000,000 worth of stock in the company to finance it for one year. An equivalent amount was to be sold to farmers. The season was prosperous but the farmers bought only a small portion of the stock. Neither the Illinois Agricultural Association nor the Indiana Farm Bureau Federation supported the idea. Mr. Lowden predicted its failure. 76 Calvin Coolidge was elected President in November 1924 in his own right after completing the term for Warren G. Harding, whose death occurred in August 1923. Strikes, the Red scare and the political scandals of the Harding administration occupied the headlines. Yet agricultural leadership was aware that economic difficulties affecting the farmers had not been solved. 276 Seed, Soil and Science The question of the selection of a new Secretary of Agriculture again arose when Henry C. Wallace died during the campaign in 1924. 77 Frank O. Lowden, when urged to accept the position, in- formed Funk that he was going to disappoint him again because he thought he could be of more service to agriculture out of the depart- ment than as a member. 78 J. G. Brown of Monon, Indiana also was suggested for the position by J. D. Harper of the National Live Stock Producers Association. 79 Brown was described as a lifelong friend of Herbert Hoover and as standing high in the councils of President Coolidge. He might possibly be opposed by grain and livestock interests, but not so seriously as some other candidates. At this time Funk stated that he wished to remain neutral, knowing that requests for suggestions from the Farm Bureau and other associations only gave the President time for consideration. Everyone knew that all organizations could never agree on any one man. 80 Funk had learned by experience. He also expected some "wire pulling" at the coming meeting of the International. After a long conference, when Funk begged Lowden to accept the Secretaryship, he realized that Lowden had no idea of participating in the Coolidge administration. 81 The grain marketing situation continued to cause difficulty. After some discussion with Mr. Keefe of the Grain Growers, in an effort to get Bernard Baruch to come to Chicago, it was decided that E. D. Funk and Mr. Cowles, secretary of the Illinois Agricultural Associa- tion should journey to New York. Funk wrote: We made the trip, but as I told Mr. Baruch, since I had paid my own expenses for almost thirty years in trying to work out some of the problems for the Betterment of Agriculture, I would not at this time make exceptions to the rule by placing myself under obligation to anyone; so I spent a week, stopping off for two days at Washington and two days in New York. 82 He intended to report on the meeting verbally soon after Mr. Legge returned from Europe. He enclosed a copy of Baruch's suggestions to the Committee for consideration; "He wrote and rewrote several times and gave me final draft just as I left him the second day. Read it carefully. I think you will recognize that he devoted no little time and thought in expressing his views of what he wished to have pre- sented to the committee." Funk also stopped in Washington to secure, if possible, direct information as to the administration's reaction and feeling toward the Grain Marketing Company and said "While most of what was told me was confidential, I will be glad to relate to the committee." He added: Appointments and Appointees 277 I might say tho that my trip East brought out the fact that the U. S. G. G. Committee is, if rightly and carefully conducted, in a position to accom- plish more for the future of American Agriculture than some people ever dreamed of. An opportunity is presented at this time to amalgamate the political interests of all parties together with finance and large commercial interests toward one common cause of trying to solve some of the prob- lems for Agriculture and we will be slackers in our duty if we do not take advantage of the opportunity to act as an unbiased jury that may help to bring about this crying need. 83 After he listened to discussions from all angles and observed from an outsider's point of view Funk could find only one missing link to ultimate success : "An Agricultural Moses must be found somewhere, somehow, around whom all of these great interests are seeking to throw their entire strength and influence." Funk believed that the administration, financial and commercial interests were now willing to accept and to work with such a man, "provided the various factions in agriculture will throw aside personal and petty jealousy and unite with them for the common good of everybody/' He had noticed that 95 percent of the leading business men in commercial circles came from the farm, "and yet when we find ourselves in need of a real leader in Agriculture, there are few men who can qualify." 84 Mr. Legge was expected home in January and then would work with the committee. Early in January, as chairman of a committee of the U. S. Grain Growers, he wrote Alexander Legge about returning from the recent conversations with Mr. Baruch relative to the merits and demerits of recommending to the members of the U. S. G. C. that they become members of the Grain Marketing Company. Funk asked Legge for another meeting of the committee with him. 85 Almost a month later a telegram from Herbert Hoover asked Funk to come quietly to Washington. 86 Funk left on February 4th for the Hamilton Hotel in Washington, D. C. He saw President Coolidge three times while in Washington, including breakfast with him at 8 o'clock on Saturday, February 7th. On the same day Funk wired his son, E. D. Funk, Jr., "Favorable but not definite announcement." By the 12th his friends were commenting on a Chicago Tribune article. 87 Funk wrote the same day: The President called me to Washington last week and I had a conference with him. It was quite a surprise as there had been no effort on my part to bring about such a meeting. He told me he had called me on his own account without any political petitions or endorsements. I don't know what he is going to do. The matter is still up in the air. 88 278 Seed, Soil and Science The Tribune asserted that either Eugene D. Funk or William M. Jardine could receive the Farm portfolio: one, an Illinois farmer; the other a Kansas agricultural college "prexy." The article described Funk as one of the greatest practical farmers of the country, from a family of farmers famous throughout the Corn Belt. The article re- marked that he was a cousin of Congressman Frank Funk; that he was educated at Yale and had spent a number of years in post graduate work in German universities; that he was a keen student of agricultural economics and that it was his views "on this phase of production and distribution" that attracted the favorable attention of the President. Although the Tribune claimed a little too much in the way of training at German universities, their enthusiasm for a native son of Illinois pitted against a college President may have been the reason. William M. Jardine was a member of the President's Agricultural Conference then in session in Washington. The Kansas delegation in Congress had endorsed J. C. Mohler for the Secretaryship, but on February 12th rescinded it. They now unanimously backed Jardine. Jardine outlined views before the Senate Committee explaining recommendations of the Agricultural Conference. He stated that agriculture was passing through a normal post-war crisis from which recovery was certain. 89 The Tribune noted that Mr. Jardine underwent a stiff cross-examination at the hands of the committee. After he described the conference recommendations dealing with "orderly marketing," Chairman Norris insisted that an "emergency program" was needed. Senator Kendrick ( Dem. Wyo. ) asserted that the conference report "erred" in placing the blame for the farmers' situation, and Senator Norbeck (Rep. S. D. ) complained of the "ab- sence of any reference to causes." 90 According to the Tribune, Dr. Jardine began his career as a cattle puncher in the Big Hole basin of Montana. At 20 he went to Utah Agricultural College. He went to Washington in 1896 and became assistant U. S. cerealist in charge of grain work in the western half of the country. Four years later he became director of agronomy at Kansas State and its president in 1918. 91 A. J. Weaver of Nebraska was also mentioned for the position. 92 The Pantagraph noted that midwestern agricultural interests might object to Funk because he was the choice of Herbert Hoover. Ac- cording to this article a pledge had been made during the previous campaign to the Republicans of Iowa. This admission came following the announcement that Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce Appointments and Appointees 279 under Harding, had been offered the agricultural post. A midwestern group fighting the program of relief recommended by the President's Agricultural Commission made no concealment of the fact that neither Mr. Hoover nor anyone who might be considered as his candi- date would be satisfactory. This claim or pledge came as a sensa- tional climax to the struggle developing over the control of the Department of Agriculture and over alleged encroachments by the Department of Commerce on the Department of Agriculture. These encroachments, according to the Tribune, were denied by Mr. Hoover. 93 This newspaper also claimed that the opposition of farmers' organizations to the proposed legislation advanced by the President's Agricultural Commission was so firmly cemented that suggestion of the name of Eugene Funk of Illinois did not meet with their approval. The article continued with the idea that objections to Mr. Funk by Midwestern Farm Organizations was based on the fact that he was considered too close to Mr. Hoover. They claimed that Mr. Hoover was the chief opponent of their export corporation plan. The Farm Bureau severed its connection with Gray Silver, the Washington representative, who was a close adviser to the President's agricultural conference. 94 Gene Funk finally telegraphed President Coolidge that since his return from Washington he had learned of the telegrams and letters sent to the President. He stated that he had nothing to do with this activity. He had requested people to refrain from such action. 95 The Presidential secretary advised him that the President appreciated the wire and fully understood the situation. 96 Almost immediately the selection of Dr. Jardine as Secretary of Agriculture was announced. Mr. Hoover said in 1955 that President Coolidge offered him the appointment but that he refused. He added, "I recommended both Mr. Funk and Jardine to Coolidge. I told him I thought Mr. Funk was a more experienced administrative mind and asked the President to see him. Senator Capper played a large part in this picture." 97 Funk's wire of congratulation and offer of assistance followed. 98 On the same day, February 14th, W. W. Burch of the American Sheep Breeders from the Union Stock Yards praised the Centennial catalogue of the seed company, adding: "We hope Gene Funk is made Secretary of Agriculture. The Funk family has done more for agriculture in the Midwest than any other influence." Judge Homer Hall wrote on the same day that although the two U. S. Senators from Illinois had not endorsed Funk, a word from Senators Deneen and West might help. He described Funk "as an exemplary man," and 280 Seed, Soil and Science said, "In fact he is one of the best of the Funks and you know there are a number of good Funks. He is not making any active canvass for the job. In fact he has insisted that no special efforts be made for him." Hall pointed out that Funk was not engaged in factional politics; that Iowa had had the position for some time and Illinois deserved the position; that he did not know of a single objection. Strong forces were operating in the political arena." Funk sent word to Secretary Hoover: May I take this opportunity to thank you for all that you have done for me. Perhaps after all, it is best. Let us hope so anyway. I know where your heart is relative to the success of American Agriculture. I intend to see that others become acquainted with the facts as well. 100 He also informed his good friend Dave Thompson of seeing President Coolidge three times during his brief stay in Washington, at lunch and at breakfast. He recalled that "we went over many things and I left him with every assurance that I would be asked to return, but politics are politics and the other fellow overbalanced me at the last minute. Anyhow my hands are clean and I would rather be where I am than have the position if I had to resort to work which is against my principle." 101 At his last conference with the President he had been led to believe that the President was going to ask an Illinois farmer "to carry on with some of his agricultural ideas," but evidently the "political gang" was too strongly entrenched. 102 Funk declared that he wanted nothing of such a position if he had to resort to politi- cal intrigue to obtain it. After relating the same account to "Charlie" Funk, he added that Senator Capper, the Senate whip, got busy at the last minute. 103 He was also of the opinion that his last telegram to the President, sent when he sensed that something was happening, had some influence. He had told the President to do what he thought best "For the Betterment of Agriculture." This, in effect, was a kind of a release from any implied Presidential promise. In his letter to N. H. Gentry he wrote: I am really glad that he decided to appoint the other fellow. I know that a general shakeup was due in the Department and some of those who would have to go have been friends of mine for years and it would have been a difficult and painful undertaking to have had to ask for the resigna- tion of so many men. Funk hoped that Secretary Jardine would make a clean sweep of dead timber and clear the atmosphere of petty jealousies there since World War I. 104 In a letter to James O'Donnell of the Bloomington Bulletin, Funk Appointments and Appointees 281 expressed his appreciation for the printing of a signed letter from Herbert Hoover setting forth his own views for American agriculture. He especially appreciated this because of his belief that people had been led to think that the sympathy of the Secretary of Commerce was not with the farmer. 105 In this situation he thought that a real injustice had been done: I have been in a position to study and know Herbert Hoover as well as any man in America. I was closely connected with his activities during the war in the Food Administration. I have held several interviews with him since then. I know his ambition is to try to bring about the amalgama- tion and cooperation of agriculture with commercial activities insofar as it is possible and practical to accomplish. I know that he has and is now sacrificing his own interests for you and for me and for the producer and for the consumer in order to make the United States of America the best country on earth in which to live. Modest in the sense of seeking publicity for himself he has suffered on account of publicity given out by those who are jealous of his activities and ability to analyze a situation as it usually is. Funk was sincere in his continued devotion to Hoover. He believed that his training as an engineer influenced him to seek facts before acting; that like others he could make mistakes; that he refused the appointment as Secretary of Agriculture in order to be of more value to agriculture as Secretary of Commerce. He stated that he worked sixteen hours a day for his country. Political alignments and leadership in national and state politics were undergoing many changes. It was increasingly difficult to deter- mine the pressures and the economic forces influential in producing decisions. Eugene Funk, Sr., brought a wealth of information and understanding of agricultural problems to the decade of the 1920*5 . He never sought political recognition, but at the same time he did not avoid responsibility. He gave generously of his knowledge and he participated actively when called upon. Like his great grandfather, his father and his uncles, he spoke courageously for the farmer. He always described himself as one of this group. He knew instinctively when their welfare was in jeopardy. CHAPTER XXI Problems and Persistence Eugene D. Funk became president of the American Seed Trade Association in 1925. His election to this important office was a mark of distinction and respect. Funk Bros. Seed Co. had been a member of the association since 1902. The choice of Funk, who had been vice president during the preceding term, was made in part be- cause of his leadership in national agricultural affairs and because of his wide acquaintanceship in governmental circles. The election of Funk was a departure from the usual selection of a garden seedsman. The seed trade faced problems in the middle twenties and sought the strongest possible choice for the Presidency. Funk had been brought before the association as early as 1921, when he delivered an address in St. Louis entitled, "Latest Developments in Corn Breeding." 1 At the time of the 1921 speech E. D. Funk was torn between an invitation to attend a reunion of his class at Yale University and his feeling of responsibility to say a few of the things that were on his mind. He referred in his address to the cooperation that his company had received over the years from the government and the universities, as well as to the inspiration from the excellent papers heard during the meetings of the association. He admitted that he had profited greatly when some member had the courage to offer criticisms to the group. At this time he called its attention to the alarming problem of corn diseases. 2 When Funk accepted the presidency he recalled that his first at- tendance occurred during the presidency of Jesse Northrup, a person "who gave to us an inspiration to try to do the best we could, not only for ourselves but for our country and our association, and particularly for the younger men of the association." Funk hoped to be able to do the same for others. 3 The American Seed Trade Association in 1925, with the Wholesale Grass Seed Dealers, was made up of members who handled com- mercially over 70 percent of the flower, garden and farm seeds. 4 Funk referred in his presidential address to the necessity for a national agricultural program. His chief emphasis was upon cooperation with 282 Problems and Persistence 283 state experiment stations and with the U. S. D. A. He drew upon the examples of such cooperation on the Funk Farms to support his ideas. He again stressed the need for the preservation of soil fertility and attention to the problem of standard farm lands. Professor W. L. Burlison from the University of Illinois spoke on the subject, "Agri- cultural Experiment Stations and their Relation to the Seed Trade." During 1926 Funk appeared on the program of the Seed Marketing Conference to speak on "The Seed Requirements of the Modern Farmer." W. A. Wheeler of the U. S. D. A. was in charge of these conferences, where problems of seed certification were discussed. 5 The third McNary-Haugen bill was introduced in 1926 and lost May 21 in the House by a vote of 212 to 167. Against this background, Congressman Frank Funk formulated his ideas on the agricultural problem. 6 He did not speak at length on farm legislation until Janu- ary 29, 1926, when he called attention to some of the hard times experienced by farmers of the Middle West, particularly in the Corn Belt. He stated that in his own district, located in the heart of the Corn Belt, 80 percent or more of the people were engaged in or were dependent on agriculture. He added: "Two of the five counties in the United States producing the largest annual value in agricultural products, McLean and Livingston, are a part of the district which I represent." He said the Corn Belt farmer was not asking for any new or different legislation from that already enacted for the benefit of other lines of business— only for a square deal. He believed that benefit conferred on one class of business should also be available to others. Then he added that whenever 40,000,000 people engaged in agriculture requested legislation to stabilize and place their busi- ness on an equality with others, they met opposition. Objections of "economically unsound," of "innovation" and of "sets aside rules of supply and demand" were then heard. Referring to Lincoln's famous statement about a nation unable to exist half slave and half free, Funk claimed that farmers of the Middle West insisted that the people could not exist one-half pro- tected by legislation and one-half unprotected. He said the farmers of the Middle West were in earnest in demanding relief, as was shown by resolutions unanimously adopted by the Illinois Agricultural Association, by the Illinois General Assembly and by the Corn Belt Committee of the American Council of Agriculture in sessions in Des Moines, December 21-22, 1925, and by the conference at Des Moines, January 28, 1926. He asked unanimous consent to print these resolutions as a part of his remarks. They follow his speech in the 284 Seed, Soil and Science Congressional Record. He referred to the many solutions for the farmers' problems, including Secretary Jardine's reported statement, "The best way out is for the farmer to work out his own salvation, that the farmer must help himself." Funk answered that the nature of the farming business prevented this type of solution because farmers were not organized to control prices as other industries were. He also referred to the speech of President Coolidge before the Farm Bureau, December 7, 1925 suggesting that the most important legis- lative aid would come through the creation of cooperatives. Funk said the farmers did not object to this, "but every practical man knows that it will take at least a generation or two before this idea can be put into effect." He interpreted the various legislative remedies 7 as of possible aid. Restoration of the purchasing power of the farmers' dollar Funk believed would provide the greatest remedy. Congressman Funk stressed the fact that prices paid for farm products were far below those of other commodities. This was true, he said, because "the so-called natural law of supply and demand has been arbitrarily set aside by legislative action and results in the estab- lishment of prices by trusts and combinations. The tariff laws kept out goods from other countries where labor costs are far below that in America." Funk recognized the situation in 1926 when he said: In other words, The farmer buys on a protected market but he pro- duces a surplus of grain in excess of domestic requirements. The price he received for this surplus established the price of grain consumed in America. Yet he believed it was in the best interests of the American people to produce a surplus. He added that food producers should not be forced to accept world prices for food consumed in this country be- cause of a surplus. He believed the surplus was an insurance policy to all for sufficient supplies each and every year. Referring to the protective tariff system as of great benefit to the farmer, who had a protective tariff for practically all his products, Funk observed that protective tariffs did not raise prices for articles in surplus over demands for domestic consumption. 8 He also expressed the hope that an export farm crop corporation would be authorized by the Congress, controlled by the Federal Government. Farmers could not restrict their output as the industrial- ist when business was poor. He closed by saying that he could see no hope until Congress disregarded precedent and by "setting aside the so-called laws of supply and demand" would enact direct legislation to raise the income level of the farmers as it had legislatively pro- tected the income of other groups. 9 Problems and Persistence 285 At home in Bloomington, Illinois, Eugene Funk appreciated the kind words of Congressman Henry T. Rainey from Carrollton, Il- linois regarding an address before the Illinois Manufacturers Associa- tion. He explained to Rainey that he could not refrain from referring to the committee to which they both had given considerable time. Re- gretting that the committee had not been able to get out a final report, he said, "Perhaps it is just as well, as conditions seem to be going from bad to worse and what we say today is obsolete tomorrow." 10 Discussion of the "deplorable condition" of agriculture was upper- most when visitors from other states arrived at the offices of the Seed Company. An unidentified visitor from Ohio called upon ex-Governor Fifer and Gene Funk. Funk wrote Frank Lowden to ask if he would meet with a group composed of Fifer, whd did not attend; Mr. Hoke Donithen of Marion, Ohio; Mr. Joe Hutzell of Fort Wayne; R. S. Woodrow of Toledo, formerly of Illinois, and Funk himself. The party was to assemble in Bloomington the night before and proceed the next day to Oregon, Illinois, home of Mr. Lowden. Funk ex- plained: "It was thought best to have this conference at your home so as to avoid any possibility of publicity in any way." n Lowden wired that he would expect them to arrive any time between April 14 and 20, 1926. 12 Funk replied that they would leave on the following Saturday, the 17th, with six in the party. 13 Lowden then advised that he had received a similar letter from Harvey Sconce and suggested inviting him to join the group. 14 A week after the meeting Funk told Lowden that the men from Ohio and Indiana were greatly pleased with their discussion. They stayed in Chicago over Sunday "and planned a quiet campaign for the immediate future. All agreed that they had received from you a broader view of the whole situation and realize now as they never had known before of the seriousness of the agricultural conditions and inevitable results if something is not done, and they are more convinced than ever that you are the one to lead the procession." According to W. T. Hutchinson, biographer of Lowden, this action by Funk supported by ex-Governor Fifer from Bloomington apparently spearheaded the early efforts to influence Lowden in 1926 to undertake a well-organized and well-planned political campaign for the Presidential nomination in 1928. 15 Funk reported that he attended the state Republican convention in Spring- field, where he talked to a few of their immediate friends. All said that they would attend any preliminary meeting that might be called. Funk realized that Lowden would be away in June 1926 and that it was a long time until June 1928. He recalled that Donithen told him 286 Seed, Soil and Science that Harding's campaign was arranged two years in advance of the convention by about fifty men in Ohio. Funk asked Lowden: Conforming to your wishes, would you think it advisable to have say twenty or twenty-five men from Illinois meet here at my home sometime before you sail for Europe and would you be willing to meet with them? It need be known only to those who are invited. Delegates of farmers often come here to see our seed corn plots and it need not lead to any suspicion as to what the meeting is for. You of course to set the date to suit your convenience. Also will you have any special friends that you would like to have present. He added that he had read Lowden's article appearing in Worlds Work in October 1925. 16 This article recommended a modified McNary-Haugen proposal. Until the appearance of this article few knew that Lowden had supported the equalization fee some six months before as it was brought forward by Congressman Dickinson. Peek and Lowden both backed this proposal. 17 Funk also informed Dean Davenport that "our bank" has over $10,000,000 loaned on farm mortgages in this (McLean) county; the third county in the United States, "and not a dollar of the principal was paid this year." 18 He declared that he had "never come out in the open in active politics, but it begins to look as though something has got to be done to place a man in the Presidential chair who has some knowledge of the farmers' conditions west of the Allegheny Mountains." He told Davenport, whose summer home was located in Woodland, Michigan, that they were working quietly for Lowden. He asked about the situation in that state. He added, "We do not care to make any announcement before the fall elections, but Ohio and Indiana are telling us they are ready to join Illinois in placing his name before the Republican convention two years hence." 19 Congressman Frank Funk spoke in favor of immediate farm relief legislation, in the House on Saturday, May 8, 1926. After three or four days of discussion on the pending bills, he thought that the member- ship of the house would have been fully advised as to the seriousness of the situation of the farmers. But that very day in the House restaurant a man from the Atlantic seaboard said that there was no farm problem. Funk said that he could not speak for the rest of the country but he was going to speak for his own district; "I represent a district in central Illinois in the heart of the Corn Belt, where the bulk of the land produces corn, and I speak for the Corn Belt farmer." 20 He declared himself to be one who supported the Haugen bill. He represented 5,000 members of the Farm Bureau, the total Problems and Persistence 287 membership in the five counties of his district. Three out of five farm bureaus had requested him not to vote for the Tincher bill because they regarded it as an inadequate makeshift. This bill provided for the establishment and government recognition of cooperative so- cieties. Funk believed that it would take a generation to get farmers identified with such groups, and that it could not be administered by government in 50 years. He supported the Haugen bill because the corn farmers needed immediate action. This Congress faced the most serious crisis since the war. Congressman Funk believed in a balanced industry. He would vote for the Haugen bill as brought in, but thought that the equalization fee for each product should take care of the loss due to the surplus in each crop. He stated that he would vote for the subsidy of $350,000,000 or $375,000,000, but opposed requesting it. He then announced that a subsidy did not frighten him. He was amazed at those men of intelligence who argued that the farmer was in difficulty but interpreted legislative remedies as interference with laws of supply and demand. These men also described the proposition as economically unsound or remarked that Adam Smith did not teach this in his elementary treatise on economics. F. Funk said that 40,000,000 people who were engaged in agriculture could not under- stand why they were not entitled to the same legislative benefits as other groups. Frank Funk then referred to his seven years as a mem- ber of the Illinois State Public Utilities Commission under two governors, not as a lawyer, but as a farmer. He turned to his present colleague, Governor Yates, from Illinois also in the House, for cor- roboration: I can see greater interest in the business and the production of food for the public, and I claim, therefore, it is charged with even a higher interest by the government and by the State than is the property of the utilities corporation. I can do without my telephone— I can walk home— I can do without gas— but the people of our country cannot do without food, nor can anyone else. 21 Word came to Gene Funk that administrative policy was to turn everything concerning agricultural legislation over to Mr. Hoover, and that President Coolidge, "seeing the trend of things," was groom- ing Hoover for President. It was suggested that Funk communicate with Secretary Hoover and urge some immediate helpful program, since he was the only man who could influence President Coolidge to listen. Seven or eight thousand telegrams sent to Hoover might help. If Lowden would call on Mr. Crissinger, governor of the Federal 288 Seed, Soil and Science Reserve Board, he would receive interesting and useful material. 22 Funk wrote Lowden referring to a recent visit with Governor Fif er and his grandson at Lowden's home and to Lowden's trip to Elkhart. He informed Lowden of the confidential information he had re- ceived. 23 This was received before Lowden sailed for Europe on June 5. He was encouraged by the fact that the people of the country were beginning to realize that there was a farm problem, even if legislation was not forthcoming. 24 E. D. Funk was of the opinion that the emergency would be eased by taking care of a small percentage of the surplus farm crops and finished live stock products immediately. The average manufacturer, banker or merchant could forsee the possibility of political and in- ternal strife if something were not done to relieve the situation. 25 The House of Representatives rejected the Haugen bill by a sec- tional rather than a partisan vote and pigeonholed the Tincher bill. 26 By November 1926, E. D. Funk could say to Lowden that it looked to him as if the path was opening for a "straight shoot" to the White House. 27 Lowden answered, thanked E. D. for calling his attention to an article on the Corn Borer, and expressed appreciation for the kind wishes. He added, "Hope that our paths will cross soon. When are you to be in Chicago again and for how long? Or are you likely to be coming this way at any time in the near future?" 28 Funk answered Lowden, saying he would be in Chicago about January 13th at the time of the executive committee meeting of the A. S. T. A. 29 Lowden answered that he had nothing special to talk about but added: "It is always refreshing to have a visit with you." He designated three days of the following week in January when he would be at the Black- stone in Chicago. He hoped they would meet. 30 Funk held to his dates, the 13th and 14th of January, at the time of A. S. T. A. meeting, saying that if Lowden were in the city he would be glad to arrange a conference. 31 Eugene Funk, farmer, appeared in Chicago at a hearing of the Business Men's Commission on Agriculture, described as an inde- pendent body of inquiry and recommendation appointed jointly by the National Industrial Conference Board, Inc., and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. In talking with industrialists and bankers in the large cities of Washington, Chicago and New York, Funk found them uninformed about "farmers'" problems. They usually thought of the farmer as an ignorant person. Funk believed the farmer was as well informed as many city dwellers but isolated because he had no group activity. Funk pointed out that 82 percent Problems and Persistence 289 of the men in Who's Who were once farm lads, and that in large cities 95 percent of the leading men had begun as farm boys. If farm boys moving to cities were supplanted by imported labor, peasantry was possible. Funk said that no other group could think of living for seven years unable to receive for commodities the price of their pro- duction. Funk feared that these conditions would produce Bolshevism in the cities. With abandoned farms, lack of production and high prices, the farmer stops buying, the manufacturer no longer produces goods and hunger results in the cities. Hungry men become desperate. He described the unprofitable occupation of farming in terms of cost accounting. On the average, the farms paid only hired man's wages to the operator and 5 percent interest on a value of $115 an acre for land and buildings. Real estate value varied from $115, one half of pre-war valuation, to $60 an acre. Questions followed his explanation. When he was asked about fair tests of farming, he observed that operators of dairy farms could cut down more easily than grain farmers. He knew of no way to estimate demand. He thought the surplus was only temporary. In McLean County 90 percent of farmers borrowed money to pay their taxes. He also commented on the taxing system as it affected land, livestock, grain and equipment. When asked what remedy he would provide, Funk answered: I think the Government should form an agricultural policy to perpetuate America for all time. It is just as vital as the protective system, if not more so, since it is food that we are more dependent upon we should protect the soil by fertilization, by crop rotation, by reforestation. He described the McNary-Haugen bill as the best remedy thus far proposed. 32 On February 19, 1927 Funk was impelled to wire Secretary Hoover as follows: Hundreds of thousands of our best farmers are already broke. Many more are on the ragged edge. This morning's paper carries two full pages of closing out farm sales. The purchasing power of the farmer is rapidly approaching naught. Our merchants are curtailing orders. Farmers are not renewing orders for farm seeds. Interest and taxes cannot be met. We must not allow ourselves to misunderstand this critical situation. In order to save our country, our agriculture and the Republican Party and perhaps ultimately avoid Revolution within the ranks of unemployment in con- gested centers, in my judgment there is no alternative under the circum- stances than to permit the McNary-Haugen bill to become a law. 33 The Pantagraph stated that the same wire was sent to President 290 Seed, Soil and Science Coolidge. Funk believed that if Coolidge vetoed the measure, it was because he was misinformed and had no personal touch with people who knew the actual situation, although he had close contact with the group that opposed the measure. "That is natural for a New England man," 34 said Funk. Funk informed Lowden in March that he was leaving for Winter Haven, Florida and would try to talk with a Mr. Genon of the In- ternal Revenue Office and a Republican bellwether. Funk asked if there was anyone he should see there between March 22 and April 4. He asked if there was anything to be done in Illinois. 35 In May he was answering inquiries about Lowden by saying that he had known him and his family for twenty-five years; that everyone considered that he was one of the best Governors Illinois ever had; that he had brought unity out of chaos with good business policy. He described Lowden as a fearless f ellowman who spurned dictation but was open to reason. He believed that he thoroughly understood the agricultural situation, realizing that something must be done about the equalization pro- grams, thus permitting at least one-third of the population to share on equal terms with the other two-thirds. 36 In Florida Funk saw Judge Walker, an attorney in Edwards County, who thought it quite possible to secure six out of the eight delegates for Lowden. 37 Lowden expressed thanks and hoped to see Funk in the near future "and go over things with you." He had placed Walker's letter in the hands of friends 38 who were interesting themselves in the matter. 39 Meanwhile Walker was hopeful that if anything were discussed with him it would be done soon. 40 The judge was coming north, and Funk ad- vised Lowden that he would not act unless Lowden suggested action. Lowden advised that this matter was being handled entirely by Omer N. Custer of Galesburg, Illinois and Clarence F. Buck of Chicago. "I shall refer it to them," he said, "I do appreciate your kindness." 41 C. F. Buck informed Funk of a visit to Lowden from Governor McMullen of Nebraska, predicting resolutions similar to those from Indiana; of a visit from W. L. Stockton, president of the Montana Farm Bureau with a committee having similar resolutions. W. R. Hearst stated that Coolidge would be unable to overcome a third term prejudice. Then he pointed to the fact that he had written Buck about the matter but had received no reply. 42 On the next day Funk answered, indicating that he had been in Detroit for two weeks. He expressed Walker's disappointment in not seeing either Lowden or Buck, adding: Problems and Persistence 291 I telephoned the Governor that the Judge would be in Chicago and I had intended going up to Chicago to sit in with this conference but the Governor did not give me encouragement that he cared to meet Judge Walker and I did not insist to push this matter. 43 He said, however, that when he was in Florida he had tried to feel out the situation for Lowden as he had done in 1920. He believed that Florida was rapidly becoming a Republican state. There were two factions in the Republican primaries in the South: Those who would hold office under the present administration and those who would go with a winning candidate. 44 Lowden thanked Funk for a copy of his interview in the ( Cleve- land) Plain Dealer. 45 Funk informed Lowden of what he had writ- ten Buck and said that he himself refrained from having further correspondence with Walker. 46 He remarked that if Lowden and Buck would indicate what was best to do, he would act accordingly. Buck had remarked that he knew Walker very well. Lowden replied: I cannot tell you how greatly I appreciate your kindness and I am sure you will find that Senator Buck will handle this matter in accordance with your views. 47 Funk departed for two weeks in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana to inspect the corn borer area with the Agronomy Advisory Commit- tee 48 of the University of Illinois. The candidacy of Herbert Hoover gained momentum in 1927. Lowden was reluctant to announce his candidacy and to empower his campaign manager to act. 49 If Eugene D. Funk recognized that Lowden's chances for the nomination were encountering difficulty, there is no record of such a reaction in his available papers. Nor is there any indication of waver- ing loyalty to the man from Sinnissippi whose candidacy he had urged and implemented. While leadership demanded time and attention, and responsible spokesmanship became necessary, agricultural difficulties increased. Political leadership was under close observation, and legislative reme- dies were under consideration. The election of 1928 aroused interest because of the agricultural problems and the choice of candidates for the Presidency by major parties. Funk played an active part in the campaign of 1928. CHAPTER XXII Confidence Amid Confusion E. D. Funk first was interested in the candidacy of Gover- nor Lowden for the Republican nomination in 1928. Funk's friend, Herbert Hoover, also became a potential Republican candidate. He continued to support his first choice as in 1920, but also learned that Hoover's position on price fixing during the First World War was being questioned. Funk's knowledge of the events of 1917-18 im- pelled him to speak during the 1928 Presidential campaign. Choices of nominees in 1928 presented problems for both major parties. Frank Lowden, supported by many midwestern farm leaders, was not acceptable to some eastern leaders. Moreover, there was a split within the Republican ranks in Illinois, with Mayor Thompson of Chicago controlling one group. There was also growing support for the nomination of Charles G. Dawes, a not-too-distant neighbor of Lowden. His selection probably would have pleased some Coolidge men, since he would draw support from Lowden. The Hoover boom was noticeable in early 1928. If Eugene Funk was confused by the turn of events, there is nothing to prove it in his correspondence. He was aware, however, that it was difficult to obtain positive statements from Lowden or from his campaign manager. 1 When the challenges to those who participated in the price fixing activities of the period of World War I appeared, there was little that Eugene Funk could do except tell the story as he recalled it. He was one of the few who could speak about those wartime actions. As the repetition of the 1918 story continued, Eugene Funk urged Secretary Hoover to make clear his ideas about agriculture in 1928. The Kansas City Star referred to the many statements about the responsibility for the war price of wheat since the introduction of the McNary-Haugen bill. Some leaders in public addresses blamed Herbert Hoover, U. S. Food Administrator in 1917-18. Many in- quiries about Hoover's connection with this wartime problem in- fluenced the Star to send to headquarters for information. Mr. Hoover was charged with arbitrarily and unfairly holding down farmers' profits for the benefit of England. Dr. Garfield, chairman of the com- 292 Confidence Amid Confusion 293 mission approved by President Wilson to determine the price of 1917 wheat, contacted the living members of the committee. Fortunately Garfield had preserved the basic data. He stated unequivocally that Mr. Hoover had nothing to do with the matter other than to urge President Wilson to protect the American farmer. The surviving members of The Committee in 1928 were Mr. Charles Barrett, presi- dent of the Farmers Union; L. J. Taber, master of the National Grange; E. D. Funk, President of the National Corn Association, and W. J. Shortbill, Secretary of the Farmers Cooperative Elevator Association. These gentlemen signed the document agreeing with Mr. Taussig and Chairman Garfield. 2 The signed statement declared that the occasion for establishing a fair price arose from the fact that the Allied Governments had con- solidated their buying agencies into one agency and through this power over the surplus controlled the price of American wheat the moment that exports of new crop began. Allied buying agencies thought they should not pay more than $1.50-$ 1.80 for the wheat. They advanced the idea that there was abundant wheat in the Argentine and in Australia at prices ranging from $1.25 to $1.50 per bushel. Furthermore, they had fixed the price for their own farmers at about $1.80 per bushel. Their reason for purchasing American wheat was to free allied ships from long voyages thru the southern hemi- sphere to carry American crops. They felt they should not pay in ex- cess of these prices. Garfield and others claimed that President Wilson appointed the committee directly and the commission declared the price of $2.20. Congress fixed the 1918 price at 20 cents less, or $2.00 per bushel. Mr. Hoover, according to the statement, was not a mem- ber of the commission and took no part in its deliberations or con- clusions. 3 E. D. Funk sent a copy of the signed statement prepared by Dr. Garfield regarding the price fixing situation to C. J. Gross, president of the Piatt County Farm Bureau at Monticello, Illinois. He told Gross of the samples of letters coming to his attention. Funk urged Secretary Hoover to give an interview about agricultural relief and future development which would help to clear the atmosphere throughout the Middle West and Southern states. 4 Funk's answer to C. J. Gross was semi-confidential, with a request to be so treated until after the National Republican Convention. Funk was caught as in 1920, because his two friends, Lowden and Hoover, were again leading candidates in 1928. Both men were "close friends of mine," and for this reason alone, he said, "I have the best of 294 Seed, Soil and Science reasons for not being drawn into the whirlpool any further than it is absolutely necessary at this time. Both are good Presidential timber and I will be glad to take my coat and shirt too, off to help elect either man President." Nevertheless, he felt Hoover was accused of things for which he was not personally responsible. According to Funk, Congress had authorized a minimum price for the 1918 wheat crop of $2.00 per bushel, "and Mr. Hoover requested me to find out as best I could what the farmers in the wheat growing districts would be willing to accept for their 1917 crop of wheat." All of the replies from over 40,000 farmers averaged about $1.87/2 per bushel. As Funk said, "That was the average price the farmers them- selves were willing to take for their unharvested wheat in June 1917." Then, he continued, sometime in August came notification that from a list of forty names submitted to President Wilson, Funk was chosen with eleven others to make a detailed study of the cost of production to determine a fair price for the 1917 crop. Funk also recalled that he was later, a member of the Advisory Committee for both the Agricultural Department and the Food Ad- ministration. This committee and subcommittee working on problems for 1918 had almost daily conferences with Mr. Hoover during eighteen months. Funk said often that they did not agree "but I have no recollection nor do my notebooks record any occasion where we did not iron out a common understanding and agreement of pro- ceedings." The Agricultural Advisory Committee agreed with Mr. Hoover that the ratio price of 13 to 1 on the price of hogs could not be maintained when corn reached two dollars per bushel and when England, France, Belgium and Italy all concentrated their buying price in the hands of one man who refused to go above a certain price on fats and pork products. 5 Then Funk straightened out more chronology: "It was at this point that Mr. Henry Wallace, afterwards Secretary of Agriculture, and Mr. Harding crossed swords with Mr. Hoover. Now it so happened that Mr. Wallace was also a close friend of mine, and I knew Mr. Wallace at that time better than I did Mr. Hoover. But Mr. Wallace did not then ( and I don't think ever did ) understand the real situa- tion. Mr. Wallace was not a member of the Advisory Committee and he was not in touch with the inside information that the committee held." Funk stated, "I felt then and feel now that Hoover tried to play the game square." He added that he believed that it mattered little in 1928 to the average farmer what had gone on during the war. What he really wanted to know was what would happen to him and his Confidence Amid Confusion 295 family in the very near future. Then Funk believed that Hoover would make a gross mistake if he did not come out with an open statement on the current agricultural situation. Funk believed that the situation was so acute that nothing could prevent its becoming a national political issue because the Middle West was in no mood to be trifled with. Funk left for Washington at the invitation of the president of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, to meet the first week in June with the Federal Reserve Board. He asked Mr. Hoover for an interview. 6 At this interview, as Funk later said, he advised Secretary Hoover that he was supporting Lowden. It is well to keep in mind that this meet- ing occurred in the early part of June 1928. Mr. Hoover stated in 1955, "I knew of his preference for Governor Lowden as the candidate and respected his reasons." The circumstances later causing the with- drawal of Lowden left the way open for Mr. Hoover's nomination by the Republican convention in June 1928. 7 Funk was concerned about propaganda circulating in Illinois during early July. He told Hoover that he could help "squelch" some of it, "If you will send me a personal letter stating your views on agriculture." He asked for three copies of the same letter, signed by the nominee; one to send in answer to letters; one to carry in his pocket to show to farm leaders as he met them. Hoover replied that it seemed necessary to "all of us" to hold up "our agricultural statement" until the acceptance speech was made early in August. 8 He stated that he would do his best to demonstrate a sympathetic attitude toward the agricultural problem. On the next day Funk answered, en- closing a letter from Mr. Hastings in Georgia reflecting similar reac- tions, together with clippings from Illinois. Funk added that he knew most of the local leaders, some of whom were under obligations to him. He believed that he could handle without publicity some of the propaganda that would affect the outcome of the election in the Middle West. If critics were allowed to continue, he said, "They will spill the beans in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa in my judgment." 9 Funk said it was no longer important to him in 1928 whether Hoover was a Republican or Al Smith a Democrat, but the main ques- tion was who could best fill the office. 10 A meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was attended by Hoover. Funk returned home confident that Hoover would help struggling farmers. 11 He also wrote to C. P. Bull about the meeting in Cedar Rapids when delegates from twenty-two states assembled in the interest of agriculture. Again he referred to the serious statements made by Herbert Hoover at the meeting. Funk 296 Seed, Soil and Science requested a list of Republican farm voters in Minnesota and three clippings from The Minneapolis Journal entitled "Peek's Politics Termed Personal." Later in August 1928, Funk was given the responsibility for organ- izing Republican agricultural interests in the states of Indiana, Min- nesota and Illinois, where results seemed doubtful. He was relieved of the Minnesota assignment in September. 12 Funk's plan of organiza- tion included the following: (1) Calling together influential men re- gardless of party or organization as a voluntary agricultural move- ment; (2) Quietly presenting factual information about Hoover; (3) Supplementing party organizational activity already underway; (4) Approaching men like Brown of Monon for lists of farmers in- stead of deans of agricultural colleges as Republican Headquarters had suggested. Funk preferred to talk personally with people he knew. 13 Funk also tried to clarify another misunderstanding from the days of price fixing for wheat during World War I. The differences of opinion between Secretaries Wallace and Hoover during Harding's administration have already been noted. Funk wrote the last of August that he had an appointment with Henry A. Wallace, Septem- ber 7th "to try to get him straightened out in the matter of the un- fortunate situation he is laboring under, which dates back to the date when his father and Mr. Hoover became estranged during the war." 14 He told C. V. Gregory of The Prairie Farmer: Confidentially, I am going to try to get Wallace straight on the long standing and unfortunate situation during the war between his father and Mr. Hoover, which has caused ten years of editorials in The Wallace Farmer that a few of us know are unfounded, and probably I am the only one that knows the real facts and I am going to tell young Henry the best I can, the facts because I was present at the time that the disagreement occurred between Mr. Wallace and Mr. Hoover. 15 A letter came from Wallace on September 11th. Funk wired: "Letter just received will see you Peoria Wednesday." 16 Although it is not clear when Funk talked with Wallace, he did write Samuel Guard on November 8th that Wallace visited him after the Cedar Rapids meeting and spent the day with Funk, who commented: His visit cleared up a number of things both for himself, and for myself as well, for of course there are always two sides to everything. He admitted that what I had to say to him was entirely new to him and I am glad for his sake ... if for no other reason . . . that he left here with a different viewpoint of the time when the first misunderstanding Confidence Amid Confusion 297 took place between Mr. Hoover and his father. His recent editorials have shown me the results of our conference. Funk added that some day he might have the opportunity to clear the atmosphere with Hoover. He was surprised how often a mole hill could grow through misunderstanding into a mountain among the best of friends. 17 Funk said that party platforms always dealt in generalities; if the Democratic platform intends to say that it favors the equalization fee, then "Mr. Smith plainly and emphatically states that he is opposed. Mr. Hoover is also opposed to the equalization fee/' He told Mr. Bull that he, ( Funk ) also had supported the equalization fee until he received Hoover's private opinion on the matter. 18 According to Funk, on three separate occasions Hoover as Secretary of Commerce asked for a conference with the administration and Congressional leaders as well as agricultural leaders with a view to getting together on legislation. His requests were refused. With the contest now between Hoover and Smith, Funk preferred the former. 19 Funk's activity during the campaign included the preparation of a pamphlet about Hoover's participation in the price fixing days of 1917-18. J. Oglesby informed him that his story was ready for dis- tribution of 400,000 copies September 24, 1918. 20 After being relieved of the responsibility for Minnesota, Funk turned energetically to the problems in Illinois and Indiana, saying that many farmers were un- decided and intensive work would be necessary. 21 One thousand copies of Funk's Pantagraph article regarding Hoo- ver were forwarded to J. G. Brown in Indiana at Republican head- quarters in Indianapolis. 22 Funk declared that although he realized that Illinois was organized in "pretty good shape," nevertheless the farmers had to overcome Democratic majorities in Peoria, Chicago, East St. Louis and Springfield. He asked for 1,000 copies of the arti- cle, for 500 automobile stickers and lapel buttons as well as thimbles. He believed that county precinct men in all congressional districts were organized. 23 In answer to a personal and confidential request from Renick W. Dunlap, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, who promised to keep Funk's replies confidential, he wrote that for ten years people had been criticizing Mr. Hoover far beyond what the man deserved. It would take hard and active work at this point to overcome the situa- tion. He believed that some were willing to listen to facts rather than rumors. He also referred to consultation with leading agricul- tural men, to attendance at a number of small meetings resulting in 298 Seed, Soil and Science the formation of the careful campaign for October through Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska. These groups were composed of volunteer members independent of the regular political organi- zation including many of Funk's old friends in the National Corn Association. He feared if eastern leadership were placed in the Presi- dency there might result a deep cleavage between East and West be- cause of agricultural difficulties. He also stated: I know I am saying in the above a whole lot and I would not make these statements in any public way but I do know what the undercurrent is among farmers throughout the Middle West, how they talk in their own homes and their own fields, because I deal with about 65,000 of them every year, and if they are not allowed to have their industry brought about on equality with other industries, I dislike to think of what the future might be. He also realized that many who would vote for Mr. Smith were simply ready "for a change." He also believed that Hoover would win, but it would be one of the hardest fought campaigns for many years. 24 Funk stated that the method of organizing the farmers was intended in no way to conflict with regular state and county organizations but to supplement their work. 25 Early in October he participated in meetings at Rantoul, Homer and Champaign and was convinced that the "doubting Thomases" were coming along in good shape. 26 Funk agreed to be in Virden, Greenville and Pana, with a couple of days in Senator Flagg's dis- trict. There had been about 250 in attendance at Tolono. The county chairmen were running short of circulars. He suggested to Oglesby that they also receive the Republican literature and that congressional committeemen receive the same. He quoted Henry D. Heise of Joliet as saying that the circular was the complete answer to the story being spread by the Democrats in that part of the state. Phil Haner was organizing the Taylorville district. 27 Funk's old friend Frank Fulkerson of Jersey ville referred to Funk's pamphlet, "The Republican Party and the Farmer," "Hoover Saves Hog Prices" and "Prices Under Hoover and the Food Adminis- tration." Frank Fulkerson told Gene Funk that he was indeed sur- prised to find "how far from grace one of our early-day members of one of the first organizations of our own state in behalf of farming has fallen. You ( meaning Funk ) certainly fell from an airplane when you fell for Hoover." 28 Funk's fairly long explanation to Fulkerson included reference to the nominating convention at Kansas City in June 1928. Funk had Confidence Amid Confusion 299 tried his utmost to secure the nomination for Lowden but he said "it was simply hopeless— The East were 100 percent for Hoover and so were a great majority of the southern delegates. We here in the Mid- dle West did not have a corporal's guard toward securing the nomi- nation of Mr. Lowden." 29 L. J. Tabor came to Bloomington to see him about the constant reference to the price fixing issue in the campaign. Funk also wrote his old friend Gentry that Coolidge had done great harm to agricul- ture, because with his New England background he did not under- stand the agricultural problems in the Middle West. Funk also thought his advisers did not "want him to know the real situation." He repeated that Mr. Hoover had imparted the information "strictly confidentially," that "last winter" he attempted three different times to beg Coolidge to call a big conference with the congressional com- mittees and real farmers, but that the President had turned him down. He reported to Gentry that Hoover was not for the equalization fee in the last McNary-Haugen bill. Hoover had asked Funk if he re- membered the trouble during the war with the packers and millers. Hoover then pointed to a joker in the bill which he thought would place agricultural interests in the hands of the above-mentioned or- ganizations. He felt that even those who were backing the bill would soon regret it. Funk continued to believe that 99 percent of those who were against the man neither understood him nor the situation. 30 This question of possible misrepresentation on the price of wheat during the war became so pressing that Funk wrote L. J. Tabor, master of the Grange, on October 22, 1928 that he had had a con- ference with Mr. Hoover at his residence. He reported that Mr. Hoo- ver felt that the committee should prepare another statement to meet any continued misrepresentation or new statements so that he could be fortified with necessary material. Tabor enclosed a statement for Funk to approve saying: You will note that I tried to make the conditions exactly as it occurred and to keep the statement in harmony with statement issued which we signed on October 18 of last year. I have included a short statement and one just a little longer. Am perfectly willing to sign either one or both of them and leave it to Mr. Hoover which one should be used, if used at all. 31 Funk signed both statements. He told Tabor that as far as Illinois was concerned, the problem was being cleared. He felt that Hoover would carry the state without any doubt, "Our farmers have accepted my statements as facts." 32 He also wrote Hoover that he had heard from Tabor and again repeated that he believed they were winning 300 Seed, Soil and Science Illinois against false statements regarding the price fixing informa- tion. 33 Will T. Carlson from Greenville, Illinois in Bond County wrote that the Democrats were on the run after Funk's speech in the court room. The speech was to be ' poll-parrotted" throughout the county, with local papers publishing the speech. 34 Encouragement also came from Montgomery County. 35 During the last week of the campaign the Volunteer Agriculture Republican Committee for the State of Illinois informed as many farmers as possible. Funk also urged his friends to influence the doubtful voter. 36 He took care of his own expenses for the past two weeks, telling John Oglesby that the bill was not high. He donated the time and then "sponged off his friends. " He had already spoken in Logan County at Emden and Chestnut; in Tazewell County at Eureka and would go to Kendall County if necessary. C. P. Bull ad- vised that Minnesota appeared to be safe for Hoover by October 26th. Funk urged his congressional district leaders to keep going during the last week of the campaign. 37 He was able to wire his friend Her- bert Hoover on November 7th, "Good and faithful servant, you de- served it." 3S Hoover stated in 1955 that Mr. Funk was "a great support in the campaign." 39 A. R. MacKusick of Boston again brought up the question of Funk's appointment as Secretary of Agriculture. Funk again stated that he would make no personal effort. He believed that any man who would undertake the position at this point would need almost public sup- port. Any man who would seek the office and support from friends and polititians would thereby defeat the purpose he should have in taking the office. As always he believed that the position should seek the man. Therefore, it was up to his friends, not to him. 40 Later he told MacKusick about his campaigning in southern Illinois and sent him copies of the article that was so often reprinted. He estimated that he had spoken twice daily for about a month during the cam- paign. "We carried all the precincts in a Democratic section in Illinois that had never before gone Republican." 41 The McLean County Farm Bureau was active in his behalf again. This is an interesting statement in view of the claims of George N. Peek who by this time had gone over to the Democratic party with the nomination of Herbert Hoover and the loss of the McNary-Haugen equalization fee idea. Congressional supporters of the McNary-Haugen idea, however, including McNary and Haugen, Brookhart, Dickinson and others, supported Hoover. 42 Under the guidance of Peek, independent agricultural leagues were Confidence Amid Confusion 301 formed in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ne- braska, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Montana. Peek learned that it was difficult to isolate a specific issue in a Presidential campaign. Gilbert Fite points out that Mr. Hoover had an abundance of capable campaigners. Among them Senator Borah effectively assaulted the equalization fee. 43 The following counties in the entire state of Illinois returned Dem- ocratic majorities : Monroe, Perry, Clinton, Effingham, Franklin, Gal- latin, Macoupin, St. Clair, Union and Wabash. Of these, six had returned Republican majorities in 1924 and 1920 as italicized. The following counties returned Republican majorities after being Demo- cratic in 1924: Pike, Brown, Greene, Jersey, Jasper, Schuyler, White, Hamilton and Jo Daviess. In all other counties returning Republican majorities, there was a comfortable margin of over 1,000 except in Cass, Scott, Washington and Williamson. The Republicans had scarcely any difficulty above the 39th parallel and carried the south- ern part below this line except in eight counties. The Republican majority in Cook County was reduced to 95,780 in contrast with a majority of 462,832 in 1924. 44 After hearing over the radio December 13th that Frank Lowden would support Hoover, Funk wrote to Lowden as follows: I was in Washington last June— the week previous to the convention in Kansas City on Committee for the National Chamber of Commerce— and while in the city I called on Mr. Hoover as I had always been in the habit of doing. I learned from him direct his views on agricultural prob- lems. I had in my pocket a telegram asking me to come to Kansas City to help to try to nominate Frank O. Lowden. Hoover knew that I was for you and I am greatly disappointed we were not able to rally sufficient force to bring about your nomination. After the nomination certain interests as well as certain individuals undertook to poison the thoughts of the public with such malicious falsehoods about Mr. Hoover, of things that he did and did not do during the war which I personally knew were wrong for as you know I was with Hoover during the eighteen months that he was Food Administrator. He explained that when John Oglesby and the National Republican Committee asked him if he would try to counteract these statements, he felt that it was his duty to do so. He also informed Lowden that a number of agricultural organizations had passed resolutions asking for the selection of someone from Illinois as Secretary of Agriculture. His own name had been mentioned "absolutely unsolicited" and with- out his previous knowledge. Then he urged Frank Lowden to accept the position; he offered to withdraw quietly and throw all of his 302 Seed, Soil and Science influence to his good friend. He almost implored Lowden to accept: You have the opportunity now, Frank, to be the real leader of our Agri- cultural cause that we have cherished the hope for many years. I believe Hoover realizes that he needs you and if you will allow us to use your name we will do everything we can to show him that you are the one man who the farmers as a whole will accept as their leader. You can do more for Agriculture than anyone else at this critical time. The Cause is the thing now. It is bigger than any individual but some individual must lead. There are a lot of men who might be President but there are very few men who our American farmers have the confidence to rally round and support with the attempt to place Agriculture where it rightfully belongs. You are the one at this time who can swing the pendulum in the right direction. 45 He also informed the McLean County Farm Bureau of these ideas. 46 However, the Seed World reprinted a Pantagraph article and the pic- ture of Funk, referring to him as a possible Secretary of Agriculture. 47 Resolutions went forward from the Illinois delegation in Congress in- cluding Senators Deneen and Glen 48 and from the Illinois Farmers Institute. But the selection fell to Arthur N. Hyde. An effort to estimate whether the stream of history would have been changed appreciably if Eugene D. Funk had risen to the Secre- taryship of Agriculture in the decade of the twenties seems impos- sible. Yet the man himself represented something during the era that was lost to that position in the scramble to find the answers. All would agree that leadership in the important post of the Secretary- ship from Illinois in the central Corn Belt was overlooked during this decade. The practical farmer was disregarded in official appoint- ments. Funk's analyses of agricultural situations were usually accurate and his ability to measure the farmers' reactions was un- questioned. Often, however, his faith in his "friends" blinded him to their obligations under the demands of "practical politics." Once recognizing the direction of events, he played his continuing role without complaint or criticism. After the inauguration of President Hoovers administration, Funk Bros. Seed Co. was engaged in developing markets for soybean seed in Illinois ( See below, Chapter XXVI ) . There is every reason to un- derstand why agricultural groups in the Middle West could support the Republican Party and its general position on the tariff. Knowing that a surplus crop such as corn was not in a position to be helped by protection, leaders realized that the comparatively new crop, soy- beans, needed every encouragement. Since E. D. Funk was one of the pioneers in establishing the soybean processing business in the Central Corn Belt he was deeply interested in the situation. He urged Confidence Amid Confusion 303 his friend, Charles L. Meharry of Attica, Indiana to write his Con- gressman, Fred S. Purnell. Funk told Meharry that he had an old friend in Washington looking into the soybean meal and oil tariff situation. Funk feared difficulty without duty on soybean oil. 49 E. D. Funk was host in 1930 to 25,000 to 30,000 corn husking fans on the Funk farms. He was introduced by Dave Thompson, former McLean County farm adviser, then on the staff of The Prairie Farmer "as the foremost corn breeder in the country." Frank Moberly, presi- dent of the McLean County Farm Bureau and Floyd Keepers, editor of Prairie Farmer, were also there. The Pantagraph airplane circled overhead as thirteen huskers matched their skill and speed for 80 minutes in what was described as "the greatest of all Illinois corn husking contests." Thousands of parked cars lined up, but one of the main attractions was thirteen matched teams of fine Percheron horses supplied by McLean County breeders and farmers. The exhibit was described as the largest since the days when Bloomington-Normal was known as the Percheron breeding center of the United States. 50 Renewed interest in the old National Corn Association brought a reunion in 1930. Of the original organizers, promoters and workers, twenty-six indicated their intention to attend. 51 This effort was the result of a meeting at the International in 1929 of E. D., Sr., C. P. Bull and W. H. Young, Fred McCulloch and Kruger of Wisconsin. After a dinner they spent the evening talking over "old times," with the re- sult that they decided to hold a reunion during the International in 1930. Only seventeen arrived: Clore, Stone, Winters, Rankin, Mosher, Olin, Young, Ten Eyck, J. A. King, Kruger, Mumford, Sconce, Wheeler, Maxey, McCulloch, D. Thompson, E. D. Funk. Sconce, as a director of the World's Fair for 1933, issued an invitation to the old association to take charge of the grain exhibit during the ex- position in the fall of 1933. 52 Correspondence between Funk and Fred McCulloch revealed that Sconce had not consulted Leonard and Heide of the Interna- tional. They felt that the old Corn Association was trying to take the show away from the International. Funk sent word to Heide and Leonard that such was not the case. Moore was of the opinion that the old association should "die a natural death," and that the Crop Improvement Association ought to succeed the old National Corn Association. Funk suspected that Moore had talked to young Holden at Madison and that accounted for P. G.'s silence. Funk added, "So far as I am concerned I don't give a rap who puts on the show and I don't intend to force the issue that would get our old N. C. A. into 304 Seed, Soil and Science a squabble with any of them." He reminded McCulloch that Sconce voluntarily made the offer and that he (Funk) would not proceed without a clean slate with expenses furnished. 53 Funk also wrote Sconce regarding an article in the Drovers Journal the day after the reunion. Funk felt that if the International offered cash prizes and the World's Fair only medals, the result would be obvious. 54 Funk delayed action until a thorough understanding could be brought about between the World's Fair officials and the International Live Stock Hay and Grain Show. 55 The newly elected directors of the old Corn Association included C. P. Bull, W. H. Young, A. L. Stone, Fred McCulloch, Dave Thomp- son, L. M. Vogler, Val Kuska, W. L. English and E. D. Funk. 56 No officers were chosen at this time. Ground was broken for the Agricultural Building at the New World's Fair Grounds on Friday, May 20, 1932 for the Century of Progress on Northerly Island. Chas. S. Peterson, vice president of A Century of Progress, presided. A pageant in four parts dramatized the development of American Agriculture from oxen-drawn plow to tractor-drawn gang plow. The first period was illustrated by Dr. A. W. Bitting in charge of foods of the Agricultural Section, who drove a team of Connecticut oxen harnessed to an old wooden plow built in 1750, loaned by A. Watson Armour of Chicago. The second period was illustrated by Frank I. Mann, pioneer farmer of Gilman, Illinois, who drove a span of mules hitched to the old original wood beam steel bottom plow, known as the walking plow. It was the first plow manufactured in the first plow factory of William Parlin of Canton, Illinois in 1847. The third period was illustrated by Eugene D. Funk of Funk Farms. He drove the champion Clydesdale horses to the original sulky plow introduced more than sixty years ago in the United States. The fourth period was illustrated by Harvey Sconce, who drove an International Harvester gas tractor. 57 Charles Boyles from Chicago commented on Funk's activity in ob- taining a million dollar corn loan through Intermediate Credit Bank. He added, "I appreciate of course that this whole movement is the product of your brains and activities." 58 E. D. Funk continued to talk to groups throughout the state. He was not very popular with some at the State Fair in 1931 as a result of urging farmers to vote for Hoover in 1928. In a speech to the Illinois Brotherhood of Threshermen in March 1932, he referred to some of the problems of Illinois in relation to responsibilities of farmers mentioned in his 1925 talk to the I. M. A. He spoke of the Confidence Amid Confusion 305 significance of the plant breeder, showing how Iowa Oat 103 came to be selected. He summarized by emphasizing the importance of adaptation to environment and of resistance to disease in grain crops. 59 Funk was not downhearted. He spoke over WBBM April 9, 1932 in what he described as "one of the most wild-eyed campaigns" ever witnessed. He supported the candidacy of Omer M. Custer for Gov- ernor. Lowden also supported Custer. 60 Other activities included appointment to the Agricultural Committee of the Illinois Manufac- turers Association on September 8, 1932. 61 During the late twenties and early thirties Funk was engaged in important agricultural development for his company. Depression years slowed activity and created problems, but progress in expansion of soybean acreages and hybrid corn were under way. CHAPTER XXIII Depression Years During the depression year 1933 Eugene D. Funk described the plight of the farmer to his industrial friends, urged consumption of grain by new methods x and participated in the programs provided by the Democratic administration. The decade of the twenties em- phasized as never before in the history of the country problems con- fronting agriculture. Throughout the years, Eugene Funk spoke for the Corn Belt farmer, faced economic difficulty himself and sought new and improved crops for the future. As he looked squarely at depression he also realized that these same years were potentially ad- vantageous for the company. At a meeting of the Agricultural Committee of the Illinois Manu- facturers' Association held in Chicago, January 13, 1933, E. D. Funk, a member of the committee, admitted that 90 percent of the farming community recognized the need for relief but did not approve a Farm Board. He also noted that farmers were compelled to curtail expenses. Many were grinding wheat and corn on the farms and con- verting their raw material into food products. He advocated some aid with as little new legislation as possible. He believed farmers would not agree to restriction of production. He reported that there were 4,000,000 acres of farm land in Illinois which had never been able to produce crops at prices above cost of production. This land was low in fertility. Much of it was rolling and should go into forestry for the benefit of future generations. Illinois could reduce taxes on all fallow land and make it an inducement to curtail grain production. He spoke of a tract of land owned by his family consisting of 3,000 acres originally forest land. The taxes on this tract were $2.30 per acre. All except 1,200 acres were converted into crop land in order to pay taxes and other expenses. Funk suggested that Illinois induce farmers to restrict their pro- duction by reducing taxes on land planted to legumes. Fallow land producing weeds lost fertility. Such land should not be taxed as long as the owner planted it to clover or alfalfa and plowed the legume crops under. The Chicago Tribune referred to a plan relieving high 306 Depression Years 307 taxation on all fallow land. Illinois Revenue laws, however, would not permit exemption of fallow land: if planted to legumes exemption might result. A committee was suggested to work with Mr. Funk. 2 Eugene Funk presided at a committee meeting of the same group February 10, 1933 when Mr. Beshers explained his plan for grain alcohol. Tentative drafts of bills to be presented by Congressman Hull ( 16th District ) and Hall ( 17th ) were discussed. Funk also pre- sided at the March meeting. Representatives who were interested from Standard Oil attended. The possibility of securing a market for corn in the depression years 1932-33 increased interest in grain alco- hol. A demonstration for the use of grain alcohol in automobiles oc- curred at Yorkville in Kendall county, Illinois, November 1932. J. J. Groetken of Aurora, manufacturer of fuel products, made these tests. 3 Paul Beshers of El Paso, Illinois, as an early advocate of grain alcohol, presented a radio address on the subject over radio station WLS in Chicago, January 9, 1933. His plan was originally sponsored by the Lions Club of Gridley, Illinois and later by the same organization in Peoria. He and his sponsors believed that this plan contained the elements of a good farm relief program. Its specific terms included: that all petroleum products which have a gravity of 36 percent Baume, or above, that may be used as fuel in internal combustion engines, shall be adulterated 10% by volume with ethyl alcohol made from agricultural products grown within the United States. Ethyl alcohol can be made from any or all agricultural products. This country uses approximately 17 billion gallons of fuel yearly which comes under our definition, 10 percent of which would be 1,700,000,000 gallons which is the amount of alcohol we will need to make from your products. Translated into corn this would mean a market for approximately 689,000,000 bushels. 4 Alcohol made from corn was among the most publicized ideas for consuming grain. The editor of the Chicago Drovers Journal Janu- ary 26, 1933 printed the ideas of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana to the effect that the alcohol in all foreign countries being used as a blended motor fuel was manufactured locally, usually by government subsidized monopoly. In these countries gasoline was usually imported, subject to high duties. Alcohol was therefore cheaper in countries having no petroleum supplies. Cars in foreign countries also had motors and fuel systems different from those in the United States. This statement of Standard Oil declared that various proposals in the United States to this end had all fallen flat because of technical and economic obstacles. This report also pointed out 308 Seed, Soil and Science that alcohol can be made cheaper from other materials than from excess farm materials. 5 Despite this discouraging note, the New York Times noted edito- rially, March 8, 1933 that in nearly a score of countries alcohol was mixed with gasoline. The editorial said, "Why not introduce the prac- tice here? Legislate a little alcohol into every gallon of gasoline and the farmer would pay off his mortgage, we are told." The Corn Belt could become the Promised Land if admixtures ran from 2 to 20 per- cent. This newspaper added that there could be no question that alco- hol would be a good fuel for automobiles if engines were designed to burn the product. The 2 percent did not cause trouble but a f ailing off of efficiency occurred when proportions rose to 10 or 20 percent. Then a significant observation followed: Aside from these economic and engineering considerations the chemist would question the soundness of alcoholic farm relief. The alcohols are so obliging. The most obliging of all is ethyl alcohol— the kind distilled from grain. Almost anything that can be made to ferment will yield it. Fruits, potatoes, vegetables all are good raw materials, and so is wood. It might be expected that the petroleum refiners would lift their voices in protest. Instead they reserve a cheerful silence. For petroleum can be "cracked" to yield ethylene from which the synthetic equivalent of ethyl or grain alcohol can be obtained. In 1931 some 8,000,000 gallons were pro- duced and sold in a highly competitive market. 6 A "Beshers' Plan" governing body was formed at Gridley including W. E. Froelich, Lions Club president; J. R. Heiple, vice president of the Gridley State Bank; E. E. Kaufman, clothier; State Senator L. C. Sieberns; S. H. Ravenacht, farm owner and headquarters manager; B. L. Andrews, insurance; Mr. Beshers, Philip Hayes and C. C. King- don, all from El Paso. From Bloomington were included John W. Rodgers, Jr. president of the Association of Commerce; Eugene D. Funk, chairman of A. of C. Agricultural Committee and Campbell Holton, wholesaler. From Peoria were included James Dacem, presi- dent of the Lions Club, George Bosham and Henry Naw. 7 Eugene Funk was active in bringing the Beshers Plan to the at- tention of all who were interested. He recalled the demonstration of the model converting grain to alcohol sent by the U. S. D. A. to the Corn Association meeting in Omaha during 1909. He rode in a 1927 automobile with 10 percent blended alcohol with common gasoline. The test showed two additional miles per gallon over ethyl alcohol. 8 By 1933 he declared that agriculture stood squarely up against the wall and "if we are forced to push that wall over we will surely drag everything else through." 9 Depression Years 309 Four bills came before Congress endorsing the mixture as an aid to agriculture. Oil company officials, however, predicted that the fuel would raise costs to the consumer from 2/2 to 4 cents per gallon. Rep- resentative Dirksen from Illinois furnished ten gallons for the car of Secretary Wallace. Dirksen said in April 1933 that 500,000 gallons of the fuel had been sold in Illinois and that much alcohol had been shipped to Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas for blending. 10 Frank Gillespie ( Democrat ) described his seventeenth district of Illinois as the "richest lands on earth" where the farmers were re- duced to bankruptcy because of 7 cent oats, 10 cent corn, 3 cent hogs and 4 cent cattle. He declared that the bill to help the farmer and the nation by introducing agricultural purchasing power "is the most im- portant bill that will be presented to the Congress/' He sponsored the Beshers Plan in H. R. 1744. Sec. 2 stated, "It shall be unlawful for any person to sell motor fuel in the United States unless at least 10 percent thereof by volume is alcohol manufactured from agricul- tural products." n Gillespie closed his speech before the House with the words, "We are at Armageddon and fighting for the Lord; for Justice. The farmer's cause is a holy cause." The speech was printed in the Pantagraph. Congressmen Hall of Bloomington and Hull of Peoria favored similar plans 12 before their terms of office expired March 4, 1933. Disillusionment resulted when people became aware that the dis- tilleries in Pekin and Peoria made alcohol from blackstrap molasses rather than from Illinois corn. 13 What was believed to be the first fuel of its kind offered to the public anywhere in the United States, however, was on sale at Farm Bureau filling stations in the Peoria area at 3 cents above untreated gasoline. 14 Senator Shipstead of Min- nesota gained the approval of a resolution asking the Secretary of Agriculture to investigate the possibilities of using alcohol manufac- tured from corn as a motor fuel. 15 The report from the Department of Agriculture giving approval to the principle of blending alcohol with gasoline was received by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, May 10, 1933. This report was described as more favorable than previous answers sent out by the Department. 16 According to the Pantagraph May 4, 1933, Congressman Gillespie was of the opinion that an Illinois Congressman from Chicago on the House Agricultural Committee who was only faintly interested in the proposal had been apathetic toward it. The Senate was also said to have sidetracked the Beshers movement in May 1933. 17 The information for the press released May 8, 1933 by the Depart- 310 Seed, Soil and Science ment of Agriculture declared that manufacture of alcohol from farm products would be an aid in taking care of agricultural surplusses and stablizing markets; that most gasoline engines then in use ap- peared to be able to handle a 19 percent alcohol gasoline mixture without adjustments and without much change in mileage per gallon of fuel; that the use of 10 percent of alcohol would add 2% cents a gallon and utilize 560,000,000 bushels of corn and 112,000,000 bushels of barley. Although the consumption of gasoline might be reduced at first the resultant rise in farmers' buying power might increase use of automotive machinery and gasoline thus offsetting in part the in- crease in costs of blended fuel. 18 As early as March 18, 1933 E. M. Dirksen (Republican) registered a protest on behalf of independent oil companies in his home town of Pekin. He charged Government competition with private business in connection with marketing "highball" gasoline, a fluid containing 10 percent denatured alcohol. The federal authorities gave the farmers' cooperative oil company permission to sell the new fuel, but it was charged that they denied the same privilege to the independents. Dr. James Doran, fuel commissioner of industrial alcohol, said that fur- ther permits were not granted because the Pekin project was experi- mental. Independent dealers wanted to take part in the experiment. 19 The Prairie Farmer stated that of 712 Illinois customers using the 10 percent alcohol gasoline blend motor fuel, 430 reported an in- creased mileage over regular gasoline of 2.66 miles per gallon. Three customers reported average mileage decrease of one mile per gallon. Others did not report. Five hundred and seventy-nine favored this fuel because it improved starting; 678 found increased power, and 683 reported generally improved motor performance. 20 A Beshers National Economic League was formed at a meeting of the Bloomington Association of Commerce of Bloomington in Janu- ary 1935. 21 James Gray, Clyde Huddleson of Normal and S. H. Rivenacht of Gridley were named as a committee to edit and publish a circular. The suggestion that the Federal Administration include the alcohol gas program in its agricultural adjustment administration plan was made by 1,000 delegates at an alcohol-gas mass meeting held in Bloomington, February 11, 1935. James Gray was general chairman. Members of the sponsoring committee represented the Bloomington Association of Commerce, McLean County Farm Bu- reau, Illinois Agricultural Association and the Alcohol Motor Fuel Association. 22 Alcohol was produced at a plant in Atchison, Kansas in 1936. 23 Unfavorable factors discouraged efforts to consume corn. Depression Years 311 E. D. Funk, Sr. was "drafted," as he said, by President Franklin Roosevelt with eight others to represent Illinois in the N. R. A. cam- paign and also as a director of Regional Credit Corporation. He added, "I am a blamed fool for being on any of their committees, but what is a fellow going to do? I did not ask for any of the jobs but was told I was drafted to serve." 24 Funk accepted voluntary codes with one exception, "Where the labor union is attempting to get in a position in order to be able to dictate to industry as to the personnel of its employees, regardless of efficiency or loyalty, and forcing the employer to help support a lot of 'walking delegates/ saddled with authority who practically would tell you how to run your business." He added that in signing the President's tentative code, "We wrote a reservation on that point." After returning from a meeting with the Governor of Illinois and eight others appointed by the President to represent the state on the N. R. A. he believed that Illinois would cooperate to the utmost to bring about relief and cooperate with the President. 25 Funk, Sr. had his doubts about curtailment and never agreed with "surplus propaganda" before or during 1933. He believed that lack of confidence and depressed agricultural prices had more to do with the situation than anything else. However, he was fearful that: mental action on the part of the grain trade in general to discredit if possible, the Administration, and that feeling has more or less reflected into the speculative element. Naturally the Corn Products and other manu- facturers are taking advantage and they are not going to bull the market alone altho I have been told by sons of them they wish the price was higher, as a high market is better for their finished product than a low de- pressed market. At Bloomington, Illinois through the Association of Commerce the President and the Secretary of Agriculture were asked to set a price of 60 cents per bushel to the farmer for this year's crop ( 1933 ) if he agreed to cut his acreage 20 percent for 1934. They also asked Gov- ernor Horner to call a conference of other Governors with commercial and agricultural interests from other states. The purpose was to let Washington know that the Middle West had its "back right up against a stout wall and something must be done to relieve the situation." Funk thought that 50 cents for Number 2 corn, Chicago, did not mean much after costs of freight, commission and other charges were de- ducted. He added: What the farmer needs now is for the commercial interests of this Middle West to realize that they too must help and get behind a united effort 312 Seed, Soil and Science that will save all our hides, otherwise there will be another year of wail and woe, foreclosures and bank failures. The N. R. A. is getting away ahead of the agricultural hounds and our merchants cannot sit with added expense indefinitely without the farmer coming to town and able to purchase his necessary requirements and at the same time pay off part of his indebtedness. Labor will not have an opportunity to work. It seems to me it would be much better to start cir- culating money raised from crops and fat livestock than to distribute all of it through the welfare and what is rapidly developing into a dole system. 26 With all of these problems confronting agriculture, E. D. Funk, Sr. tried over a period of two years to work out some system whereby the Funk Bros. Seed Co. could qualify for a loan from the Recon- struction Finance Corporation. Efforts to explain the connection be- tween the company, the land and the experimental work carried on over the years did not gain the desired results. Mortgages on the land plus the desire of bond holders to foreclose added to the deep concern of E. D. Funk through these difficult years of the depression. Added to these disturbing factors was the knowledge that hybrid corn was on the threshold of Golden Years and that soybeans were greatly in demand. 27 With tight credit from the banks Funk scarcely knew where to turn at a time when opportunities were the best in many years ( see chapters 26, 27 and 28 below ) . As late as June 20, 1935, E. D. Funk thought the R. F. C. loan might materialize. Such a loan was never forthcoming. Funk attended the Chemurgic Committee in 1935 at Detroit and encouraged the formation of a Midwest Council, comparable to that in New England. 28 By the middle of 1934 E. D. Sr. was writing his old friend Fred McCulloch at Hartwick, Iowa that he was still a Re- publican but was willing to give the Democrats a chance. He said he had no patience with throwing stones when all were grasping at straws and was signing The "Corn-Hog proposition" as a temporary solution, "a permanent solution has yet to be initiated." He added: I also feel that Henry Wallace is sincere and honest and his sympathies are for agriculture. I happen to know that he has had a hard battle to fight almost alone and against great odds and powerful influence so I have learned not to believe all that I read in the newspapers which at times would appear that Wallace was backing something which he really is not doing. 29 He finally wrote to Secretary Wallace regarding the status of his farms. Henry, I have just got to have some sort of relief so as to satisfy the bond holders. They know as well as the appraiser that our land is worth Depression Years 313 at least $150 per acre. The present loan averages about $155 per acre. We have most of the bondholders committed to take a 20% discount right now if we can get the cash, but they are also pressing to take the land and about 700 acres has already been taken. 30 Two days later, an article by "Farmer" E. W. Rusk, farm adviser in Coles County, Illinois, appeared in the McLean County Farm and Home Bureau News written after he visited the Experimental Corn Plots in September 1934 which were continuing on the Funk Farms. He commented on the significant scientific information received from Doctors R. J. Holbert, senior agronomist U. S. D. A. and Earl G. Sieveking, soil and crops specialist at Funk Bros. Seed Co. This proj- ect was described as a great cooperative undertaking by the agri- cultural colleges and experimental stations of several states. As he closed his comments Rusk wrote: In closing this short story about the highlights I saw in a visit to Funk farms, I desire to pay special tribute to the man in whose heart and brain developed the realization of the need for and plans to carry on this great work so beneficial to mankind. My hat is off in profound respect and def- erence and in admiration for the sturdy, progressive pioneering heart and soul and wise mind of the real man— scholar, farmer, animal husbandman and practical benefactor— because of his great interest and participation in the greatest corn breeding work of the age. My hat is off to the Honor- able Eugene D. Funk— your friend and mine. Blood— good breeding— will tell in both corn and man. 31 Efforts were continued in 1935 to secure financial aid on the basis that if the farms were lost the cooperative work would have to be discontinued. Funk in commenting said he did not know where the work could be taken if they ceased operations, adding, "It is not only expensive but requires years of toil and patience." On the other hand, he noted that there was a certain fascination and reward from the fact of pioneering and giving "our best efforts to assist our brother farmers to a better agriculture." For these reasons he hoped to be able to continue and if possible to perpetuate the work for future generations. 32 E. D. Sr. explained that the mortgages were necessary because of excessive inheritance taxes and assessments on bank stock. The land was assessed at $450 to $550 per acre in 1920. The amount of the loan was reduced to $25,000. March 1st, 1935 was the deadline for payment. Some land was taken over by some bondholders and others were insisting that more land be deeded to them. Some land was surrendered by warantee deed rather than have foreclosure pro- cedures follow. 33 With these worries Funk continued his usual participation in many 314 Seed, Soil and Science activities. He attended the Detroit Farm-Industry-Science meeting, May 1935. Funk and James Gray represented the Bloomington Asso- ciation of Commerce. 34 In 1936 Funk was apprehensive about a third term for President Roosevelt, fearing that a revolution of a kind was in the making. At Indianapolis about 1922 or 1923 he recalled saying, "We were facing a bloodless revolution." He added, "Our grandchildren must not be blamed if in their day they repudiate this tremendous debt that is being saddled upon them." He advocated the drafting of the Re- publicans for Frank Lowden for the Presidency. Funk had presented to the annual meeting of the National Chamber of Commerce in Washington, a copy of resolutions. Many, he said, were adopted. 35 An association of lasting significance in the development of the seed company began following a letter from Funk's friend, H. G. Atwood of Allied Mills, now in Chicago. He informed Funk that George M. Moffett, president of Corn Products Refining Company had expressed satisfaction in producing a crop of Funk's Hi-Bred Corn in Maryland. Atwood suggested that Funk write him. 36 Out of this association came an interesting sequence of events ( see chapter XXIX). By 1937 Funk informed his friend J. A. McConnell, man- ager of G. L. F. Exchange, that his corn and soybean programs were now covering states from Nebraska to Maryland. 37 Adjustments after World War I had created difficulties for those following chiefly agricultural pursuits. Changes in the world position of the United States often occurred without realization by the great group of people. The vision of some leaders also was unusually dim. Old political ideas and economic principles did not always provide immediate remedies for underlying problems. Eugene Funk always sought to analyze the difficulties confronting agriculture. He sup- ported those men he believed to be speaking with the interests of agriculture in mind. He was not always aware or informed of pres- sures exerted upon candidates or officials from other parts of the country. During this confusing decade he and his associates advanced agricultural interest in many field seeds and especially in extensive acceptance of soybeans and hybrid corn. By 1940 E. D. Funk, Sr. could spend his usual winter vacation at his home in Winter Haven, Florida where he continued experimenta- tion with corn and other crops, with a definite interest in improving a tomato variety. As the years crowded along he could view with satisfaction the years that had passed. His life was filled with ad- vantages, pleasures, opportunities strangely complicated by problems Depression Years 315 and difficulties that would have discouraged a man of lesser courage. Events already recorded from 1920 to 1940 are closely tied to the development of Funk Bros. Seed Co. expanding under his direction as president. If there was any one center of his interest outside his family and his hope to contribute to the Betterment of Agriculture it was to lead the company to the production of the best products he could bring to the American farmer. PART SEVEN Not the Largest but the Best CHAPTER XXIV The Company, Leadership, Personnel and Policy • 1918-1944 The origin of Funk Bros. Seed Co. as a family enterprise was the result of the planning and initiative of Eugene D. Funk, Sr. The idea was so ingrained in his thinking that after the reorganization in 1918 he continued to speak of the "family company." During the early years Gene Sr., received considerable recognition for his leadership in agricultural and civic activities and was known widely for his contributions to the seed trade. Policies for his own company were initiated, tested and accepted during these formative years. His basic philosophy of life and his attention to integrity and honesty, often reflected in the ideas of various members of the Funk family, found early and repeated expression. He initiated and continued the policy of recognizing capable and responsible personnel by promotion within the company. As the company expanded, more important as- signments were made to long-time employees. Eugene Funk, Sr. often said that an organization can be no better that the people who work in it. He was among the first to emphasize the individual contributions of his employees. The crowded years 1918-40 revealed the extensive and demanding activities carried on by this remarkable man. His interests outside the development of the seed company indicated the kind of recognition and respect he had been accorded through one and one-half decades. The energy of the man, his understanding of agricultural problems, his concern for the welfare of the farmer and his wide acquaintanceship are testi- monials to a busy and active career. Along with these responsibilities, assumed partly because of the developing company, he carried the burden of directing its growth during a period of agricultural diffi- culty and of depression economy. The development of the company paralleled the events already discussed during the twenties and thirties. Each of the major departments in the company underwent interesting and complicated growth providing interesting chapters in themselves. Eugene D. Funk, Sr. always provided a directing hand. 319 320 Seed, Soil and Science E. D. Sr. came to the office regularly to take care of his corre- spondence and his many appointments. Visitors from all over the country came to talk with him. His associates recognized his concern for farmers and their problems. When yields were down and prices low he thought that it was his personal responsibility to try to help to remedy the situation. His judgment was respected and his counsel sought. On occasions he displayed the typical Funk characteristic of sternness. He was forceful, fair, thoughtful and considerate of the people with whom he came in contact. Often when he gave the ap- pearance of indecision, those who worked with him knew that he was trying to weigh all sides of a question. 1 Although his manner was kindly, few chose to cross him at the wrong moment. He practiced the democratic ideas that he advocated in the com- pany described by him as a "family organization." His employees re- call that he knew them and spoke to them whenever he happened to meet them. He was accessible for conferences and welcomed com- ments. No battery of secretaries kept him from talking with people he liked so well. Employees were expected to keep busy. Mr. Funk always seemed to see at a glance what was going on when he walked through the office or warehouse. The offices of the seed company in the twenties were located in a two story frame house near the site of the present office building. The managerial and bookkeeping departments were on the first floor. Mr. Funk occupied the second floor where Dr. J. Holbert also had a desk while he continued his employment with the United States Department of Agriculture. Eugene Funk was described as one of the most likable people and as a perfect gentleman who did not wish publicity, with an in- tegrity typical of the Funks. Employees were pleased when Mrs. Eugene Sr. knew the names of all the employees. E. D. Sr. summed up the purpose of the organization when he said, "It is not necessary to be the biggest organization in the Seed World, but the best." Funk would give people responsibility and time to carry out the assign- ments. The elder Funk emphasized the necessity for maintaining good will in the business operations. Funk always looked ahead, saying, "We will be in business 100 years from now." Employees ad- mired the impersonal attitude that E. D. Sr., maintained toward his employees. There were no favorites, or friends who had access to him after hours that others did not have. Yet he was always friendly, interested and kindly but there was a dignity and a reserve in his dealings with employees. These characteristics created confidence. The Company, Leadership, Personnel and Policy 321 With the reorganization of the company in 1918 H. H. Miller who had arrived the preceding October became general manager. The many activities of E. D. Sr. called him away from the office as the preceding chapters related. Able assistants were depended upon to carry forward the developing business. Miller's previous experience included work at the Guelph Agricultural College in Guelph, On- tario, Canada. He was also associated with Albert Dickinson Seed Company in Chicago for many years. His early associates in Bloom- ington remembered him as an able and well-liked administrator who dealt fairly and firmly with the personnel. His knowledge of field seeds and his ability as a shrewd and successful buyer often proved to be the difference between profit and loss during the trying decade of the twenties. He worked well with E. D. Sr. Older employees re- called that it was sometimes difficult to determine whether one or the other proposed an idea for the overall program. Miller was interested in the problems and work of each individual. Each Saturday the sales group in later years of his management would come together for a meeting. He would ask what had happened in their territory. After their comments he in turn would tell them what he knew about their situations. He was never aloof. Associates described him as a keen trader with a good sense of values. He was able in training others by allowing them to learn to avoid difficulties and to solve problems. Often he covered for their mistakes. Miller was a quiet and thoughtful person with a businesslike ap- proach to problems. He would ask a pertinent and penetrating question and in turn provide a thorough answer. When he planned improvements he estimated what he wanted and the amount to be spent. Then he expected results. When new activities were to be un- dertaken he was often heard to inquire, "How much might we lose by this action?" The office force in 1921 in addition to the president and the general manager included an elderly gentleman, Howard Leaton, who acted as bookkeeper and cashier for approximately twelve years before Miller's arrival. Newton Crosby replaced Leaton as bookkeeper and Rachel Mclntyre was employed as a secretary and billing clerk. Margaret Schertz was added to the force as a secretary in September 1921. Ernest Radley was employed in February 1922 and Vaughn Dunbar came to the office in June 1922. At this time these three people with Mr. Miller were the only "office help." Sons of E. D. Sr. have also participated in the company's activities for a comparable length of time. Of the sons, Eugene Jr. while at the University of Illi- 322 Seed, Soil and Science nois worked for the company during the spring of 1921 and following summers through 1924, learning almost every phase of the operations by actual participation. Possessed of a pleasing personality, likable and friendly, Gene Jr. became a full time employee in 1924. He at- tained experience in all general office work with wages at $25 a week. He often acted as buyer and salesman on the road. After experience in the office he assumed responsibility in the warehouse, working as a laborer and eventually becoming a foreman. He was deeply in- terested in soybean operations. With the appointment of Bradley as manager of the Taylorville plant, Gene Jr. assumed additional re- sponsibility in soybean operations with the help of H. H. Miller, J. A. Waring and later Harold Abbott. Gene Jr. became secretary and di- rector in 1932 and president of the company in 1944. The eldest son of E. D. Sr., LaFayette, managed the farms until Theodore assumed this responsibility. A large portion of the open pollinated and later of hybrid seed corn was produced on the Funk Farms under the supervision of LaFayette. His work included all operations of planting, harvesting and sorting the seed corn from 1918 until he relinquished the management of the farms to his brother. He also acquired a practical knowledge of construction en- abling him to contribute effectively to the expanding nation-wide research program in hybrid corn after he became a director of the company in 1937. He early supervised some of the hybrid corn plant- ing in the Missouri Valley of Iowa. After purchase of the foundry at Belle Plaine, Iowa, he was responsible for the remodeling, construc- tion of storage bins and new metal drier. He also planned the con- struction of both the small and large driers at the Funk Farms and the expansion of the plants at Mason City, Illinois; Traer, Iowa; and Rockville, Indiana. He and Howard Reeder accommodated the needs of the expanding business with efficient building and procurement of adequate equipment. Their advice has been sought for construc- tion in Mexico, Italy, Spain and Argentina. LaFayette is also well known as president of the Mid West Federation of Mineralogists. His interest for a decade in collecting rocks, minerals and gems earned him an expert's knowledge and recognition as a qualified "Rock Hound" and lapidary. His informed and interesting lectures have been in demand before seed company groups and others throughout the State of Illinois as well as Indiana and Iowa. Hundreds of visitors came to the Funk Farms from all over the United States and even from foreign countries to view his valuable collection. This collection is one of the most outstanding in the United States. The Company, Leadership, Personnel and Policy 323 Margaret Schertz, who was confidential secretary to Eugene D. Funk, Sr. during his presidency of the company, assumed the same duties for Eugene D. Funk, Jr. when he became president in 1944. Her knowledge of all office operations, general information regarding files and understanding of the growth of the business has made her a most valuable employee. Even-tempered and calm, often in the face of lost papers and forgotten appointments she has maintained a kind of protective barrier against too great disturbance in the execu- tive office. Her attention to continuous work, her courteous and ad- mirable office demeanor have earned for her the respect of all who visit the executive office. Paul Funk traveled extensively through Illinois for the company during the years when the transition from a mail order house to the wholesale business was under way. Many of the contracts established in this area proved of lasting value. He built confidence by the methods he employed as a representative of the Funk family engaged in sales. Although illness prevented his continuation in the active work of the company his interest in developing sales programs is reflected in his later contributions as a director of the company. He was also interested in the Mid West Laboratories established by E. D. Sr. His membership in the Illinois Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers has been maintained over a long period of years. When Vaughn Dunbar first came to the office he began as a stenog- rapher in general office work helping with bookkeeping until Mr. Crosby departed. Dunbar took complete charge from 1922-45. He learned to appreciate the sincerity and helpful attitude of E. D. Sr., and recognized the family atmosphere. This same sense of apprecia- tion was extended to all of the family, especially to Mrs. E. D. Sr., who knew all the employees by name. Before Research Acres became the focal point for large gatherings, it was not unusual for those who visited the plant and the farms to see field days and demonstrations to be entertained on the large front lawn at the E. D. Funk home near Shirley. Visitors gathered under the trees. Employees of the company were always invited to attend. A philosophy for handling credit mat- ters developed during these early years. Dunbar tried to put into practice the idea that "Credit is man's confidence in man." Common sense coupled with the belief that a large percentage of people are honest became his guiding principles. Mr. Miller recognized this valuable approach in contact with farmer customers. As the credit department grew with the expansion of the business his work became largely supervisory, often requiring travel away from the home office. 324 Seed, Soil and Science Another of the oldest employees, Ernest Radley, came to the com- pany in 1922 as a billing clerk. During thirty-five years of service with the organization he remained in this department also acting as traffic manager. He acquired a valuable knowledge of freight and traffic problems over the years when orders were sent directly to farmers by local freight, parcel post or express with few carload ship- ments. With the development of the soybean mill after 1934 and with added need for transit applications in all departments, his responsi- bility became a time consuming one. Pressures in the seed business during the time of rush orders in the spring require long hours trying to determine the most direct routes for shipments. Long and stren- uous hours were often and consistently contributed by Radley. No assignment proved too small or too large for him. This group composed of Eugene Funk, Jr., LaFayette Funk and Paul Funk of the Funk family together with Dunbar, Radley and Margaret Schertz remain active in 1958 with thirty five to forty years of continuous service to their credit. 2 Earl Sieveking while at the University of Illinois worked for James Holbert during the summers of 1924-25-26-27. He held a B. S. degree from Purdue (1920); M. A. degree from University of Missouri (1922); and a Ph. D. from the University of Illinois (1928). His work came to the attention of Funk Bros. Seed Co. as much of it was done on the Funk Farms. He became a permanent employee of the com- pany in 1928. Sieveking, formerly of the Illinois Soil Survey and the Agricultural College in the University of Illinois, was engaged to undertake a new plan of work in 1928 related to the development of seed corn. He was employed by the company as a soils and crop specialist. Thus an effort was made to link corn breeding work with scientific studies of soil conditions as in the days of C. G. Hopkins. H. H. Miller, general manager, advised that it did little good to de- velop superior strains of seed corn if they were planted in depleted soil. He anticipated the development of special types of corn for fertile soils and others for poorer soils. Miller thought seed corn was like dairy cows in that both breeding and feeding were essential for best results. 3 It was believed that Earl Sieveking was the first man in America assigned to the task of connecting soil studies and seed corn breeding on a commercial scale. Sieveking also looked after the breeding plots including all steps through the sale of seed corn to the customer. He knew breeding operations as they existed at that time. He also carried on the testing and experimental programs. Other phases of the activity such as Old Office Building, North East Street Old Office Building, West Washington Street -rrrf rrfEff f'l ML Jew Office Building, West Washington Street Aerial View, Funk Bros. Seed Co., Bloomington, Illinois Research Center, Bloomington, Illinois The Company, Leadership, Personnel and Policy 325 production of foundation seed and commercial seed production were not only new to him but to everyone else interested in the product. During these early days of his employment he became active in setting up the Associate Grower program which has become an in- tegral part of the company's system of expansion. He recalls that when he first arrived at the company, Double Cross Hybrid 250 had been produced and sold for a few years. A few acres were produced in 1928. The future of hybrid seed corn seemed assured although it was new. Eugene Funk and his manager, H. H. Miller, were aware and confident of its future. They also realized that its production in- volved special practices, as compared to open-pollinated corn. Re- search, testing and the production of foundation seed were essential, with special production fields to be planted and cared for throughout the season. 4 His long years of able analysis entitled him to qualify for added responsibilities as the years passed. His incisive mind and direct statement as well as objective observations have made him a valuable employee. J. M. Davison or "Red," as he is better known to his associates, joined the company during these early years in 1926 in charge of warehousing records. Following this assignment he worked as a laborer in field seed and soybean departments. He transferred to a position as field seed and hybrid corn salesman. In 1941 he became a hybrid corn salesman on the road, rising to assistant sales manager for the Bloomington office in 1946. As sales advanced he was placed in charge of hybrid seed corn sales in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan territories. Fourteen district sales supervisors eventually came under his direction. Each supervisor had from 70 to 114 dealers working for him as the business expanded. When he first came to the company he was not so certain that he would remain. He was impressed when Mr. E. D. Sr, personally explained in this manner some of the work. "Now I want to tell you about the characteristics of Funk's Great American Oats." The family atmosphere in the company, the feeling that an employee "belongs" is of the greatest importance in his think- ing. Many a time Mr. E. D. Sr. walked quietly alongside and com- mended in some manner his observance of an extra piece of work well done. The willingness of the Funk boys to help when something was needed did not go unobserved by employees. This fact in itself helped to cement the regard that the older employees felt through the years for the entire family. 5 This early policy of training and ad- vancing capable and loyal personnel continues to be uppermost in the thinking of management. In the seed business the "know how" 326 Seed, Soil and Science acquired by long years of experience in buying and selling can only be gained by actual day to day experience in the operations. These four men are good examples of the way the policy is put into practice. Harold Goodwin was first added to the staff in 1924. He remem- bered well the day he was hired by H. H. Miller, who often did exactly what he was expected not to do. At first Miller informed the young applicant that there was no position for him. Goodwin then recommended a friend for the only vacancy. As he was about to leave Miller called to the foreman who was soon saying, "I can always find a place for a good man." Later Miller gave the original position in the office to Goodwin. He left in 1926 but returned to the Company in 1929. As Goodwin himself says, he learned the field seed business "from an expert," H. H. Miller, who after several years said to his apprentice "You might as well sign those letters as Manager of the Field Seed Department." This was indeed direct and high praise. Those who work with Goodwin describe him as having almost a sixth sense about markets and trends. He believes that Good Will is an essential requirement in good business. James Holbert returned in 1937 to active employment after his work with the U. S. D. A. Office space was provided for Holbert by Funk during the years 1918-37. When the young scientist returned to the company he became vice president and director of research for hybrid corn. With the death of H. H. Miller in 1942 he was appointed general manager, a position he retained until his death in 1957. Over the intervening years he built a powerful research department and a national research program. He helped young scientists to learn and to develop their own ideas. He possessed an unusual quality of enthu- siasm enabling him to bring renewed interest to his research person- nel. He was thoroughly convinced of the quality of the products he had worked so closely to produce. Such knowledge gave him the courage to convince others. He also learned to transmit this infor- mation to the farm groups. At first it was difficult to translate the terminology of the scientific world into everyday language, but "Dr. Jim" stayed with the assignment until he mastered the technique. Farmers came to know him as "Doc" as they spoke to and of him with respect and admiration. The title in its full meaning of academic ac- complishment brought him recognition in the world of the scientist as well as fellowship among those who profited by the results of his technical ability. He also gained the respect of his competitors in the commercial world. Competitors from both large and small companies counted on him for a fair and businesslike response to their questions. The Company, Leadership, Personnel and Policy 327 James Holbert never spared his own strength and energy. His en- thusiasm for the growth of Funk Bros. Seed Co. was his very life and indeed he gave it unsparingly. He was often heard to speak of the deep satisfaction gained from his association with E. D. Funk, Sr. and of the influence of the older man upon his thinking. 6 His own scientific training and interest enabled him to recognize the necessity for an atmosphere in which young scientists could work and grow. He had the teacher's skill of asking an additional question to enable the questioner to find his own answer. But he could give a close answer himself and add something more in concrete fashion. He has been described as a great scientist, a great teacher and a great organizer in the field of hybrid corn development. Harold Abbott came to Funk Brothers in 1935 after thirty-six years of experience with Albert Dickinson of Chicago, where he had risen to a vice presidency from office boy. As early as 1900 he gathered sam- ples of field seeds for Paris exhibits and for Buffalo in 1902 and super- vised a corps of men at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. In 1903 he started a division, now known as Formula Feeds, for Albert Dickinson. He was one of few men giving time to the blending and mixing of feeds. Soon he devoted all of his time to this work. Abbott's position with Funk Bros, was manager of the soybean divi- sion. Under his capable and well informed supervision orderly and efficient merchandising prevailed. Abbott maintained his Chicago residence, remaining in Bloomington only during the week from Tuesday through Friday. In this way valuable contacts and informa- tion were readily available. His busy office with two or three Chicago telephone connections operating at the same time suggested his activity. Abbott brought knowledge and left "know how" with Gene Jr., whom he loves as his own son, with Mac Convis and Ralph Savidge and later Delmar Walker. Abbott is highly respected and recognized in the world of soybeans and seed trade. He has served in many organizational offices and has acted as a balance wheel in the Funk organization ( See Chapter XVI ) . Harold Abbott possessed to a remarkable degree the ability to inspire confidence in those who worked with him. This confidence increased as contemporaries recog- nized his competence and understanding of all operations. A friendly and thoughtful manner endeared him to his associates. Long hours of intense work and study enabled him to attain these characteristics of leadership. His friends are widely distributed throughout the United States at all levels of organized business activity. He is described as considerate and with a reputation for integrity and honesty. 328 Seed y Soil and Science "Rusty" Laible graduated in 1920 from the University of Illinois. From 1921-25 he worked in the Department of Animal Husbandry, receiving his M.S. degree in 1925. From 1925-28 he acted as county adviser in Greene County, from 1928-31 in Marshall-Putnam, and from 1931-37 in McLean County. He joined Funk Bros, in 1937 and became agricultural director of sales for the Bloomington office and chairman of the information and advertising committee for all units. He has also been assistant secretary of the board of directors and be- came vice president and a director in 1957-58. His ability to explain and discuss farm problems in clear, concise and understandable manner has made him a valuable employee. His comprehensive knowledge of agricultural methods gained from actual experiences enabled him to talk the farmers' language. As a consultant and ad- ministrator his contributions to the development of the overall pro- gram are constantly apparent in the day to day operations. Quality seed required adequate storage facilities. These require- ments demanded certain kinds of construction. The most important problem was to merchandise equipment to save labor and develop methods for eliminating losses without injury to the product. Over the years Howard Reeder recalled many times the sound advice given to him as a young man by E. D. Sr. When he sent Reeder to Indiana to look up a customer who had complained about a two bushel order, the elder Funk said: "Remember if you're honest you will always be in business." Reeder gave the customer a fair and frank answer to his complaint, and subsequently the customer sent in a 100-bushel order year after year. On another occasion when discussing con- struction of a storage bin, E. D. Sr. said: "My boy, when you don't have a good foundation, you don't have a building, and whenever you don't have a foundation for your business you don't have a busi- ness." Competence in the field of construction also was developed as the business grew, especially in the hybrid seed corn division. Howard Reeder started with field seed in 1936. He worked for John Howard until 1937-38 when he was sent to the Normal plant as a supervisor. Reeder acquired two years of engineering training at night school and worked closely with LaFayette Funk, eldest son of E. D. Sr. They supervised construction as the nationwide and foreign research program of Funks expanded. His assistance was greatly appreciated by agricultural leaders of Mexico. Among the chief centers of ex- pansion are processing plants at Funk Farms, Normal Plant, Mason City, Illinois; Belle Plaine and Traer, Iowa; and Rockville, Indiana. The Company, Leadership, Personnel and Policy 329 LaFayette Funk and Reeder have contributed effectively in expan- sion programs for Associates. Lewis Falck came to the Iowa branch of Funk Bros. Seed Co. in 1935, working until 1938 with Fred McCulloch Seed Company, an early associate of E. D. Funk, Sr. Falck recalled a trip to Research Acres where he first met James Holbert who said, "Young fellow, I believe you and I will get along all right together." This statement influenced Falck to remain with the organization. The expansion of the Iowa branch of the company has shown steady growth from 1936 forward. Falck was permanently employed by Funk Bros, in 1938. Falck recalled specifically the influence of E. D. Sr. and his statement "Not the biggest company but the best" as an idea repeated throughout dealer meetings. Iowa corn was at first brought to Mason City, Illinois for processing. Finally it was decided to locate the Iowa branch in Belle Plaine. The foundry at Belle Plaine was purchased in 1940 and the first metal drier was in- stalled in 1941. A plant was established at Traer in 1947 continuing the steady expansion in the Iowa-Minnesota territory. Lewis Falck gave credit to James R. Holbert for the ability to spark the personnel to action. Holbert was so convinced of the superiority of his product that he inspired his followers. Falck stated, "I don't believe there has ever been anyone more universally respected for his ability with hybrid corn than Jim Holbert." Lewis Falck's contribution has also been of marked significance. He has built the Iowa-Minnesota division into an effective operation in a highly competitive area. He has contributed leadership of an unusual quality in the Associate Group and on the committee of advertising and information. 7 The personnel of the Iowa division is also composed of many long time employees. Their contributions have been of lasting importance in implementing the overall Funk program. Initiative and enthusiasm have been among their valuable characteristics displayed under the able direction of Lewis Falck. Those who work with Falck appreciate and understand his direct approach to difficult problems. He does not hesitate to state effectively his ideas and attitudes. This is a quality in leadership respected by the management of Funk Bros. Leon Steele began his employment with Funk Bros. August 1940. At the age of ten in 1925 he had worked for James Holbert as water boy with the U. S. D. A. Each succeeding summer he was employed in the warehouses and field laboratory. He attended Illinois State Normal University in 1935, graduated in 1940 with a B. S. degree 330 Seed, Soil and Science from Illinois Wesleyan and has followed graduate work at both I. S. N. U. and the University of Illinois. After finishing college he was employed as a corn breeder with Michael Leonard Seed Co. He returned to work with James Holbert at Funk Bros, in 1940 as re- search assistant, then served as manager of the research department until 1953 when he was appointed associate manager of research. He easily assumed the responsibility as director of the Funks G research division at the death of Holbert in 1957. He projected the entire program along the well laid plan of the developing research initiated by his father-in-law, James Holbert. His close association and long years of apprenticeship under Holbert's direction have provided a valuable continuity in the research department. Steele is respected by those who work with him. His analyses of scientific data indicate a thorough grasp of procedures. His explanations are easily understood by all groups visiting the Research Center and Research Acres. Others also qualified in the fifteen year classification by 1958 in- clude Elias W. Rolley, Mac Convis, Theodore Funk and Wesley Wilcox. E. W. Rolley was a self employed public accountant from 1921 to 1938. In this capacity he was engaged in accounting work for Funks, preparing the year end audits from 1923 to 1938, later pre- pared by Alexander Grant and Company. From 1939 to 1942 he pre- pared the monthly statements, and became a full time employee in 1942. His thorough knowledge of insurance problems, tax matters and accounting systems has made him an efficient and able comptrol- ler for the company. With the expansion of the company the financial judgment of E. W. Rolley and Gene Funk, Jr. proved to be a constant bulwark against the sometimes zealous efforts of those who would spend easily. One of Rolley's chief contributions throughout the years began when he and E. D. Sr. decided in the fall of 1943 to sell pre- ferred stock and assume a mortgage in order to provide working capital for the expanding operation. In the later years, Rolley and Gene Jr. have worked as a financial team. Theodore Funk has been closely associated with the company, especially since his graduation from the University of Illinois. As the youngest son of E. D. Sr. he assumed responsibility for the manage- ment of the farm in 1927. His businesslike methods and interest in cattle feeding gave him recognition. He became a leader in many livestock organizations: director and vice president 1947-53 of Producers Live Stock Credit Corporation of Chicago; director of National Live Stock Producers Association 1946-53, director of Chicago Producers Commission Association 1938-53, vice presi- The Company, Leadership, Personnel and Policy 331 dent 1946-47 and president 1947-53. In later years he has often acted in an advisory capacity on agricultural problems as a member of the Commodity Credit Corporation Advisory Committee (1953- 57) to the administration in Washington, D.C. Like all the sons of E. D. Sr. he assumed his share of responsibility. Although he main- tained his home in Normal, his days on the farm often began at day- break. He became a director of the company in 1943 and contributed effectively because of his wide knowledge of agricultural conditions. As a director and treasurer of the First National Bank of Blooming- ton he knows the financial problems of the Middle West. Mac Convis had also known of the Funk family for many years. He regarded it as a distinct honor to work for the company. He re- membered invitations to chicken dinners at the Funk Farms, the poetry of Mother Funk and the esprit de corps within the family. From 1936 to 1943 he worked for Herbert Moore in the grain broker- age business. He first worked at Funks evenings during 1943, and later was employed full time. He was closely associated with Harold Abbott, who knew every angle of soybean operations. Convis recog- nized Abbott's ability to teach others. At first Convis purchased soy- beans for milling purposes. When Abbott retired he then became re- sponsible for sales of soybean oil and meal. He had become a thorough student of purchasing, processing and merchandising soy- beans. His interest in civic activities has gained for him recognized position in the community. At one time he acted as assistant probation officer. He is a supporter and leader of group activities within the company. Versatility is one of the major qualifications for executive employ- ment at Funk Bros. Wesley Wilcox filled this description. Formerly experienced as a cashier and vice president of the Normal State Bank his assignments with the company have been responsible and varied since his employment in 1943. He served as executive assistant to James Holbert, was placed in charge of personnel and later acted as an assistant to R. J. Laible in supervising sales from the Bloomington office. He has been treasurer and secretary for the Funk information and advertising committee. No assignment proves too difficult for him to assume. Although only top administrative personnel have been individually mentioned, others are also efficient and loyal employees. Space does not permit description of their valuable contributions. 8 Eugene D. Funk, Sr. was among those fortunate enough to hear some of the good things his friends and neighbors said about him. 332 Seed, Soil and Science During the last four years of his life 1940-44 their tributes and honors expressed widespread respect and esteem. Friends and neighbors joined to honor Mr. and Mrs. Eugene D. Funk at the Ben Funk School in 1940. A plaque was presented by Frank Moberly, one of a committee of six who organized the party. A large bouquet of roses was presented to Mrs. Eugene Funk, Sr. O. V. Douglas read a list of some twenty-seven achievements by Eugene Funk, Sr. 9 This list included almost all of the events that crowded his life. Frank Moberly said that he had lived all of his own life since his birth in 1886 on Funk land as a neighbor of Gene Funk. He has been a leader in everything progressive and is known as one whose word is 'as good as his bond/ " 10 H. H. Miller, general manager of Funk Bros., described E. D. as a man of vision, courage, independence and integrity "whose life was rich with friends and associations, vibrant with opportunity, experi- ence and leadership." Dave Thompson, an old friend of Farm Bureau and Prairie Farmer associations, stressed the Funk lands and home as patterns of country living with the greatest of Gene Funk's contribu- tions—his family— now carrying on the fine traditions of the Funk family in Illinois. Former Governor Frank Lowden wrote: Gene during his long life has been a leader in every movement for the betterment of the American farmer and American farm folks. I have often said I have known of no one who has contributed more in a practical way to the great progress agriculture has made in the last half century than Gene Funk. And in all this Mrs. Funk has been a perfect helpmate. They both have my admiration and affection. Eugene Davenport, for many years the dean of the Department of Agriculture in the University of Illinois, wrote with the knowledge of the work of Eugene Funk, Sr. as follows: Gene Funk has always led the movement for better crops. There is no influence stronger in this direction than the research program of Funk Bros. Seed Co. Any one can go along with the crowd but to lead in pioneering takes both vision and courage and Gene Funk is liberally endowed with both these valuable qualities. In the language of the Arabian, may his shadow never grow less. Among the tributes were four from the sons of Gene, Sr. LaFayette recalled that since his childhood his father always seemed to know what might be expected of tomorrow. He had planned how to correct errors and had been willing to lend a helping hand to others who shouldered heavy problems. In the eyes of his eldest son, Eugene, Sr., appeared always to embody the pioneering spirit enabling him to try to improve on the work of others or to develop new methods: Normal, Illinois, Plant ':'.': Funk's Grove Grain Elevator Belle Plaine, Iowa, Plant Rockville, Indiana, Plant Traer, Iowa, Plant The Company, Leadership, Personnel and Policy 333 You have taught me to have an interest in community work and face public problems with a public spirit, to do what one believes to be fair and just, to look upon both sides of a question, to plan for future develop- ment. Gene, Jr., described his father as one devoted to his family, friends, business, welfare of his community and nation; one unselfish with time for counsel and with a constant view to the future. Gene be- lieved his father to be afraid of nothing; not stern but able to stand his ground well. Gene knew that his father had often been alone in his thinking but "undaunted he stands." He concluded: A lover of children who could have all the clean fun and make all the noise they wished. To have lived these many, many happy days with him has been a real inspiration. No American family has had at its helm a more faithful or truer Dad. Paul also said that his father seemed to know what was expected of tomorrow and planned his work for future problems in farming, financing, seed breeding, production, advertising and selling. Paul knew that his father had long planned for "the best institution of its kind in the country." When his ideas appeared to materialize E. D., Sr., often stated that no business is any better than the personnel of the whole organization. He believed in the fine qualities of the peo- ple who were associated with him in the company. Theodore recalled that when he was a youngster, men often said, "Whose boy are you?" He replied proudly, "My Dad is E. D. Funk." It became a lasting inspiration to try to live up to their expectations when they added, "So you're one of Gene Funk's boys. Well, son, you've got a mighty fine father." Men from many walks of life described Gene Funk as one who had helped and inspired them to achieve some of the good and desirable things in life. But these four men, his sons, knew the man they spoke of far better than any others. As Theodore remarked, the under- standing look, a few quiet words of counsel, encouragement, help, fairness and ability to see more than one point of view and an un- compromising desire to see worthwhile tasks done right continued over many years to inspire those sons of E. D.'s to carry on as their father would wish them to do. 11 Honors came again to Eugene D. Funk, Sr., when his portrait was presented to the Saddle and Sirloin Club of the Union Stock Yards. Over two hundred persons attended the banquet and witnessed the ceremony. The Funk family now held the distinction of having pictures from three generations in the famous Gallery of the Saddle 334 Seed, Soil and Science and Sirloin Club, said to be the largest in the world devoted to a single industry— Agriculture. Thirty-five years ago Funk Bros. Seed Co. of Bloomington exhibited the Grand Champion car lot of cattle at the International Livestock Show. 12 The portrait of Eugene Funk was presented by P. G. Holden, accepted by C. E. Snyder of the Club, unveiled by Fred McCulloch and John T. Smith. Mr. Snyder recalled how the fire at the Stock Yards in 1934 destroyed the former gallery. Since that time all former portraits were repainted to provide the pictures of the leaders in agricultural achievement. The chairman of the event was Dave Thompson. Statements were made by O. J. Sommers, Dr. W. L. Burlison and James R. Holbert. Agricultural men from several states as well as many from the staff of the seed company attended. P. G. Holden quoted from Dean Swift: "Whoever makes two ears of corn or two blades of grass grow where but one grew before deserves better of mankind and does essential service to his country than the whole race of politicians to- gether." Holden declared that Eugene Funk had accomplished this to the extent that there was not a city or country home that had not felt the impulse of Mr. Funk's work. He added: In all of my associations with Mr. Funk, I never knew him to measure success in terms of dollars, but rather in terms of service to others, to hu- manity. . . . Eugene Funk seemed to live and act as though he were living for a thousand years. No person can live well who does not live in the hearts and souls of humanity. The warm and sympathetic blood of the heart, coursing through the veins is vastly more powerful than the cold critical eye of the intellect. Holden recalled how Gene Funk's idea to have an international hay and grain show back in 1906 had been turned down by the live- stock group; how Holden, Funk and Fursman had decided to pro- ceed with their own show, and how many years later the two events were united following World War I. He also referred to Gene Funk's desire to have the Funk Farms contribute to the good of humanity: "We are but tenants upon them for a few short years. They belong to the world, to the generations that come after us." 13 C. P. Bull was pleased to think of Gene's picture among the many notables who have done so much for Agriculture, "But none I feel certain as much and in so broad a field as Gene." 14 Edward J. Dies, of the National Soybean Processors Association said: 15 We may rake the records of midwest agriculture without finding a more sterling and inspiring character than Gene Funk. He is not only brilliant but downright lovable. CHAPTER XXV Field Seeds One of the purposes of the founders of Funk Bros. Seed Co. in 1901 was to secure and to distribute only the best seeds available. Early experiments on Funk Farms revealed the wide interests and knowledge of Eugene D. Funk, Sr. The center of development in Funk Bros. Seed Co. is in the field seed department. This depart- ment has maintained a nucleus of operation in the area immediately surrounding Bloomington, Illinois and in the state of Illinois. The very nature of the field seed business controls its breadth and depth within the company. Its continuity provided a stabilizing and balancing relationship to the more spectacular expansions in hybrid corn and soybean operations. The Funks and their capable assistants recognized that skilled knowledge in the field seed business is part of the "know-how" handed down from generation to generation. A recognition of this skill is in reality a badge of confidence won through the respect gained by generations who may have dealt with the same company. A glance across the United States revealed well-known family names of long standing managing the companies that deal in field seeds. Eugene D. Funk, Sr. gained during his lifetime high regard, as a reputable seedsman, from the farmers of the local area. Much of the strength of his leadership came from the confidence of these people. He had built well upon the foundations of esteem in which his father, LaFayette and his grandfather, Isaac, were also held. The present generation continues to build upon and to reap the harvest from confidence built in these past years. Any proper estimate of the field seeds department includes far more than its contribution in dollar volume to the total income of the company. It has been from its be- ginning an integral part of the Heritage. Eugene D. Funk, Sr. realized the advantage in experimenting with oats, red clover and alfalfa during the early twentieth century (see above chapters X and XI). He cooperated with the United States Department of Agriculture whenever possible. He was espe- cially interested in improvement of corn under field seed operations. 335 336 Seed, Soil and Science Eugene D. Funk recalled in 1941 that beginnings in the seed busi- ness were little more than cooperative efforts by the operators of the Funk Farms to keep the area they farmed free from any noxious weeds that were spreading across the Corn Belt. These problems arose because of unreliable sources for clover and timothy seeds. Scientific agriculture was awakening in those years (1892) when E. D. Funk, Sr., took his European tour. Mr. Funk always felt that too little attention was given to the improvement of pasture crops. He noted in 1941 : "Even timothy, usually regarded as the minimum in pasture mixtures, did not simply replace the blue stem grass of my Grandfathers' day. When we entered the seed business, reliable known-origin timothy of 95 percent germination and free from weed seeds was hard to find." According to his statement, sweet clover did not "just move from the roadside" into the fields. There was much that the Funks learned about harvesting, scarifying and de- veloping new varieties to make this legume a part of corn belt rota- tions. 1 He wrote that red clover was the first legume on Illinois farms. With decline in fertility of the soil there was greater difficulty in "catching a stand." Seed inoculation and varietal improvement helped to save this crop from extinction. 2 The field seed department handled soybean seed, except for a few years when the soybean department directed and handled these sales and all other seeds except hybrid corn. A glance backward to 1904^05 reveals that in addition to "elevator corn, elevator oats," the items for sale through 1904-08 included crate and shelled seed corn, oats, clover, timothy, alfalfa, rape and two large classifications known as farm seed and garden seed. 3 The dollar value was as follows: Fiscal Year Crate Corn Shelled Corn Oats Clover Timothy Alfalfa Rape 1904-5 $17,510.72 $11,487.95 $ 5,701.65 $ 4,527.50 $1,106.30 $3,108.15 $1,113.78 1905-6 13,775.44 10,230.74 6,106.92 5,811.04 978.20 1,800.06 753.68 1906-7 9,950.56 16,853.20 10,299.10 8,822.79 2,433.02 5,800.64 450.14 1907-8 15,013.17 27,385.29 13,477.65 39,638.73 2,414.02 4,457.79 345.49 "At the turn of the century," said Mr. Funk, "We were engaged in hybridizing experiments. From more than 400 varieties of oats then on the market the Funks tested and found many duplicates. There were many others not worth propagating." It was at this time that Professor Norton and Charles Brand were stationed by the U. S. D. A. on the Funk Farms. 4 Funk's Great American Oats were the result of this painstaking Field Seeds 337 work done in 1903, 1904 and 1905. This variety was offered to the public in the Catalogue of 1908 by Funk Bros, after five years of test- ing and with comparative results showing higher yields than for other varieties on the market at that time. Mr. Funk noted in 1941 that older readers of the Prairie Farmer would recall that this seed "created a stir comparable to the recent reception given hybrid corn. 5 The varieties of oats offered from 1903-1930 by Funk Bros, in- cluded the following changes: Great Dakota, Silver Mine, Early Illinois were offered in the first of these years. Big Four, Early Champion and Gold Mine were added the following year. Early Illinois was dropped and a Swedish variety was added in 1906. Big Four, Early Champion, Red Texas, Silver Mine and Great Dakota were listed and Funks Great American was introduced in 1908, along with the listing of Silver Mine, Big Four, Great Dakota and Texas Red. According to the catalogue 1909, Garton Bros., Ltd., of Warrington, England occupied the same position in England that Funk Bros, then held in America— "That of premier breeders of all varieties of field seeds." Mr. T. R. Garton came to this country intending to establish a branch. He was advised to see Funk Bros, and requested that they handle Garton Bros. Oats for the season of 1908. Repre- sentatives from Funks visited Garton Bros, at Acton Grange and Warrington, England in the summer of 1907. As a result of then- contacts Funks offered Garton Bros. Oats. The management ex- plained in 1909: "This is a radical move and a departure from our established policy of handling no seeds except those bred by us and grown on our farms." 6 From 1910-16 the offerings remained much the same with the ad- dition of Funks 60 Day. During the war year 1918, Iowa 103 was added along with Great American, Silver Mine and Funk's 60 Day. Another variety, Iowar, was introduced 1924-25. Minota was offered in 1927. 7 The parallels in history between man's search for wealth and his introduction of known seeds for his better agricultural existence in new lands is a truism not always referred to or explained adequately in the history books. An example can be found in the migration of alfalfa from ancient civilization to eastern and western United States. Its development as a major forage crop resulted from its introduction into California during the middle of the nineteenth century. This plant spread eastward across the mountains to Utah where it met 338 Seed, Soil and Science the Mormons; thence to Colorado and Kansas and Nebraska. By the turn of the century it had crossed the wide Missouri to Iowa and Missouri. Wendelin Grimm introduced to Minnesota in 1857 the variety known as Grimm alfalfa. A. B. Lyman called the attention of Willet M. Hays and Andrew Ross to the survival of this variety in 1900. 8 The interest of the Funks in the extension of alfalfa into the terri- tory east of the Mississippi River where hardiness became an im- portant factor has been told. Alfalfa was reportedly seeded at the University of Illinois Experiment Station in 1871. 9 The total acreage of alfalfa in the United States at the turn of the century ( 1899 ) was just over two million acres. According to W. A. Wheeler, "In each of the next two decades it doubled the one previous, and in the third, fourth and fifth decades it increased one-seventh and one-eighth respectively over the previous decade." He also stated that one per- cent of the total alfalfa acreage was east of the Mississippi at that time. Fifty years later in 1909 it was over 40 percent in that area. 10 There were controversies over the question of how Grimm's alfalfa secured its hardiness. 11 Nevertheless it continued to sell well, not only in the United States but also in Canada. Baltic was found during 1905 in South Dakota. A hardy variety known as Ontario or Canadian Variegated was obtained in Europe by a farmer in Welland County, Ontario in 1871. This variety was widely grown in Eastern Canada." 12 There is no indication that the Funks were interested in breeding alfalfa, but they were especially interested in the growth of the crop in Illinois. E. D. Funk, Sr., recorded in 1941 that Professor Hansen sent to the Funks some of the alfalfa seed gathered when he made his trip in 1897 to Siberia in search of early alfalfas. 13 By 1909 McLean county produced only 419 acres. 14 Alfalfa was listed by Funk Bros, as a general offering from 1903 to 1915. It was described as grown on non-irrigated Kansas soil in 1916; in 1921 and 1923 listed as Funks Dry Land Kansas Seed, and in 1923 Certified Grimm from South Dakota was also listed. The following years, 1924, 1925 both Certified Grimm and Canadian Variegated were advertised. Other varieties advertised in 1926 and 1927 were Northwestern Dry Land, Blackfoot Grimm and Dakota No. 12. The 1926 Catalogue described Canadian Variegated as similar to Grimm and said it was discovered by Dr. Colver, who brought it from Baden, Germany. The explanation was continued in 1927 stating that Canadian Variegated was a Grimm Type Alfalfa. The management Field Seeds 339 used this description "because it explains in a brief way the character of growth or hardiness." They also quoted from a Canadian source not named but declared to be reliable as follows: At the present time we can get no government experts to distinguish or pick out for us fields of Grimm from genuine Ontario Variegated. So far as we know there is absolutely no difference in root systems, stems, leaves, blossoms or hardiness between the Grimm and Ontario Variegated. Both belong to the Variegated type so that Ontario Variegated can certainly be classed as Grimm Type. Funks stated that they could furnish genuine Grimm at a reason- able price; they grew Canadian Variegated almost exclusively on their own farms; advised continuation of the Kansas seed if it gave results and suggested Hardy Northwestern as first choice in common alfalfa seed. 15 However, the variety was dropped from the listing 1928 and 1929. With the coming of the Seed Verification Service, Funk Bros, participated and have continued to distribute seeds of known origin. They advertised as noted above Bee Hive, Dakota 12 and Montana Alfalfa of Verified origin in 1929. 16 Named origins of alfalfa were first distributed. After 1942 named varieties for specific purposes such as Buffalo, Ranger and Lahontas were common. This change now accounts for approximately 35 per- cent of the total alfalfa seed produced with the larger amount from the far west, especially California. 17 The catalogue for 1924 carried an announcement regarding H. H. Miller, general manager and expert in field seeds. According to this statement the management of Funk Bros, had followed his activities for many years before his appointment in 1918. H. H. Miller was a native of the eastern townships, of Quebec, Canada where he worked on his father's farm. Later he completed an agricultural course at Guelph, Ontario. Then he was employed for three years by the Canadian Seed Branch of the Dominion Government, at Ottawa. His experience in this position included seed testing, crop inspection and the establishment of the first seed testing station in the Canadian Northwest in Calgary, Alberta. He became identified with Albert Dickinson Seed Company about 1906 as its seed expert. While there he organized the first commercial seed testing laboratory in the United States. During his employment with this Chicago company he passed on millions of dollars worth of farm seeds every year to comply with the requirements of the various state seed laws. He kept in close touch with experiment station work and was active in direct- ing seed legislation in more than twenty-five states. 18 He owned and 340 Seed, Soil and Science operated successfully a farm of some 1100 acres. His early work was with legume grasses and forage crops. His addition to the staff at Funk Bros, complemented the major interests of E. D. Funk in corn. Harold Goodwin, presently in charge of the field seeds department for Funk Bros., joined the company in 1924. He recalled the early training he received from H. H. Miller. At that time the company was operating chiefly as a mail order business. Catalogues and circulars were assembled during the winter months and were mailed out dur- ing the early spring. They carried detailed information about crops. Other informational media were not always available to the farmer. Few owned their own trucks. Roads were impassable in the spring of the year. Therefore they ordered a large percentage of their ship- ments by rail. 19 Better means of transportation including improved roads changed the method of distribution in this business. Farmers could soon drive to the warehouse in Bloomington, Illinois without forewarning dur- ing the winter from a distance as far as one hundred miles to obtain seeds. Salesmen and distribution points soon became necessary. Later the trend toward the establishment of a wholesale business brought about shipment by rail or commercial trucks. Door to door delivery in the fifties became available in many areas with a Funk Bros, fleet of trucks. 20 The long term policy of fair dealing in these more immediate areas paid off unexpectedly during the difficult years of the Great Depression in the late twenties and early thirties. Large insurance companies loaned money to farmers throughout Illinois. Many farms were taken over with no particular desire on the part of the insur- ance company to enter the farming business. This situation was espe- cially true when these companies were located in the eastern part of the United States. Officials in some of these companies knew Mr. E. D. Funk, Sr. Soon their representatives appeared asking for aid in filling seed requirements. Funk Bros, furnished a large portion of the supplies needed by these companies. The source of this income was of considerable advantage to the seed company at this time. 21 Forage crops best adapted to the northeastern quarter of the United States including Illinois are the following: GRASSES: Bluegrass, Canada and Kentucky Bromegrass, Smooth Canary Grass, Reed Fescue, Chewings, Meadow, Red, Tall Foxtail, Meadow Field Seeds 341 Oatgrass, Tall Orchard Grass Red Top Ryegrass, Common, Perennial Sudan Grass Timothy LEGUMES: Alfalfa Rirdsfoot, Trefoil Lespedeza, Korean, Common, Sericea Clover, Alsike, Crimson, Ladino, Red, Sweet, Common White 22 Major problems are ever present in determining increased volume and sales of field seeds in the operation of a commercial seed com- pany. Relative importance of the seeds, if it could be determined, would aid in estimating conclusions. According to Herr and Jordan, conclusions might be computed on a number of different bases such as (1) acres harvested for seed, (2) the acreage that the forage seed produced would plant. Purposes in planting the seed should also be considered. Measures differ when interest is in soil conservation or in land utilization. 23 Money value, however, has become an important factor from the standpoint of both the farmer and of the seed in- dustry. Five legumes are listed as recently grown in the area designated above including red clover, alfalfa, lespedeza, alsike clover and sweet clover with Kentucky bluegrass and timothy. Factors influencing prices received by farmers together with seasonal price movements and marketing margins are of significance. Seeds increasing in importance and in value during recent years in- clude common rye grass, crimson clover, ladino clover and tall fescue. 24 In the cases of red clover and alsike clover areas of seed production differ although areas of seed consumption may be the same. Red clover production remains in the Corn Belt but with an in- creased trend westward. Production of alsike is definitely toward the Pacific Northwest and California. The time of harvest may deter- mine the difference, especially when the crop is used in rotation. Sweet clover has not shifted noticeably. Commercial production of alfalfa continues in the West with increased production in California. Changes in production of lespedeza are difficult to determine with leading producing states north of the Cotton Belt and south of the central Corn Belt. 25 If it were possible to predict changes in acreage harvested for seed it would be possible to estimate with more certainty the total pro- 342 Seed, Soil and Science duction of seed for a year. Factors influencing farmers in their de- cisions upon acreages are also important. Prospective yield, prospec- tive price and last season's yields may influence them. Changes in acreage account for most of the changes in seed-crop production. Prospective yield and prospective price are influential but these factors are difficult to measure satisfactorily. 26 A number of factors may influence demand for forage seeds and their prices, such as livestock numbers, crop rotations, gross farm in- come and often personal income. 27 Factors affecting supply include primarily domestic production inasmuch as foreign trade varies from year to year. Timothy is the only seed studied by Herr and Jordan exported in very large amounts but all seeds except lespedeza were imported in "significant quantities for particular years." 28 Carry- over stocks of seed also play an important role. This is a difficult factor to estimate because data are limited before 1939. Since that time there is not an adequate analysis. 29 Seedsmen also know that certain seeds are competitive and therefore price them in relation to each other. Quantities of competing seeds are therefore also im- portant. In addition to the above problems in the field seed business there are certain varieties which differ in their adaptability to different geographic regions. As a consequence different price-making forces may be operative. 30 Alfalfas and lespedeza show these differentials. Price differences for other seeds may reflect surplus and deficit areas with transportation costs accounting for a large part of the differen- tial. 31 The authors of the above analysis believe that the experienced seedsmen would reach these same conclusions from his own observa- tions but also add that more data are desirable before drawing too definite conclusions. 32 Experienced personnel at Funk Bros. Seed Co. agree with the above findings and that the seedsman must know what the carry- over is from the preceding year, the production of each seed item he handles and the potential intention of the farmer's demand. They would add that prices for the past season are seldom factors in deter- mining values for the current year. They look at climatic influences and watch these situations continually. Changes in supply can be quickly affected by these changes during a given year thus affecting price. The very unpredictable part of this factor, the weather, is in itself a variable. Prices will affect volume of purchase. Large inven- tories of seed and lessened demands affect price. New and changing legislation may also be a significant factor. 33 Field Seeds 343 Seedsmen of long established houses like Funks are guided in their operations and in their decisions on the purchase of seed by knowl- edge of price relationships over a period of years. This knowledge is obtained by long study and recognition of trends in price and quantity during different seasons. No two are ever the same. Factors that enter into their estimates of supply and demand are essentially the same as those described above. There are additional problems also because there is not always a well-defined farmer group produc- ing seed each year. There may be a known number of acres planted for a given seed crop, but there is no guarantee that any certain amount will be harvested for seed purposes. This uncertain factor also has a bearing on sales. Certain areas could be classed as buyers in one season but might be sellers the next year. 34 Although difficulties in determining farm seed statistics have been considerably alleviated by the work of the Agricultural Estimates Division of the United States Department of Agriculture, they have not been entirely eliminated. At first the work of this division was pointed toward the estimation of the annual volume of agricultural production by states and for the United States. As the country ex- panded, the work of the division increased. The crop reporting system grew with the nation so that estimates were made in 1957 for some 150 crops and livestock items. In addition to more than 500 yearly reports from the Washington office, there are also many reports re- leased by individual states under a Federal-State cooperative pro- gram. The function of the Washington office is one of coordinating the various 41 field offices. The assignment to accumulate seed statistics is a difficult one. According to S. R. Newell, Director of the Agricultural Estimates Division, U. S. D. A., "The coverage of vegetable seeds is of com- paratively recent origin. Fifteen years ago no official estimates were available for vegetable seeds, and estimates of field seeds were limited to only the leading kinds, some of which in recent years are of declining importance as they are being replaced with new and im- proved varieties." 35 He stated that from 1936 to 1955 the reporting space for seed statistics doubled in the Yearbook of Agriculture. Statistics that were sufficient in one decade may no longer meet the situation in more recent periods. Added to this problem are the usual elements of statistical errors. Voluntary reporting is the basis for the collection of materials. The program is dependent on demands of the seed industry, farmers, dealers and handlers for basic facts to aid in producing, marketing and distributing seeds. Mr. Newell said: 344 Seed, Soil and Science Seed is basic to our whole agricultural economy. Seed is an important farm crop and a source of direct income to those who produce it. Seed is also a production-cost item to many more farmers ... we need to know more precisely the total volume of production and domestic use. 36 Rapidity in acceptance of new varieties and development of new legislative programs created a considerable lag in accumulating sta- tistics not included in the program of the division. The problem of accurate forecasting of probable production of seed is dependent on factors such as the weather, price, pressure of farm work and labor supplies. The farmer can change his mind at the last minute. 37 The division depends upon what information is available at the time of making its estimates. 38 Personnel of seed companies such as Funk Bros, need statistical information. They are dependent to a degree upon the services of the U. S. D. A. mentioned above and they realize that many improve- ments are needed to make the service more adequate. They also recognize that their own contributions of information possibly can be improved. For example, the United States verified origin figures, pub- lished monthly, do not include certified seed which are increasingly a large portion of the industry. 39 Monthly reports of imports about the middle of each month have proven very accurate. The members of the seed industry recognize that the problems involved in the fore- casting seed production are continuingly difficult. Spokesmen for the industry emphasize the same uncertain factors selected by the United States Department of Agriculture including weather condi- tions and change of mind by the producer. Suggested improvements included interim reports. The industry also recognized need for information regarding certified and uncertified seed. Accurate and unbiased reporting on the part of the industries would help the overall reporting. There seems to be increasing recognition that co- operation between the A. S. T. A. and the statisticians of the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Commerce may produce a greater degree of efficiency in reporting field seed statistics. 40 The experienced personnel of the commercial seed company will continue to be a significant factor in the operation of the field seed business. Their experience and "know-how" in estimating needs be- comes the solid core of information needed in estimating the general situation. The very nature of the field seed business requires experience in the processing and buying and selling of seeds. The degree of success Field Seeds 345 in this operation determines the measure of confidence built up in the thinking of the consuming public. Seed technology at Funk Bros, under supervision of James Barnes, includes the quantitative as well as the qualitative aspects of seeds in general. Quantitative analysis includes determination of the com- ponent parts; qualitative analysis "evaluates viability or field produc- ing power by the use of germination tests under optimum condi- tions." 41 Results from these findings are guides to proper labeling of seeds in interstate commerce as required by law. They are also em- ployed in "bulking and processing procedures of all major seed houses." The seed technologist becomes the eye of the seed industry. Seed technology, however, is a relatively new development in plant sciences employing botany, taxonomy, plant physiology, plant pathology, plant ecology, plant geography and plant morphology together with agronomy, chemistry, meteorology and archeology. 42 The seed laboratory at Funk Bros, is a control laboratory and a pilot plant combined. Problems relating to purchases, sales, bulking and cleaning are considered in conferences with personnel con- cerned with operations. Under the capable management of Harold Goodwin, the members of the field seed division— Ward Alderman, Bernard Dahlquist, Richard Funk, James Barnes and Walter Elgin —determine the selection of seeds purchased and sold. Customers send seed samples to Funk Bros, for purity and germina- tion testing. Other services include soil testing, weed identification, surveys of poisonous plants, as well as preparation of many educa- tional exhibits for fairs, seed schools and newspapers. Personnel maintain close cooperation with specialists from the University of Illinois and the Illinois Crop Improvement Association. 43 Seeds of grasses which are light and chaffy are sensitive to light. They are placed on moist blotters in a germinator having light similar to daylight. Other seeds require high temperatures during the day and low at night. Such seeds as timothy, brome grass, wheat and rye are dormant at harvest time. These usually move rapidly in com- merce. Therefore the seedsman must know how to test these by a "pre-chilling" process in a proper medium within a refrigerator just above freezing for about five days. They will show their plant produc- ing power within six to twenty-one days in a regular germinator. This process is described as "breaking dormancy." 44 Seeds of oats, rye and soybeans are placed in pots filled with vermiculite, a mica product highly retentive of moisture, and then placed in germinators for a required number of days. Seedlings when removed can be evaluated 346 Seed, Soil and Science as strong, weak, dead or diseased. Years of research have gone into perfecting these methods now so important to the seedsman and to the farmers. The processor has acquired more responsibility to provide clean seed with the complete mechanization of harvesting operations. Ac- cording to an article by H. Dean Bunch and G. Burns Welch: Farmers and seedsmen are probably more "seed conscious" than ever before in the history of American agriculture, and it is only natural that growing numbers should come to recognize the value of high quality seed. 45 According to W. A. Wheeler, little information is available in writ- ten form about seed cleaning equipment. Long established seed houses are hesitant to reveal all of the information regarding their processes. Seed cleaning equipment at Funk Bros., consists of clipper cleaners or "fanning mills," gravity mills, scarifiers, buckhorn and dodder mills with skilled operators, proper screens, wind blasts and controlled volumes to obtain best results. The skilled operators are as important as any one factor in the business. 46 Progress in developing varieties, in forming associations and in educating through extension and commercial programs has in- creased. The job of providing clean seed has fallen to the seedsman. Therefore, adequate and skillfully used equipment has become necessary. When seed comes from the farmers' own bins there is no opportunity to apply labeling laws. False values can be attached to so-called "cleaned" seed if the farmers do inadequate work. The management of Funk Bros, has encouraged its personnel to participate in local, state and national organizations. Their purposes have been to support worthwhile programs at all levels. These ob- jectives have been part of their desire to contribute to the over-all welfare of American agriculture. Close attention to research on the part of this commercial company has enabled the organization to rise above the ordinary classification of a seed distributing company. Ward Alderman has served as secretary, vice chairman and chair- man of the Junior Seedsman Division of the A. S. T. A. He has also been active in the Illinois Seed Dealers Association. Joseph E. Barnes has been active for many years in commercial and official seed analysis associations. He was at one time president of the commercial group. Harold Goodwin served for many years as director of the Illinois Crop Improvement Association and vice president and presi- dent of the same organization. He has also contributed to the Inter- national Crop Association. He also served as director, secretary, vice president and president of the Illinois Seed Dealers Association. Field Seeds 347 During his presidency the Illinois Seed Soil Science Clinics were started. During 1954 he was vice chairman of the Farm Seed Division of the A. S. T. A. and in 1955 helped to formulate plans for the first Farm Seed Division Industry-Research Conference. He acted as the first chairman of this project. 47 Unwritten records of the now historic and justly famous Research Acres on Funk Farms prove that long before the naming of these acres there was continuous research, breeding, selecting and procure- ment of many kinds and varieties of seeds. Here new vari- eties were planted and checked against older varieties to prove their adaptation and performance before release. Samples of new alfalfas, oats, wheat, rye, soybeans, barley and other new experi- mental crops such as guar, castor beans and sesame were studied. Early in 1940 one of the most important introductions into Illinois agriculture was Pawnee Wheat. Barnes stated, "Farmers all over the state profited greatly from this introduction which was sponsored by Funk Bros. Seed Co." Annual test plots are conducted at Research Acres. Farmer customers secure first hand information on the adap- tation of untried varieties and are thus protected against the high pressure salesman who may attempt to sell untried varieties at high prices. The policy of the company includes invitation to specialists from the universities to evaluate the research at these acres. The company also contributed financially to research carried on at uni- versities. It can also be said that the personnel of Funk Bros, have given unstintingly of their time and knowledge in helping to solve the knotty problems that have confronted American agriculture. 48 CHAPTER XXVI The Miracle Bean As a part of the field seed business, Funk Bros, sold soybeans for seed purposes as early as 1903. Information about the soybean was available because of the extensive travels in the Orient by Wil- liam Morse when he was with the Bureau of Plant Industry in Wash- ington, D. C. He was inspired by his co-worker, Dr. Piper who once described the bean as "Gold from the Soil." Eugene Funk was among the early advocates of increased planting of soybeans in the early nineteen twenties. Shortages of oil during World War I required importation of oil from Manchuria. Interest increased in the expansion of the crop in the United States. The American Soybean Association was formed in 1919. 1 Eugene Funk was among those Professors, Growers and Processors who were pioneers in the early enterprise. 2 He estab- lished one of the first processing mills in central Illinois, urged farmers to adopt the soybean and helped to create a certain market in the late nineteen twenties. Eugene Funk watched with growing attention a mill operated by George Brett and I. C. Bradley at Chicago Heights, Illinois. This mill processed soybeans in 1919 with an expeller plant. Beans grown by farmers in Indiana and Illinois were for the most part used as seed beans. Therefore, mostly cracked beans were brought to this mill producing only a few drums of low quality oil. 3 The seed beans were also of a low quality. Bradley and Brett therefore decided to obtain ten carloads of yellow beans from North Carolina and Vir- ginia. Through the efforts of Otto Eisenschiml of Chicago four tanks of oil produced in 1921 were sold. He recalled that he distributed about 85 percent of the oil up to 1927 as far as the immediate area was concerned. 4 One of the chief difficulties in the early soybean business was the lack of markets for both oil and meal. Bradley recalled peddling and exhibiting the meal to farmers in order to increase demand from the mill at Chicago Heights. 5 When he saw the possibilities of using soy- bean flour for edible purposes he sent samples to hundreds of pro- 348 The Miracle Bean 349 spective purchasers. A. E. Staley established a mill in Decatur, Illi- nois in 1922 thus adding another cash market for soybean growers. 6 Despite this activity the business was only in its infancy. Problems increased. There was need for organization and orderly procedures. E. D. Funk, Sr. described the coming of the soybean to the farming system of corn, oats, wheat and clover rotations in the Central Corn Belt as follows: Once in a life time! Yes, only once in the annals of crop production has our agronomy experienced anything like the Soybean. . . . Oats fell in acreage before it. Corn and wheat were challenged as cash income crops. Even in the realm of soil building, it threatened established legumes. At Funk Farms acreages were turned over to producing seed to meet the demand. Over 2,000 bushels of their crop were hand picked in 1921 to obtain every possible pound of pure merchantable beans for pleading customers. The soybean boom worried Mr. Funk in the 1920's. Illinois grew 16,000 acres in 1919. Indiana's acreage was too small to be included in the crop census. These two states by 1923 planted a half million acres. E. D. Funk noted that "somewhere in this mad rush seed production would catch up to demand. When it did would beans for hay, feed and fertilizer absorb the crop at con- tinued profitable levels? We doubted it." 7 Before Funks marketed their 1922 crop they were assured of the installation by the Staley Manufacturing Company of their soybean mill and extracting plant at Decatur, Illinois. After considerable urging by H. H. Miller and Eugene Funk, Jr., as well as Paul Cooper of Atwood, Illinois, Gene Funk, Sr. contacted Brett and Bradley. He decided to establish a processing plant in Bloomington in 1924. This important step was taken when the equipment including crack- ing rolls, two No. 1 Anderson expellers, cookers and filter presses were transferred from Chicago Heights to the Funk plant. The ex- peller method for extracting oil is a continuous screw process. The plants of Staley and Funk were the vanguard of an expanding soy- bean processing business in Illinois. Eugene Funk recognized the importance of locating a plant near the producers. He understood that the real significance of the entire operation was in uniting the seed business with the processing of the soybean. The undertaking was not only an important development in the industry but also a fortunate decision for Funk Bros. Seed Co. 8 The problem of maintaining a constant supply of beans at the mill increased with insufficient production of beans sold at the milling price. Almost all of the grain was used for seed, for pro- 350 Seed, Soil and Science duction of hay or for plowing under. Seed prices were usually from 50 cents to $2.00 per bushel higher than the processors were able to pay. The Funks purchased beans for processing during the fall months but their supply vanished before the following season. Only three, four or possibly six months of processing resulted during the year. Feed mills that normally purchased meal needed a year round supply to maintain their formulas. The basic problem appeared to be one of educating the farmer to his advantages in producing the bean and in using the soybean meal as a new protein feed. 9 In planting early soybean crops it was customary to seed with a wheat drill, planting solid. They were harvested either with a grain binder, shocked or mowed and raked into piles, then threshed by a grain separator. Binders, wasteful because of the shattering of the beans, were soon discarded. When grain separators were used it was necessary to slow the speed of the cylinder and remove almost all of the concave teeth to prevent cracking. The difficulty of this harvesting method was not conducive to bean growing. Soon com- bines came into use. Frank Garwood of Stonington, Illinois, in 1924 owned one of the first, a Massey Harris. This method of harvesting was an incentive to soybean growers. Planting was also changed from solid seeding by wheat drill to spacing in rows 24, 26 and 30 inches apart. Later beans were planted in rows of corn-planter width. This allowed cultivation with ordinary corn equipment with fewer seed beans planted per acre. When planting with the wheat drill it was customary to plant one and one-half to two bushels per acre. When planting with the corn planter as in later years, 40-50-60 lbs. per acre became the general practice. 10 While Funk Bros, were engaged in processing soybeans during the early years they also handled a large volume of seed beans. They endeavored to secure and distribute the better new varieties devel- oped by the Universities, especially in Illinois and Indiana. These new varieties were grown for wider distribution among farmers. The combination of this seed business with the processing enterprise proved advantageous as E. D. Funk and his advisors had foreseen. Farmers were also interested to obtain higher yielding beans with higher oil content. These two facets of the soybean business con- tinued as integral parts of the Funk program. Constant experimenta- tion contributed to increase of yields per acre. 11 Farmers, however, were slow to accept the new protein food. Those who grew beans believed they could grind their own product and utilize the whole bean. This idea was detrimental to the business The Miracle Bean 351 because the feed produced soft pork. The entire program in de- veloping the soybean business was experimental and dependent on an educational process. Several years passed before farmers realized the advantages of soybean oil meal. Manufacturers of feed were also slow to utilize the meal as a new protein feed because they were not assured of the demand by farmers for the product. 12 During their first year the Funk processing plant operated for about five months using approximately 20,000 bushels of beans. The results for both Funk and Staley were financial losses. 13 Although Funk showed a profit during the second year he realized that the beans were low in both yield and in oil. The first varieties included A. K., the Midwest, Ito San, Black Eye- brow and Manchu. The hay varieties included Virginia, Ebony and Wilson. 14 The Funks also found it necessary to peddle the meal in one, two and five bag lots to farmers in McLean and surrounding counties to acquaint them with the product. They also procured several carloads of Mammoth Yellow Soybeans from the Carolinas. These beans were low in yield of oil but produced good meal. 15 The original operation in the fall of 1924 began with a capacity of 300-350 bushels per day. A third No. 1 type expeller was obtained in 1927. Two more expellers were added in 1929. With five No. 1 ex- pellers there was a capacity of approximately 800 bushels per day. 16 Sales of the soybean department in 1923 amounted to $25,659.16 increasing to $386,350.55 in 1925 but dropped to $221,853.78 in 1926. I. C. Bradley who came to the Funks as manager of their soybean mill stressed early in 1927 the need for diversifying their crop. He said that the soybean was entirely overlooked by those who argued against diversification. Soybean production, according to Bradley, could be increased a hundred fold without producing an exportable surplus. Bradley recalled the existence of an oil milling business for twenty years extracting oil from every conceivable source. The situation was complex because soybean oil competed with other domestic and foreign oils. He was of the opinion that soybean production would not be overdone in the next twenty years. Among the arguments he advanced in favor of growing the soybean were the following: (1) It was resistant to the European corn borer; (2) It fitted into all rotations designed for corn borer control; (3) It reversed the flow of farmers' money into manufacturing centers with the oil going then to paint manufacturers and the meal eventually to dairy regions; (4) It could reduce the corn acreage; (5) It could be harvested with 352 Seed, Soil and Science combine and other equipment; (6) Its increase would mean more efficiency for the processor; ( 7 ) Consumers of soybean oil and meal would give preferences to soybean products; (8) Soybeans utilized nitrogen from the atmosphere thereby not robbing the soil. He also stated that if and when the domestic demand could be supplied, tariffs could be inaugurated to protect the farmer. Farmers in Mc- Lean County were slow to grow beans in comparison with those in Champaign, Piatt, Macon and others in the Champaign-Springfield area. Freight charges could be saved if the beans were grown nearby. 17 A second step in the expansion of soybean production was possible because of leadership in central Illinois. There was a need for meal on the part of the Grange League Federation organization of New York. The acquaintanceship of H. G. Atwood of American Milling Company of Peoria with James A. McConnell of G. L. F. on the one hand and with Funk Bros, of Bloomington on the other, facilitated a discussion of the problem. I. C. Bradley stated that he and Eugene Funk interested Atwood in an idea sometimes attributed originally to American Milling Company. It is fair to say that Funk and Brad- ley did as much to initiate the introduction of a guaranteed price as anyone. 18 Without Eugene Funk's initiative and knowledge of agri- cultural conditions a combination of cooperative leadership might not have resulted. H. H. Miller also provided able guidance for this program. It is also fair to say that without Atwood and McConnell the plan would not have succeeded. The American Milling Company placed in operation an unused factory in Peoria where I. C. Bradley helped to install machinery to remove oil and grind soybean cake into meal. 19 The decision of G. L. F. to buy meal for the New York milkshed created a wide market. A guaranteed price of $1.35 per bushel was offered up to a total of a million bushels in 1928 to 1,500 Illinois farmers for beans by Funk Bros, of Bloomington, by the American Milling Company of Peoria and by Cooperative G. L. F. Incorporated. The G. L. F. Shareholder stated that their organization realized that prospective supplies would be inadequate, and knew that a protein shortage would be costly to G. L. F. patrons. They, therefore, entered the agreement to secure a supply of protein with the dairy feed market as its primary outlet. The source was the farms of Illinois and the product was soybeans. The Illinois College of Agriculture, the Farm Bureau and the Prairie Farmer cooper- ated. 20 The final decision regarding the guarantee for the 1928 crop was The Miracle Bean 353 made at a meeting in Urbana of fifteen county farm advisers, repre- sentatives of Funk Bros, and of the American Milling Company. A committee of three was named to draw up the agreements. 21 I. C. Bradley commented many years later: We solicited the aid of the late Mr. H. G. Atwood, President of American Milling Co., at that time, which later became Allied Mills, Inc. His first reaction was in this response . . . 'The farmers are our customers. His stock needs protein. He should produce it.' That was the 'Spark Plug' for the beginning of a new and great industry. He said we will take all of the meal your plant can produce. 22 A. E. Wand of Staley's attended the Urbana meeting. He left with word that he would urge them to join but he apparently was not instrumental in gaining this action. However, Staley continued to provide a market for beans and was increasingly interested in the development of this crop. The million bushel limit in 1928 was considered adequate. Only one-half that amount was offered to mills in the area during the previous season. The 1927 U. S. A. crop was 2,288,000 bushels. About three-fourths of this amount was used for seed and for purposes other than for milling. 23 The guaranteed price in 1928 of $1.35 per bushel was for No. 2 grade beans and was considered satisfactory by the farmers. Under the agreement, if the farmer negotiated to grow beans he was not compelled to ship to either of the participating companies if others offered higher prices. 24 Agreements for 1928 in order to stimulate production were made in terms of acres instead of bushels. 25 Strictly speaking, this announcement was a guarantee, not a contract. J. A. Waring, with many years of experience in the grain business came to work for Funk Bros, in 1927. His duties included the pur- chase of soybeans. Waring handled the paper and contracts for the program in 1928 from the office of Funk Bros. According to his recollection most of these contracts of the three companies were mailed from the Funk office. 26 The legume project of the University of Illinois during the season 1928 placed its chief emphasis on the soybean. This program was composed of two parts: (1) To standardize better adapted varieties through publicity and field demonstration; (2) To assist in supply- ing a satisfactory market for surplus seed and for beans of lower quality. 27 Professor J. C. Hackleman of the University of Illinois con- tributed effectively to the entire program by urging farmers through- 354 Seed, Soil and Science out Illinois to accept and grow soybeans. The early processors recognized the importance of his contribution. The three manufacturers also recognized in the winter killing of wheat that farmers needed a substitute crop. Oats did not present advantages and corn acreages were already too high. Farmers had decided advantages because of the (1 ) Guarantee by three large companies who had reputations for doing what they promised with a good bank account to back up their guarantee. (2) Elimination of speculation on a major farm crop. Beans went straight from farm to manufacturers. An article entitled "Taking the Gamble out of Soybean Marketing" described how the 1928 guaranteed price was put into practice. Proc- essors who bought and used these beans paid little if any more for this crop than in the past few years. The Prairie Farmer commented: These are the net results of the first year's experience with a system of crop contracting and price stabilization that was put into effect this year by the principal users of soybeans and under which 90 percent of the soybeans grown in the state were handled. Of the two greatest gambles in crop production, the weather and the market, one was thus removed. The three companies who used nearly all of the crop were interested for different reasons : ( 1 ) Funk Bros, for production of oil and meal from soybeans; (2) The Ameri- can Milling Company for production of soybean meal and; ( 3 ) The G. L. F. Exchange as the largest buyer of soybean meal in the United States. Deliveries reached 650,000 bushels in Peoria and 350,000 at Funk Bros, in December when the million bushels were received. Better varieties of beans were used: Manchu, a good yielder with a high oil content and the Illini which stood better than other va- rieties. Grading also was important. Probably 90 percent of the farmers were satisfied with the agreement. Nevertheless some were discouraged by weather conditions, others had difficulties with the elevators who received beans and shipped them to Bloomington or Peoria. Almost all of the elevator operators accepted the idea but some who were more speculators than service men made it unpleasant for the farmers. Handling charges by the elevators varied with higher charges for smaller lots of beans. In some communities farmers shoveled their own beans on the cars. The Prairie Farmer said in 1928: The value of an experiment such as this soybean price stabilization pro- gram is that it is an example of what may be done with all kinds of crops with the proper organization and with a progressive point of view on the The Miracle Bean 355 part of the manufacturers who use these crops. There are many farmers who would welcome something of this kind for all their crops and thus escape the market gamble in which they have been engaged all their lives. The manufacturers were equally pleased. Gene Funk and H. H. Miller were quoted as saying they could afford to proceed with this kind of plan because known acreages under agreement enabled them to plan efficient factory operations. Arthur Heidrick of American Milling Company said it enabled them to expand their business. J. A. McConnell of G. L. F. was equally enthusiastic. 28 The G. L. F. Shareholder commented that this soybean oil meal program "relieved a very tight situation on protein." The eastern farmer received his dairy feed at a better price while the farmers of Illinois received a certain outlet at a fair price. This same publication added: But this project has more significance than its immediate benefits. It is a new development to find the dairymen of the east contracting for protein with the prairie farmers of the midwest and one that opens up a big vista of future responsibilities which were undreamt of before farmers went into business on a big scale. 29 The Prairie Farmer noted in February of 1929 that the "Peoria Plan" as the 1928 Guaranteed Price was often called, continued in 1929. The American Milling Company, Funk Bros. Seed Co. and G. L. F. Exchange again offered the contracts to the farmers for fall and winter delivery. The contract price was to be $1.33 for No. 2 beans, f. o. b. Peoria or Bloomington for delivery by November 15 with an increase of one per cent per bushel every fifteen days until $1.38 was reached by January 15 to February 1. Each grade under No. 2 took a one cent discount; a one cent premium was paid on No. 1 Grade. This was actually a contract rather than a guarantee. The grower who signed a contract obligated himself to deliver the acreage at the specified price. Contracts could be obtained from the farm adviser or the local elevator. 30 Farmers often hesitated because they could not determine their total acreages. Many agreements in the previous year were not signed until June 4. 31 One source pointed out that the contracts for 1929 were specified in bushels and with a sliding scale in order to hold back delivery dates thus avoiding repe- tition of storage congestion as in 1928. 32 The original contract, how- ever, leaves a space for the number of acres. 33 Problems immediately arose. The idea of a Farmers' Cooperative was supported at meetings held in Champaign and in Monticello, Illinois. A subsequent meeting was held at Funk Bros, in Bloom- 356 Seed, Soil and Science ington, March 19, 1929. A committee of six chosen at the Monticello meeting including Mr. Armstrong, Champaign County, Chairman; Mr. Richardson of Shelby County; Mr. Ellis, Moultrie County; Mr. McCormick, Douglas County; Mr. Probst, Macon County; Mr. Walsh, Piatt County; for the farmers and Farm Bureaus. From Funks there were E. D. Funk, Sr., H. H. Miller, I. C. Bradley, J. A. Waring and E. D. Funk, Jr., The first six represented the bean growers re- garding the contract. Some agitation resulted because leaders of the Farm Bureaus thought that they had been overlooked this year in the contracting of the beans. Contracts were being sent out directly to the growers whereas in 1928 they were chiefly handled through the Farm Bureaus. Mr. Armstrong said in Bloomington: I am sure we appreciate to the fullest extent the pleasant relations and dealings we had with your organizations last season and it is not the wish of anyone to sever those pleasant relations, but we did feel that possibly— in view of the fact that there seems to be a little feeling between the Farm Bureau members and possibly the elevators— we might be able to smooth this over and resume the cooperation we had last year. He spoke for the Farm Bureaus and their offer to service the 1929 contracts, by sending them to their members for a small remuneration to go to their associations. The committee also felt that growers would lose on the $1.33 price. If beans were held for $1.38 it would not be worth while to farmers to scoop them in and out of the bin. They also felt this new arrangement was more of a help to the ele- vators than to the growers. Armstrong stated that 90 percent of the growers would prefer bringing beans direct to the processor. They asked for last year's price and 2 cents per bushel to be paid to the Farm Bureau Association for contracting beans. Eugene Funk, in his usually deliberate manner, asked a few ques- tions. Did Mr. Armstrong mean 2 cents per bushel all season? Mr. Waring inquired if they could guarantee a certain quantity. Mr. Miller asked if the price would go to $1.35? Mr. Armstrong answered that their idea was to accept the contract as it was. Funk then said that he wanted to correct the impression that the price was lowered. He stated that it was raised. Funk said regarding the cooperative, "Not at all if you will stop there." He then pointed to an article from the Illinois Agricultural Record referring to the Monticello meeting of March 14th reporting Harrison Fahrnkopf, director of grain marketing for the Illinois The Miracle Bean 357 Agricultural Association as helping to organize the "new bargaining association." Mr. Funk asked about the statement that "7,000,000 bushels will be sold through the Association and the purpose of the organization will be to maintain the bargaining power of the grow- ers." He was interested to know the meaning of "bargaining." Mr. Armstrong and Mr. Richardson denied intention of the implied pur- pose. Armstrong noted that by the suggested schedule the farmer could not receive $1.35 until December whereas in 1928 he could move the crop from his machine at $1.35 if he had No. 2 beans. He also pointed out that the farmers' acreages were governed somewhat by their lack of storage space. He also explained that since G. L. F., a cooperative, was buying the meal it seemed possible that a cooperative in produc- ing the beans would be welcomed. Steps toward cooperative organ- ization would be taken through the Illinois Agricultural Association providing they did not recommend a bargaining position. Funk explained the processors' point of view. They asked for 1,600,000 bushels. This amount could be handled through the year but not all in one week or within a three-months' period. In order to pay $1.35 per bushel for beans there must be assurance of running the mill during the entire year. He said, "It takes a lot of elevators to handle 1,600,000 bushels of beans." He was of the opinion that there was a certain group of farmers who would sell early and a certain group that would delay. Last year twenty cars were on track one day at Funks and one hundred cars were received at Peoria in one day. Funk paid demurrage for two weeks at $5.00 per day per car. Ar- rangements for holding the beans off the market over a period of weeks was important to processors. Funk said that J. A. McConnell was in Buffalo and H. G. Atwood was in New York with previous business appointments or they also would have been present. He agreed to report to them the two cent proposition but he could not act independently at that time. To prove his own interest in Agriculture he said: Further than that to show you my interest in agriculture— I am not boasting about it— but I do represent a fair acreage of land as a family. My family connections represent about 50,000 acres of Illinois lands. Why shouldn't I be interested in agriculture? Funk explained how demands in dairy districts had increased dur- ing the year 1928 thus providing an outlet for more meal. American Milling had also started to process beans and were also taking the meal from Bloomington. Thus the Funks were able to cooperate with 358 Seed, Soil and Science them and with McConnell who was the G. L. F. representative of 20,000 dairymen in New York. When the price per ton per meal in- creased $3.00 the processors could raise the price on beans. Had McConnell said "no" at any time there could have been no added price to the farmers. He also explained that Atwood's influence as president of American Milling Company was back of the Champaign meeting. To a certain extent Farm Bureau and elevator men were represented in 1928. However, the elevator men were left out during the last meetings in 1928 chiefly because there were two groups. These were old line elevators and some new Cooperatives. Funk did not hesitate to say that he and his family had connections with both elevator groups. His brother and relatives were in one group and he, himself was vice president in another so "I know the ins and outs of that business." The elevator men asked to be included in 1929. Funk believed it was evident that the beans had to go through the elevators. He also told the committee that the presidents and secre- taries of both elevator organizations met at Peoria with representa- tives from the Farm Bureau, Dr. Burlison and Professor Hackleman, both of the University of Illinois. At this meeting the sliding scale of prices for 1929 was set up. There was some fear that more oil mills might be established if the open contract of 1928 were repeated in 1929. For that reason they decided upon a regular contract in 1929. There had been no suggestion to omit the Farm Bureau. Their thought, according to Funk's explanation was to help both the Farm Bureau and the grower. He also added that contracts were sent both to last year Growers and to the Farm Bureaus. It also appeared logi- cal to send contracts to the elevator operators who often had a closer contact with some growers because the grain went through their hands. Then Funk said, "Perhaps we made a mistake and when this agitation came up we called a meeting and called that matter off just because you fellows in Champaign County did not want it. We thought we would eliminate all dissatisfaction." Then with characteristic humor he said, 'T am afraid, men, you are going to 'spill the beans' rushing at it absolutely from an agricultural standpoint and forgetting the manufacturing end of it entirely." He advised against doing what they had in mind. He stressed the new- ness of the processing business and the fact that all concerned were feeling their way. The time had not yet passed when G. L. F. could say "No." If this situation arose certain other offers of protein known to be in the hands of G. L. F. could be accepted. So far, Funks and Peoria had refused these offers. Then Gene Funk told these men that The Miracle Bean 359 Illinois was going through a very critical situation from the point of view of soybeans. He did not blame them for asking for all they could obtain, that was human nature; but he advised, "Do not ask for more now." He pointed to possible losses for the processors, declared that what the farmers needed was rotation of soybeans with corn and told them confidentially that other mills would take their processing plants where there were other supplies of beans if there were con- tinued agitation. Armstrong appeared to recognize the wisdom of this straight line of talk and declared that they felt the same way about the situation. His group realized that there were both visible and invisible forces at work. He had, however, some feeling against the old line elevators that had too much to say about the price of the farmers' grain. He believed they would be against any cooperative organization. Arm- strong's idea in forming the Cooperative was to strengthen the in- dustry. Funk also explained that contracts with the elevators were decided upon in order to fix the price they would charge for handling the beans. Discussion revealed that contracts were sent to the elevators to establish a price for handling beans although no minimum charge was set. Armstrong interpreted the sending of contracts to the ele- vator as a possible weakening of the Farm Bureau. The processor, however, also had to think in terms of the problem confronting the elevator. I. C. Bradley then explained how the price had been arrived at from the study of records at the University of Illinois. He again called attention to the fact they were dealing with a new crop. After the various points of view were expressed Armstrong con- fessed that he was greatly impressed by the statements but continued to think that the requests of his committee were not unreasonable. Bradley pointed out that perhaps the great favor in 1928 was not that the Farm Bureau secured signers for the contracts but more essen- tially that any contracts were offered. These offers could be with- drawn at any time. The agreements increased the prices, as Waring added, from 1927 when beans brought only $1.10 per bushel. 34 After some figuring Funk observed that a charge of 2 cents per bushel by the Farm Bureaus would add 66 cents per ton to the cost. He asked what they thought J. A. McConnell would say when asked to pay this proposed 66 cents per ton for meal. Bradley then said that what was a service to the processor was also a service to Farm Bureau members and after all that was the reason for the existence of Farm 360 Seed, Soil and Science Bureaus. Funk added that 66 cents per ton on a million bushels would equal $20,000. He could not decide the matter alone but would if they insisted, take the matter up with the American Milling Company and with G. L. F. 35 About three weeks later Armstrong wrote a letter to American Mill- ing Company stating that the Committee of Bean Growers finally de- cided to recommend to their County Farm Bureau "your soybean contracts for the 1929 crop" with wholehearted cooperation. He continued: We believe that a letter from you indicating the acreage desired accept- ing our proferred assistance will set the wheels of good will and coopera- tion into motion. He and his group were still cooperative-minded and intended to pur- sue their plans. They also expected to work through the I. A. A. They also realized that great consideration was due to those who had estab- lished a market and encouraged the growing of soybeans. He asked for a few words of encouragement such as were expressed by Mr. Funk on the occasion of the visit to Bloomington. This letter was mailed in care of E. D. Funk and as Armstrong later wrote he had intended to address it to American Milling Co., G. L. F. and Funk Bros. He told Funk that the recommendation to accept the contracts seemed to meet the approval of farmers. They also hoped that the contracting firms were pleased. 36 Eugene D. Funk, Sr. and his associates thus were instrumental in clarifying a difficult situation. The 1929 contracts were placed in ef- fect. Two signed copies of the contract were to be forwarded to J. W. Shisenand, chairman of the Farm Bureau Committee in Peoria, one copy to be returned to the farmer. 37 Judgments regarding the success or failure of the contracted price agreements vary. Writing in 1936 L. B. Breedlove in a series of articles said, "Processors Underwriting Failure." 38 Possibly in the long view this statement is correct. But as a temporary remedy for a difficult situation it seems fair to say that G. L. F. was pleased, the farmers were satisfied and the processors were able to keep their mills in operation. A new wooden elevator with a capacity of 40,000 bushels was con- structed by Funk Bros, near the warehouse during the fall of 1928. Early on the morning of March 12, 1929 with the elevator about two- thirds full, fire destroyed the structure. Some beans were destroyed, and many more were water soaked. Arrangements were made with The Miracle Bean 361 Allied Mills of Peoria to dry the beans. Some forty to sixty men worked day and night with shovels and portable elevators until the beans were finally loaded into cars and shipped to Peoria where they were dried. All were sold as salvage in Chicago except one car. There was less damage and shrinkage than had been expected. Fortunately the full amount of the insurance was paid. 39 This was indeed a dis- heartening moment in the development of the soybean business at Funk Bros. Decision to proceed with the construction of a concrete elevator of 140,000 bushel capacity followed almost immediately. Another important decision was made about this time. E. D. Funk, Sr. advised his officers that it would be to the advantage of the com- pany to purchase from McKenzie Milling Company its mill and ele- vator at Taylorville, Illinois. Negotiations had been underway for three months in June 1929. 40 E. D. Funk, Sr. reported that the total acreage of soybeans in Christian County was approximately 11,000 acres. The idea was to install in the new plant three soybean expellers. If additional funds were needed they could be obtained by the sale of $25,000 of pre- ferred stock. I. C. Bradley became the Manager of the Funk Mill at Taylorville. The Daily Breeze of Taylorville recorded that Clair Hay, a former County Farm Advisor got in touch with Funk Bros, after their fire at the Bloomington plant. An old friend of the Funks, P. S. Haner, was also active in concluding the negotiations. 41 A new venture in soybean marketing occurred when the formation of a cooperative became a reality. When the directors of the newly formed Soybean Marketing Association held their first meeting December 7, 1929, John Armstrong invited Eugene D. Funk, Sr., Messrs. Legge, Atwood, McMillen, Heidrich and Eisenschiml to be present. 42 The members of this association operated under a three- year marketing contract, consigning their crop to the Association pool. Funds were secured from the Federal Interstate Credit Bank of St. Louis for financing and marketing. L. B. Breedlove declared that the contracts were made with bonded warehouses operating under Federal license with 200 county elevators and six processing companies. At first, according to Breedlove, the association was hampered by falling prices. An export demand developed in the fall of 1931. Breedlove found that the association had difficulty in try- ing to operate by a fixed price, "alongside an open market paying prices on day to day developments." After 1933 the association did not conduct a pool for soybeans. 43 Additional problems arose when Frederich Wand of the Soybean 362 Seed, Soil and Science Division of Archer-Daniels Midland Company's Decatur office in- quired regarding the inspection service in the industry. There was no intimation that grades had been established at Decatur prior to their establishment by the U. S. D. A. Wand raised the question of differences in grading by Federal inspectors at different points in Illinois indicating the possibility of higher grading where there were larger receipts. Apparently no definite evidence was presented. 44 W. H. Eastman, president of W. O. Goodrich Company of Mil- waukee, a subsidiary of Archer-Daniels Midland, handling its soy- bean business, stated, on the other hand, that he thought a great deal had been accomplished in developing a uniform basis for Federal grades. This concern employed Federal inspection service at its plants in Toledo, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, Atchison, Kansas and asked for it at its plant at Fredonia, Kansas. The Bureau of Agricultural Economics had a special committee working on a comprehensive survey of the Grain Standards Act. The report was not available at that time. In the event that the Grain Standards Act should be held to apply to soybeans or amended to apply to their inspection it would become compulsory for those moving into interstate commerce when sold by grade. The inspection service for soybeans under the Market Inspection item in the Appropriation Act was entirely permissible. 45 The United States Department of Agriculture announced Stand- ards for Soy Beans September, 1925, recommending their use. Revi- sion was made the following September. Grades and classes were described July 9, 1935 effective September of that year. The structure of the grades correspond roughly to that of grades for grain. 46 A meeting was to be held by Messrs. Fahrnkopf, Armstrong, Smith of the I. A. A. with Funk in the latter's office April 3, 1930. 47 In late April Armstrong wrote that they had visited Mr. Shellabarger at Decatur, Mr. Eastman in Chicago and Mr. Atwood of Allied Mills. On these occasions they explained the purpose of the Soybean Marketing Association to secure direct and orderly marketing with- out inciting ill will. Dr. Burlison of the University of Illinois attended the meeting in Chicago and said that he felt a movement had been started there to work together for the best interests of the industry as a whole. The National Soybean Oil Manufacturers Association held its organizational meeting May 21, 1930. The organizational declaration stated that the undersigned were clearly aware of their responsibility in fostering and in encouraging the progress and development of an infant industry in the United States. The declaration continued: The Miracle Bean 363 We frankly recognize that there have been and still are certain trade practices in the industry which are unbusinesslike and harmful to pro- ducers and consumers alike. Some of the objectives of the Association were to promote mutual confidence, a high standard of business ethics, elimina- tion of trade abuses, the promotion of sound economic business customs and practices.* 8 The organizational meeting was held at the City Club in Chicago, Illinois. Otto Eisenschiml was elected Chairman. Whitney Eastman as chairman of the committee on organization presented the Declara- tion, Code of Ethics and Constitution and By-Laws. Reports from the committee on Trading rules and the Technical committee were adopted. Eisenschiml became president, Shellabarger first vice presi- dent, R. G. Dahlbert second vice president, W. H. Eastman, secre- tary and I. C. Bradley, treasurer. For the year of 1930-31 Eastman was president, Bradley continued as treasurer and a member of the board of directors. 49 Later Bradley became secretary and president in 1936. E. D. Funk also became a member of the board of directors. Armstrong indicated that the Marketing Association would wel- come such a group. Armstrong also discussed with Fahrnkopf the basis for negotiation with Funk Bros. This involved securing financial help from the Farm Board. A portion of the money should come from the Intermediate Credit Bank which was reportedly careful on the question of approved storage facilities. Armstrong also visited Otto Eisenschiml to secure from him a positive statement that 15 percent of soybean oil could be used in farm painting to good advantage. 50 Funk Bros, then negotiated an elevator agreement with the Soy- bean Marketing Association, September 18, 1930. They were to re- ceive all of the soybeans delivered to the company by members of the association from 1930 crop to June 1, 1931. They would establish the grade of member's soybeans on basis of U. S. D. A. standards and whenever possible would place them in separate bins for shipment in carload lots. Records were kept in quadruplicate; one copy to the elevator, one to the grower and the other two copies to the Soybean Marketing Association. The growers were to be paid by the company at prices named by the association for various grades. Prices were to be based on U. S. No. 2 Soybeans and unless otherwise specifically provided to pay a premium of 1 cent per bushel for U. S. No. 1 or better, 2 cents discount per bushel on No. 3 and 4 cents discount for No. 4 beans. They were to ship the beans in carload lots on order of the Association attaching a sight draft to the bill of lading for 80 percent of the advance paid to the growers plus handling charges, 364 Seed, Soil and Science the balance to be remitted to the association on basis of grade estab- lished at Association's terminal storage, point of delivery or public inspection point. The handling charge was to be mutually agreed upon by the local council of the Farm Bureau. If it seemed advisable for the company to store soybeans in its elevators for a limited period the problems would be taken up with the company and by mutual agreement decided that storage should not exceed 1/30 of one cent per bushel per day. It was fixed at cents but could never be more than 5 cents. The Marketing Association agreed to pay promptly drafts drawn by the Funk Bros. Seed Co. on carload shipments. The company was also to be furnished a list of members in that community under con- tract with the association. They also agreed to make final disposition of less than carload lots in hands of the company within thirty days after notice. 51 Another agreement relating to processing was negotiated by the association on the same day, September 18, 1930, also with Funk Bros. Seed Co. The company was interested in securing a supply of soybeans for processing purposes while the Marketing Association was described as statewide cooperative, warehouse facilities in Bloomington and in Taylorville, under state license and regulations with adequate facilities to warehouse and condition beans. These were designated to Funks on order of the association. 52 There was also a formal agreement between the General Storage Company and the Soybean Marketing Association. Negotiable ware- house receipts were to be delivered to the association. The association was to provide all labor and material necessary for proper operation of the warehouse service. This agreement was subject to and part of the agreement with Funk Bros, dated September 26, 1930. 53 A second agreement was made between General Storage and Funk Bros. 54 The question of where the 1930 crop of Illinois beans was going was partially answered by W. H. Eastman when he replied to a state- ment in the Champaign News Gazette charging that his company had a monopoly. Eastman stated that they had purchased over half of the 1930 crop in Illinois with a large amount secured at $1.30 per bushel to dealer, f. o. b. county shipping station for No. 2 beans. Eastman contended that his company was the savior of the soybean industry in 1930 because of soybean purchases compared to what the crop would otherwise have brought without his company in the field. He also added that they would take all they had purchased and that they withdrew from the market in November because they had secured The Miracle Bean 365 enough at the above price for their needs for 12 months. Therefore, they did not take advantage of the "demoralized market then pre- vailing." 55 E. D. dealt directly with the Marketing Association for beans from his own farm as receipts dated October 31 and November 12, 1930 prove. For 4612)2 bushels he received $1.05 per bushel and the same price in November for 445% bushels. 56 Difficulties increased by April 30, 1931. Funk informed Earl Smith of I. A. A. that in the original agreement with the Marketing Asso- ciation in September 18, 1930 paragraph 4 of this original contract proved that Funk Bros, had the option of taking delivery from time to time of additional amounts at a price that both parties might agree upon. The agreement on November 24 of purchase and delivery was made between the Soybean Marketing Association and the Egyptian Service Company and approved by Funk Bros. Seed Co. for thirty carloads of soybean meal ( 20 ton maximum weight per car ) at prices ranging from $41.50 January 1 to $44.00 per ton. One car of meal was to be taken each week with option on two or more per week up to and including June 1 delivered Flora, Illinois. A price differential was included. There was a memorandum of agreement December 31, 1930 whereby the Marketing Association agreed to sell an additional 40,000 bushels of beans at $1.17. There were difficulties in disposing of the meal which dropped to $26 per ton. Funk faced a problem in- deed. He could not afford to take more beans from the association, partly because his competitors who were not in sympathy with cooperatives, were consigning soybean meal in carload lots in Illi- nois territory where Funk had been operating. Dealers had orders to sell this meal for $1.00 less per ton, regardless of price, than the Funk prices. Funk also pointed out that the association had sold 300,000 bushels of beans recently for 80 to 82 cents per bushel so that the meal from that priced bean entered into competition with the prospective sale of meal produced by Funk Bros. Funk said he was not complaining, only pointing out the problems! Despite this apparent underselling Funk declared that his records showed that Funk Bros, had carried out their contract. He believed that the requirements of the unexpired agreement with the Market- ing Association and the Egyptian Company had not been met by them. Had this been accomplished more beans could have been taken, thus reducing the amount remaining. The Egyptian Service Company had ordered and was delivered 6 cars or 120 tons of meal on the 30 carload contract. 57 Funk said that he had agreed to the 366 Seed, Soil and Science Memorandum Agreement of December 31, 1930 over Bradley's pro- test. Bradley thought since all of the first 40,000 bushels had not been processed additional lots should have been taken in 5,000 bushel lots based on the price of meal and oil at the time of acceptance. Funk reminded Smith that he had entered into this cooperative movement because he had "preached cooperation for over thirty years. We are as anxious as anyone can be to see equality brought about for the benefit of agriculture." Funk had made a trip to Wash- ington during May before the September 18, 1930 agreement, dis- cussed the question with Mr. Legge and "received their O. K. to the effect that they were in sympathy with just such a movement as was finally arranged with I. A. A., the Soybean Marketing Association and Funk Bros. Seed Co. as processors of soybeans on a profit sharing basis." This trip also resulted in favoring the financing of the Co- operative Movement in the soybean program. He added an interesting comment: We want to see this movement succeed but in doing so we cannot afford to lose a lot of money for our company. The writer told you at Springfield he was willing to turn his soybean mill over to you and process the beans you now have in storage in our elevators at a processing charge of twenty cents per bushel if in that way we could be of assistance. You said you would be unable to accept such a proposition for you had no outlay or setup to dispose of the meal and oil. Even with these difficulties Funk advised that they try to work out some sort of cooperative proposition that would be fair to everyone. He was interested in a plan that would permit the processing and sale of beans and oil which they held on hand and the beans which the Soybean Marketing Association had stored in "our elevators." 58 Another agreement was entered into by Funk Bros, with the Soy- bean Marketing Association May 8, 1931 as a result of the above situation for 5,000 bushels of beans at Bloomington, price to be agreed upon at time of offer. Another agreement of the same date involved 30,000 bushels with 25,000 bushels to be delivered at Bloomington at price of 79 cents per bushel, f. o. b., with 10,000 bushels not later than May 15, 1931; 10,000 not later than June 15, 1931; 10,000 not later than July 13, 1931. This agreement included a statement re- leasing them from all obligations regarding the Egyptian Service Company. 59 Six months later Funk undertook a purchasing agreement with D. W. McMillen of Allied Mills, October 6, 1931. Allied Mills had en- tered an agreement with the Soybean Marketing Association for The Miracle Bean 367 500,000 bushels of 1931 soybean crop, marked Exhibit A. Funk Bros, were to process these beans. Allied Mills were to pay 30 cents per bushel for processing the beans but Funks would pay freight and handling costs. As these beans were processed, Funks would pay 30 cents per bushel plus 6 percent interest per annum from date of arrangement with payments made weekly. Meal and oil produced from these beans were to be kept separated from others. Accounts of proceeds from processed products were to be rendered under the same conditions as set up with the Marketing Association. The contract for processing was in the form of a letter dated Octo- ber 23, 1931 signed by D. W. McMillen, president of Allied Mills and cosigned for Funk Bros, by H. H. Miller and I. C. Bradley, Allied Mills, Inc., agreed to purchase soybeans to be placed in store at Bloomington and Taylorville and other points to remain the prop- erty of Allied Mills. This agreement was the basis for incorporation of Soya Products. Funk Bros, were authorized to process their beans at Bloomington and Taylorville into oil and meal and receive from Soya Products the actual cost for processing not to exceed $5.00 per ton of beans processed. The oil and meal were to be sold by Allied Mills and shipped by Funk Bros, at their direction. The proceeds from the sale were the property of Soya Products. Profits were to be shared on a fifty-fifty basis. Allied Mills reserved right of supervision of process and access to records. 60 The board of directors for Soya Products, the company formed to handle this transaction, was composed of Eugene D. Funk, Jr., and from Allied Mills Henry Egly, president of Soya Products, Roy Craig, Vice president, Harold Buist, secretary, and Jack Quinlan. Mr. Quin- lan recalled that he never worked with an organization more sincere than Funk Bros. Seed Co., in its efforts to establish and maintain good relations within the industry. Mr. Funk, Sr. would often remark, "But he is a grand old fellow and an old customer" of someone he knew. This unselfish attitude in merchandising was marked in the program of E. D. Funk, Sr. That desire for the last ten cents was not always uppermost in his thinking. 61 The formation of Soya Products enabled Funk Bros, and Allied Mills to cooperate in buying soybeans as well as processing and sell- ing oil meal and soybean oil. The friendly relations between the two companies was thus continued. The agreement proved to be mutually advantageous and gave to Eugene D. Funk, Jr. an opportunity to increase his knowledge of expanding soybean operations. Along with the production of soybean oil meal for feed, Funk Bros. 368 Seed, Soil and Science also produced soybean flour in small quantities for I. F. Laucks, Inc. in Seattle, Washington. This activity resulted from contacts made by I. C. Bradley, who previously experimented with soybean flour in Chicago Heights. Laucks used the flour to produce a waterproof glue. Funk Bros, shipped flour to the Seattle office for approximately two years before 1929. Freight rates proved to be excessive. As a result I. F. Laucks decided to establish a plant in Illinois. 62 They entered into an agreement with Funk Bros, to establish a head- quarters for producing soybean glue in Bloomington, Illinois. These operations were located on the south half of the second floor of the main warehouse at the seed company plant. 63 Funk Bros, continued for a few years to make the flour from their soybean meal and to deliver it to Laucks for finished processing into their patent glue. Laucks later installed their own machinery to process the meal into flour. The volume of meal taken by Laucks was at times about one-third of the production of Funk Bros. This operation in Bloomington, Illinois was one of the first in the midwest to process domestic soybeans in flour for glue. 64 The processing of beans to produce meal and flour retaining ad- hesive qualities required less heat than for commercial soybean oil meal. Laucks operated in Bloomington until 1934 when they built their own plant on the Atlantic coast in Norfolk, Virginia. During the years of the depression, business problems were not easily solved. At a special meeting of the board of directors of Funk Bros., September 1, 1932 they decided to sell the Taylorville plant to Allied Mills. 65 After four years of operation in connection with Allied Mills under the Soya Products Corporation, Funk Bros, took stock of their situa- tion. H. H. Miller explained their problems clearly when he ad- vised J. B. DeHaven of Allied Mills of their ideas. With young men learning the business and ready to assume more responsible positions, it seemed wise to take over more direction of their own soybean business. Funk Bros, was at this time not a large concern. Older leadership needed to be supported by trained and responsible young executives to test the measure of their ability. Miller stated that un- der the first agreement Funks enjoyed a good revenue from meal manufactured for Laucks with the processing rate of $5.00 per ton. Miller was also convinced that a company of the size of Funks could not make money at a lower price if a proportionate share of execu- tive salaries and overhead were charged up to the operation. He also noted that the only advanced installation in five years was one The Miracle Bean 369 additional expeller. He emphasized the continuous friendly relations that had existed between the two companies but felt certain that J. B. DeHaven and H. G. Atwood as older men would understand and appreciate the desire of younger leadership to test its own strength. 60 Soya Products was terminated and Funk Bros, again operated on their own capital. Dr. W. L. Burlison of the University of Illinois was a long-time advocate of the soybean and soybean products. Throughout the years he devoted time and effort to the soybean program. His in- terest was turned to promotion of utilization of soybean oil in paints. An aggressive program was launched when Dean Mumford, di- rector of Illinois Experiment Station asked for the study of the bean's utilization. In 1930 this program was launched by the Experiment Station in Illinois. 67 By 1935, Dr. Burlison noted that the early prom- ise of the soybean in the 1920's was more than fulfilled. The true pre-eminence of the bean came with the development of industrial uses for agricultural products. He stated: "It is with this new out- look for agriculture that the soybean has advanced beyond a sub- stitute crop and has become The 'Wonder' Bean/' 68 At the time Funks terminated the agreement with Allied Mills, in 1935, Harold Abbott joined Funk Bros. Seed Co. as a part time em- ployee maintaining a business in Chicago. Abbott's early career started as an office boy with Albert Dickinson Company in 1898. His abilities were soon discovered. By 1900 he was gathering samples for the Exposition in Paris and assumed responsibilities for the com- pany at the Exposition in Buffalo in 1902. He was first associated with the field seed division at Albert Dickinson. Some time before 1903 he became one of the few men interested in formula feeds, and soon devoted all of his time to this work. After thirty-six years with the Dickinson Company he had risen to membership on the board of directors and a vice presidency when he left the company. Gene Funk, Jr. who had worked closely with the Allied Mills peo- ple in Soya Products became ill in 1936 for several months. Abbott came to help in the soybean operations and later to take full charge. He remained in this position until 1956 when he became consultant and advisor. Those who worked with him recognized the remark- able wealth of information and experience he contributed to the growth of the operations at Funk Bros. He acted as a balance wheel in the organization, as a guide and advisor to the younger men. At one time soybean and seed corn offices were located in the warehouse. Abbott and Gene, Jr. ran the soybean operations. Abbott 370 Seed, Soil and Science remained in charge of soybean operations after Gene Jr. became president of the company in 1944. Under his guidance the depart- ment continued to prosper. 69 Previous to 1928 prices for soybeans were largely determined by demand and supply for soybean seed. Increases in industrial uses and rapid expansion of acreages created a different price structure for commercial beans. Relationship with other competitive products and the fact that both soybean meal and soybean oil move into dif- ferent fields make the crop different from other corn belt crops. Sup- plies of cottonseed and linseed oil meals were competitors. About 1930 soybean oil meal began to take the place of linseed oil meal in manufacturing mixed feeds. According to Breedlove, during the last few months of 1934 prices of chief protein meals began to fall and records of imports crowded back the sales of domestic soybean oil meal. These imports came in over the "negligible duty" of $6.00 per ton. 70 During 1933-34 the chief competition in oil was between soy- bean oil and linseed oil. During the drought of 1934 the demand for seed again contributed to the price for soybeans. 71 A meeting of considerable interest to the National Soybean Asso- ciation and to agriculture in general was held in Detroit and Dear- born, Michigan in 1936. The Farm Chemurgic Council attracted 1,000 persons as against 400 the year before. One entire session was devoted to soybeans. The story and problems of the processors were set forth in a series of papers. Among the speakers whose addresses attracted attention were Mr. W. J. O'Brien of the Glidden Company, Mr. E. D. Funk, Sr. of Bloomington and President I. C. Bradley of the Soybean Association. 72 The reason was easily understood. As Ed Dies commented, the sensation of agriculture in 1936 was the soybean as far as the in- dustrial and chemical worlds were concerned. In 1935, the crop was 39,000,000 bushels, double that of 1934. Henry Ford helped to call attention to the product at the World's Fair in 1933 and 1934. The soybean was a growing factor in the food business and in the field of plastics. 73 The soy was called the Midwest's Miracle Bean. When Funk, Sr. spoke before the Chemurgic Council at Dearborn, Michigan May 14, 1936 he referred to the early history of the soy- bean. The farmers who grew the bean in the Carolinas prior to the World War I used them for animal consumption and for seed. These beans were of a late maturing variety. When selected beans of the varieties brought from the Orient tested well in the soils of the Mid West the soybean became popular as a field crop. From some of The Miracle Bean 371 the imported varieties, plant breeders developed new strains better than the original. We also referred to the early processing and to the guaranteed price. He emphasized the fact that the soybean as a nitrogenous plant helped to maintain the element in the soil because it utilized free nitrogen from the air. He added the important point that in grow- ing soybeans the farmer as well as the scientist and industrialist must remember that the plant is the heaviest feeder on phosphate of all the grain producing crops. He recalled that many years ago Professor Hopkins of the University of Illinois called attention to the shortage of phosphate in most of the corn producing area of the United States : "A twenty page letter from him in my files written some thirty odd years ago warned me of the fact that if we continued to produce corn and wheat and other grains on our Illinois farms without in some way replenishing our soil with the mineral elements that we are annually taking from the soil with our crops, sooner or later we would wake up to the fact that Dean Mumford of the U. of I. spoke a few days before in the National Chamber of Commerce of the Morrow plots, the oldest soil experiment area in the U. S. These plots showed a difference in production ranging from $17.00 to $115.00 per acre due entirely to depletion and maintenance of soil fertility." Funk pointed out to his audience that soy beans provided a prof- itable rotating crop whereas oats were not so profitable. This fact aroused farmer interest who when he sold corn always asked the price. In the case of beans he asked to what market they were going and for what they would be used. The farmer was interested in the Administrations soil Conservation Program. Funk stated that thou- sands of soybeans would be planted in the spring for a legume crop to be plowed under in the fall for a soil building crop thereby add- ing humus and nitrogen to the soil. The farmer could also help to reduce the corn surplus; could grow a crop convertible to cash in the fall prior to corn in harvest; exchange his beans for soybean oil meal to feed livestock during the winter months and could help him self by using soybean oil when painting his buildings. He said that soybean oil meal contained an average of 41 to 45 percent pro- tein. He also explained that the packers disliked hogs fed on beans containing all of the oil because the meat was soft and oily. When oil was largely removed from the processed beans with heat, the meal then fed to hogs with corn and minerals was excellent feed. He noted there would be 11 percent less soybeans planted in 1936 than in 1935. 372 Seed, Soil and Science He also presented a good summary of the international competi- tion, pointing to the new lands coming into cultivation in northern Manchuria before Japan took over and to the fact that larger acre- ages were apparent each year. The soybean rose from a minor place in China's export trade in 1900. In 1928 it constituted 18 percent of the value of China's foreign trade only slightly surpassed by her silk exports. Funk quoted K. E. Beeson, Secretary of the American Soy- bean Association, who said that there was imported into the United States, 14,129,800 pounds of soybean oil during the first 11 months of 1934. This was the largest importation since 1929. This amount of oil represented the product from about 1,500,000 bushels. Soybean oil meal imported in 1935 exceeded 50,000 tons representing about 2,000,- 000 bushels of beans. He added that imports of oil from all oil vegeta- ble seeds in 1935 totaled 2,250,000 lbs. A duty of 3M cents per pound on imported soybean oil and $6.00 per ton on soybean meal existed but there was no duty on soybean flour. A duty of 2 cents per pound existed on imported beans but comparatively few beans were im- ported. He said that in 1924 there were only two mills processing beans but in 1936 there were about forty five. With typical honesty and ability to look the problem squarely in the face he added: Here is an industry and a farm commodity that during the past ten or twelve years has grown from practically nothing to a very substantial place as an economic factor in the United States. However, the question we are facing is a vital one to Agriculture and to Industry. More processors and less beans means higher prices for beans provided there is an outlet for both meal and oil against importations. If importations increase it seems to me somebody is going to be left sitting on a limb. Disclaiming the title of pessimist he mentioned that a banker in his home town had recently described him as a "conservative enthu- siast." He believed that the soybean had an unlimited field from the point of view of the farmer, the research scientist and the indus- trialist; but "caution, thought and continued research" must be given to this industry. L. B. Breedlove noted that the domestic price for soybeans was 60 cents a bushel in the fall of 1935 when an export market de- veloped for 1,560,000 bushels. The price rose and by July 1936 ran to $1.23 per bushel. Officials of the Chicago Board of Trade recom- mended the establishment of a futures market. 74 E. D. Funk, Jr. became chairman of the Edible Soybean Com- mittee of the National Soybean Processors Association from 1939- The Miracle Bean 373 1947. Representatives of Funk Bros, participated actively in this organization. During these same years Gene Jr., was also a member of the Soybean Grades and Contracts Committee 1939-40; secretary of the association and a member of the executive committee 1940-48. H. A. Abbott was a member of the board of directors 1944-49; a member of the regional committee 1949-54; and chairman in 1944- 54 of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin and north western Missouri regional committee. Abbott was also treasurer and member of the executive committee 1951-57 and a member of the oil trading rules committee 1950-52. 75 Elias W. Rolley was a member of the fire insurance committee of the association 1946-55. Funk Bros, were interested in the development of the edible soybean as a means of providing another profitable crop for the farmers. Dr. Earl Sieveking carried on experiments from a western sample resulting in thirty-three type plants. Progeny of these plants was planted separately. The best was the edible variety known as Funk's Delicious produced in 1932 and offered for sale in 1934. Funk's Delicious were vacuum packed in Bloomington but eventu- ally were priced out of the market. 70 The chief problem in the edible soybean program was to find varieties which were easy to remove from the pods, in the green stage, and which would not shatter out when ripe. 77 This difficulty occurred in almost all of the edible varieties. George Strayer ad- vised of an increased demand for edible soybean varieties in 1943. Victory gardens during the war contributed some of this demand. Food utilizers became more interested in dry edible beans because of their protein content. 78 Commercial canners of green edible soy- beans increased their acreage in 1943 approximately four times that of the previous year. Professor W. L. Burlison of the University of Illinois advised that testing and experimental cooking of these va- rieties were increasing. 79 O. B. Combs of the University of Wisconsin was of the opinion in 1944 that more emphasis should be placed on freezing as a method of preserving green vegetable soybeans. 80 No significant changes were noted in 1945. It was pointed out that "edible" usually meant the green vegetable varieties. Actually cer- tain of the commercial beans were also used in the edible field. Some of the latter were unsatisfactory when canned. 81 W. L. Burlison pointed to progress in vegetable soybeans in 1946. For many years interest centered around the Giant Green, Banseii and Hokkaido varieties. 82 After the war years interest in the edible soybean decreased, but manufacturers of soybean food products be- 374 Seed, Soil and Science gan to realize that the edible varieties had something that ordinary grain varieties did not offer. 83 Few edible beans were grown west of the Mississippi river. Testing and experimentation continued in 1947. 84 The Regional Soybean Laboratory at Urbana, in charge of Reid Milner, was often contacted for information by representatives of Funk Bros. The work of the laboratory centered on testing the oil content of the beans. The attention of the agronomists had previously been directed to the soybean plant and its yield. Experiments in oil content were carried on in cooperation with the University of Illinois. 85 During the Second World War, E. D. Funk, Jr. acted as a member of the Soybean Processors Industry Advisory Committee. He was chairman of the task committee regulating tank car movement to insure sufficient use of the supply, and a member of the committee in charge of soybean seed problems for the 1945 crop. The keen de- mand for soybean oil made this an important chairmanship. A re- port in January 1943 indicated that the usage of tank cars had been efficient. 86 In 1943, a brief description of soybean operations of Funk Bros, stated that the department was primarily a milling or processing operation. Soybeans were obtained from growers located primarily within a radius of forty miles from Bloomington, Illinois. The oil produced was sold on the commercial market principally for use in the manufacture of edible foods. For several years almost 100 per- cent of this product was sold for edible vegetable compound and margarine manufacture in central, southern and eastern areas. The cake which was ground into meal was forwarded in carload ship- ments to wholesale feed manufacturers and to wholesale jobbers. About 80 percent was distributed by rail from the Pacific to the At- lantic north of the Ohio River. The remaining 20 percent moved to the retail trade direct from the mill. Several factors affected profitable operations: (1) A sufficient supply of beans to permit continuous operation of the mill, ( 2 ) With a regular market for both oil and meal, prices for beans become a controlling factor in operations. 87 As has been stated, the original production of Funk Bros, in 1924 began with a capacity from 300 to 350 bushels per day using the original two expellers. A third No. 1 type was added in 1927 and two more in 1929, making a total of five No. 1 type with total capacity of approximately 800 bushels. About 1932 two R. B. Type Anderson The Miracle Bean 375 expellers were added with greater capacity than the No. 1 type, making a total daily capacity of 1,300 bushels. In 1936 one used Hi-Speed R. B. 400 bushel capacity expeller was added, and later in the same year one new Super Duo 600 bushel machine with about 2,000 bushels per day. In 1937 another Super Duo was added and another No. 1 type removed and sold. During a quarter of a century from 1930 to 1956, soybean acreage jumped from 3,473,000 yielding 13,929,000 bushels to an increase by 1940 up to 78,045,000 bushels. The crop year 1956 indicated plant- ing of 21,000,000 acres with production of 457,000,000 bushels. This important cash farm income was second only to corn in many areas. 88 Funk Bros. Seed Co. were pioneers in processing of soybeans. They provided a continuous market after 1924. They increased op- erating volume through the years especially during the period of World War II. Since importation of vegetable oil prior to the war came from the South Pacific Islands there was need for increased American acreages of soybeans during the war. Harold Abbott com- mented, "Under Governmental control of our economy prices have stabilized, production encouraged and priorities for plant expansion provided. Funk Bros. Seed Co. were permitted to participate to the extent of their physical properties and financial ability." 89 They were classified as medium sized operators and allowed a gross margin of profit of approximately 35 to 36 cents per bushel. Super Duo op- erations were increased so that daily capacity in 1944 was 4,300-4,400 bushels. 90 During March 1947 and December 1948 grain storage capacity was enlarged, a new grain drier was installed and a hydraulic truck dump was added. Competitors, however, were turning to solvent ex- traction so that the board of directors authorized the construction of a solvent type French extractor with equipment and mill directly west of the seed plant. 91 A new solvent processing plant for soybeans was installed by Funk Bros, in 1951. It began operation January 1952. Soybeans are pur- chased through marketing channels and shipped to the plant in Bloomington, Illinois by rail or truck from country elevators. Storage in concrete tanks provides a supply easily transferred to the pro- cessing unit by a belt conveyor. At the end of the conveyor a surge bin or storage tank of 6,000 bushels is provided so that the conveyor does not run continuously. The solvent extraction plant can thus be fed from this bin. The principle of the solvent system for extracting oil is to dissolve 376 Seed, Soil and Science the soybean oil from flaked soybeans by the solvent, Hexane. The mixture of oil and solvent (miscella) is separated by evaporation and distillation. The extracted flakes are converted into soybean meal by cooking and grinding. The process is continuous and the general practice is to operate the plant during 24 hours per day seven days per week. Expensive equipment requires a higher in- vestment in this solvent process than in the expeller process. Skilled and technically trained personnel is needed to direct and perform the operations. Proper preparation of the flakes to desired thickness and uniformity is necessary to secure effective rate of oil extraction. After weighing the beans through an automatic dump scale they are put through corrugated rolls, breaking into pieces approximately one sixteenth the size of the original bean. Large smooth rolls then produce thin flakes from these cracked beans where thickness is controlled at 0.008-0.010 inch. The extractor is of the horizontal type and consists of a series of sieve-baskets on an endless chain each holding about 400 pounds of flakes. These baskets are filled automatically. As the baskets move through the unit the flakes are repeatedly washed with solvent and miscella. This cycle takes about 40 minutes while the oil content of the flakes is reduced from the original 20 percent to 0.5 percent. Great care must be exercised to prohibit sparks or ignition in the area of the plant because the solvent is highly inflammable and volatile. The oil rich miscella is then subjected to a process where the sol- vent is separated from the oil. The solvent can be condensed, re- covered and used again in the same process. The solvent loss amounts to about 0.5 or 1 percent with each cycle. The oil is cooled and pumped to storage for loading. Extracted flakes are removed to the desolventized toaster where they are "toasted'' before being ground into meal. Cooking further prepares the flakes for better feeding purposes. Meal is loaded in bulk or in sacks and usually is shipped by rail. According to D. D. Walker, in charge of Funk Bros, solvent plant, "The selling basis for solvent extracted meal is 12 percent moisture and 44 percent protein." 92 Delmar Walker of the younger group came to the company after training as a chemical engineer at the University of Tennessee. He saw active duty as a Navy officer in an L.S.T. from Guam to Japan. He held a position as a chemical engineer with the Argo Plant of Corn Products 1946-50. During this time he also found time to ac- The Miracle Bean 377 quire a master's degree from the University of Chicago in business administration. After a year at Owensboro in Kentucky, he accepted a position with Funk Bros, in charge of the solvent soybean plant when it opened. The greatest users of soybean meal include Ralston-Purina, Allied Mills, Arcady Farms, Hales and Hunter and others. Proctor & Gam- ble, Lever Bros., Glidden, Swift & Co. and Anderson-Clayton and others refine crude or unrefined oil as that produced by Funk Bros, into vegetable oil, shortening, margarine and paint products. The solvent plant operated at 200 tons per day rated capacity in 1952. The output in 1956 with improvements in efficiency was in- creased to 330 tons (11,000 bushels) per day. A dependable source of steam is supplied by a new Babcock and Wilcox grate type boiler installed in 1955. A crew of five men works on each shift including the loading of oil and meal. Others are engaged in laboratory and maintenance work during the day. These plants, in order to operate economically, must produce suf- ficient volume to take care of the costs of highly trained operators, larger investment and overhead. The solvent process removes more oil from beans than the expeller process. Soybean oil usually brings better prices than the meal. 93 Approximately 80 percent of Funk's soybean processing production is in the form of soybean oil meal. It is marketed to a limited extent directly to the farmers. The largest percentage finds its outlet through wholesale channels in commercially mixed feed for formulation of many animal and poultry feeds. The crude soybean oil is marketed through vegetable oil refineries for the edible and industrial pur- poses. Intermediate feed and oil brokers are generally sought for these markets. 94 The decision by Funk Bros, to install the soybean mill in 1924 gave greater diversification to the seed business. It is an interesting fact in agricultural history that the sudden rise of the soybean to promi- nence as a cash crop in the 1920's and 1930's paralleled the spectacu- lar advancement in hybrid corn. Eugene D. Funk was a recognized leader in the expanding development of both crops essential to the well being of many Americans. Again Gene Funk led in an effort to better conditions for the farmers in the Corn Belt. CHAPTER XXVII Revolution in the Corn Fields Eugene D. Funk saw during the last decade of his life, 1934-44, the rapid acceptance of hybrid corn. There were many men who contributed to the long process of the improvement of corn. Few, however, devoted their lives to advancing commercial and research programs. Controversy over the comparable contributions of the geneticists to the development of hybrid corn will doubtless continue. For all prac- tical purposes both G. H. Shull and E. M. East exerted influence. 1 As has been related the former produced hybrids developed from in- breds in 1907, presented them to the public in 1908 and defended his "pure line" methods. He spoke both at the Louisiana Exposition in 1904 and at the American Breeders Association at Omaha at the time of the National Corn Association in 1908. Although there is no direct proof, Funk in attendance at both places probably heard him. East, who moved to Connecticut from the University of Illinois, brought forth his ideas about the same time. 2 The story of East and his con- nection with H. H. Love has been told (see chapters VIII and XVII). G. H. Shull's ideas were applied by E. G. Montgomery and T. A. Kiesselbach of the Nebraska Experiment Station during 1910, 11, 12. Kiesselbach is reported to have made his first cross between inbreds in 1912, grown in 1913 as the first corn hybrids from inbreds west of Connecticut. They did not prove to be successful in field performance because the eastern germ plasm was not adapted to western climate and conditions. H. K. Hayes a student of E. M. East produced studies with East dealing with "quantitative inheritance in ear length and other char- acteristics leading to acceptance of extension of Mendelism" 3 East continued to emphasize varietal crosses. In January 1915, Hayes ac- cepted an appointment in the University of Minnesota Experiment Station as a plant breeder. Here he gave to James Holbert sound ad- vice which he put into practice on the Funk Farms (see Chapter XVII ) . It was a long route from Charles Darwin to W. J. Beal to P. G. Holden at the University of Illinois and from East to Hayes to 378 Revolution in the Corn Fields 379 Holbert and Funk. Shull as a correspondent of Gene Funk gave him sound advice in 1914 when he told Funk that it would be disastrous for Funk to recommend growing crops from hybrid seed before be- coming convinced that this was the answer. Shull also observed that the Funk establishment was on a sound foundation of high esteem among corn growers and "you could afford at least to carry out some fairly extensive experiments to test the value of hybridizing methods." It is clear that the geneticists recognized the need for commercial and field testing of their principles 4 ( see Chapter XVI ) . Richey of the U. S. D. A. also carried on a limited corn breeding project in 1916. 5 When East took an appointment at Harvard, his student Donald F. Jones took over at Connecticut. His work in contributing the double cross has been compared by one writer to that of James Watt in the history of the steam engine. 6 There remained problems in disease resistance that Funk and Holbert were trying to solve in the adaptation of principles of hybridizing to field performance. It is apparent from the study of work with corn carried on by the Funks that the increased vigor and high yields of the "corn families" were secured through closely bred lines. These were like the varietal crosses advocated by the botanists and agronomists as already ex- plained. These line bred families were so nearly pure that "they ex- hibited many characters which breeders have subsequently learned emerge only after three to four years of direct in-breeding." 7 This was no small accomplishment for the early years, when the com- mercial significance of crossing inbreds had not yet been realized. Corn planted by farmers before the inbred hybrids became so pop- ular was designated as "open pollinated." This term was derived from the uncontrolled reproductive process in the open field. From the date of its organization Funk Bros. Seed Co. was one of the lead- ing producers of open pollinated corn in its area. The most popular of the some twelve open pollinated varieties produced were Funk's Yellow Dent Strain 176A, Funk's 329-100 Day Yellow Dent, Funk's Ninety Day Yellow Dent, Silvermine, Learning and Krug. Transition from open-pollinated to hybrid corn in the fields of the central Corn Belt with subsequent expansion to Canada and into the south below the equator as well as to other foreign countries, is a story of the utmost significance in the annals of agriculture. Funk Bros. Seed Co. has contributed in a substantial manner to this de- velopment. Few laymen other than farmers comprehend the compli- cated process that produces those magnificant fields of golden tassel grain. 380 Seed, Soil and Science A description of hybrid corn can be found in the Year Book of 1936 published by the United States Department of Agriculture as "A corn hybrid is a first generation hybrid between two strains of corn. Its value for seed is in the production of a crop of commercial corn. This corn will grow, but cannot be used for seed without loss in yield in the succeeding generations." It must be produced new each gen- eration. 8 This statement is the key to the extraordinary problem of the development of the commercial process. Another description of the term can be found in the Illinois Bulletin 330: Hybrid Seed Corn as the term is now commonly used, signifies seed re- sulting from cross fertilization, involving inbred line of corn (and) their combinations; the inbred lines having been self -fertilized until they are reasonably pure. A double cross hybrid known as "Pure Line Double Cross 250" was sold commercially by Funk Bros, beginning in 1922. This item was found in the company's 1926 Catalogue where after two years notice it was introduced to commemorate the twenty-first anniversary of the company. 9 During the twenties there followed Funk Hybrids 517 and 365. After 1920 there was considerable increase in inbreeding projects. At first a period of eleven to sixteen years was consumed before commercial seed was produced from a given set of hybrids. An appreciable amount of hybrid seed corn was not available to growers until 1933. Inbreeding or "selfing" occurs when the corn is fertilized with its own pollen. The same plant produces corn inheriting characteristics of the single parent thus "purifying" by "outbreeding" minor or weaker characteristics. Seven or eight years of inbreeding were at first required to establish sufficiently well the desired characteristics. Now the transfer may be made in less time. The best known method of controlled pollination is a combination of "tassel bagging and shoot bagging." Before the silks emerge, a small glassine bag is slipped over the ear shoot to exclude outside pollen. Hand pollina- tion is undertaken when the silks are ready. The tassels are then covered when ready to shed pollen. When the bag covering the tassel has collected pollen it is placed over the covered ear shoot; the smaller glassine bag is removed and the pollen dusted on the silks. The ear shoot is then covered with a larger bag to protect it from contamination of other pollen. Thousands of inbreds are produced in order to find one suitable for use in commercial production of hybrid seed. The purpose of this inbreeding process is to develop strains that may be combined with other unrelated strains to produce Revolution in the Corn Fields 381 corn of definite and good characteristics such as yield, standability and quality. The next step of combining two or more related strains by means of controlled cross fertilization requires the same care as the in- breeding process. The pollen of one inbred is crossed upon the silks of a second inbred. The result is a single cross. This cross the next year is combined with other experimental single crosses or with single crosses of known performance. The combining of two single crosses results in what is known as a "double cross." An experi- mental double cross is the laboratory description of seed which if it proves to be a good hybrid is sold commercially. This seed must be planted and tested under a wide range of conditions. An experi- mental hybrid usually does not represent more than one in a thou- sand and often not more than one in many thousands. The steps necessary to provide hybrid corn for sale involves constant pro- duction of inbred lines and parent single crosses. The final step in the production of most commercial hybrid seed corn is the process of developing double crosses. Usually two rows of a single cross pollinator are planted adjacent to six rows of single cross seed parent. Thus 75 percent of the land planted actually pro- duces hybrid seed corn sold commercially to the farmer. The pollina- tor plants are harvested only for commercial use or livestock feed. The business of producing hybrid seed corn for planting purposes from the first steps in research and breeding to the sale of the double cross is subjected to many financial and climatic risks. If the single cross is a success it is "duplicated commercially by planting the two inbreds in adjacent rows, detasseling the female or ear parent so that its ears are pollinated only by the male or pollinator parent." This single cross or foundation seed as it is called is used in the production of commercial seed corn. There are then two important processes; the production of sufficient amount of foundation seed to secure the best single crosses and the subsequent production of enough hybrid seed sold to farmers for planting. The success of the commercial enterprise is based upon the technical skill and "know-how" of its research personnel. The operation best known to the general public in the entire pro- cedure is that of planting, detasseling and harvesting the seed fields. These fields are sufficiently isolated from other corn fields to protect them from foreign pollen. Detasseling becomes important because tassels must be removed from the seed parents before they shed pollen. One person can keep the tassels removed from about four 382 Seed, Soil and Science acres of corn during the relatively short period of three weeks. Crews of ten to fifteen persons work under supervision. If labor supplies for this program are short, hardships can follow with financial loss to the company. General costs increase because of these factors. Caution must always be exercised not to harvest corn from the pollinator plants because the hybrid seed corn sold is produced only on the detasseled plants. Harvest should be completed before killing frosts arrive, or fungus and mold develop. Harvest should occur when the water line has reached the tip of the kernel i. e. when the corn has matured. The drying of the corn is also an important part of the commercial process. The corn may have a moisture content from 20 to 35 percent as it comes from the field depending upon the strain, time of harvest and weather conditions. Moisture must be re- duced to about 12 percent to make it safe for storage. Heated air is forced through ear corn in especially constructed drying bins. The second sorting of the corn occurs after drying because certain char- acteristics not present in wet corn may become visible. Shelling and grading follow. The first grading or scalping removes the extra large kernels on the top screen and the small kernels from the bottom screen. Chaff and pieces of cob are also eliminated. The shelled corn is graded mechanically by a screening operation from 6 to 10 sizes by width, thickness and length of kernel. It is then subjected to seed treatment in order to control seedling blight and to insure against soil borne organisms. The treated corn is then placed in one bushel bags and stored until shipping time. Samples for germination tests are taken from time to time during the harvest, processing and after the seed is finally graded. The generally accepted requirement is a 95 percent test or better. Increased acreages of foundation seed including inbreds and single crosses over the years by Funk Bros. Seed Co. are certain indications of their favorable results in breeding and testing activities. Only twelve acres were planted in 1933 for increasing or multiplying de- veloped and tested inbreds. Six years later 92 acres were planted for this purpose. The number of acres given over to inbred-increase in 1943 was 216 while in this same year 1,007 acres were devoted to single crossing. This one percent amounted to 143,000 acres requiring less than 20,000 bushels of seed or about 800 acres from all sources. Sieveking recalls that Funks had about 125 seed acres in 1931. With the knowledge that expansion of the hybrid seed corn program would demand additional labor and investment capital all parts of the activity were continued as far as possible. It should be kept in Revolution in the Corn Fields 383 mind that the depression was in full swing at this time. Moreover unfavorable weather conditions hindered expansion. Not only was additional capital a problem but skilled personnel was difficult to obtain. Mr. Sieveking stated the situation realistically when he said: Details of operations during the troubled transition years are hazy, as viewed in retrospect, are often glamorized and clothed in an imaginative splendor that did not actually exist. It was impossible to see ten years ahead. Dreams of the future were extremely bright, but actualities of the day were harsh as to the wherewithall with which to work and progress. 10 Technical skill alone could not bring this valuable product to the American farmer. Available capital together with the recognized integrity of the people who offered this new product for sale were essential to its introduction. Eugene Funk found himself in the po- sition of continuing to pay the indebtedness on his farm resulting from high inheritance taxes at the time of his father's death as well as responsibilities incurred when banks in the area were closed. Re- tention of his own land was the first ingredient for success. From the Catalogue of the company in 1920 this message from the president, Eugene D. Funk, appeared under the caption "Agri- culture, The Nation's Balance Wheel": But we are led to think not so much of our selfish selves as the times through which we are now passing. Never in the history of our country have our agricultural interests been confronted with so many momentous and perplexing conditions. Agriculture representing as it does one-third of the population of the United States of America, is in a position to be the balance wheel in the conflict between capital and labor. This being the fact, let us so conduct our business relations to the end that both labor and capital will some day realize the fact that neither can exist without the other and that their big brother (Agriculture) will insist on the same, conservative co-operation in the family circle. We have no use for profit- eers; we have no patience for strikes or lockouts. Agriculture has blazed the trails for democracy in this country from the time of the Pilgrim father, and Agriculture may be depended upon to meet the issue, whatever that issue is and whenever that time comes. 11 This same catalogue showed that the company was continuing to apply the ear to row breeding and multiplying plots. Many of these occupied 40 to 60 acre fields so located that the better strains of corn that had been developed at great expense would not be contami- nated by pollen from corn in adjacent fields. Crosses between and within families and strains were made by hand pollination and the 384 Seed, Soil and Science progeny multiplied in isolated plots. Ears used in breeding plots were advertised as coming from disease free plants in the field but also passed the disease test on the germinator. In addition to wide acceptance in the United States, Funks Yellow Dent could be seen during the early twenties in the Philippines, the Nile Valley and the Danube Valley. This corn drew its original strength from the rich soil of central Illinois. Funks Ninety Day was a popular variety in the Argentine. 12 The cooperative work by the United States Department of Agri- culture, the University of Illinois, Purdue and other Experiment Sta- tions, at the Federal Experimental Station located on Funk Farms hastened the Hybrid Corn Era. James Holbert who was a senior agronomist with the U. S. D. A. was in charge of this work. From his experience, leadership and scientific skill came extensive and im- portant accomplishments. The twenties were productive years in research leading to improvement of hybrids. A Farmers' Bulletin 1176 of the U. S. D. A. issued September, 1920 and reprinted November was entitled "Control of the Root, Stalk and Ear Rot Disease of Corn" by James Holbert and George N. Holier. An interesting footnote appears on the first page of this bul- letin: The investigation on which this bulletin is based was conducted in co- operation with the Department of Botany, Indiana Agricultural Experi- ment Station and Funk Brothers Seed Company of Bloomington, 111. The destructiveness of the diseases and the necessity of preventing their spread through seed corn was brought to the attention of the Department by Mr. Eugene D. Funk, who had initiated the investigation in Illinois upon his own terms. 13 This bulletin was the culmination of the work so intensively pur- sued by Eugene Funk and James Holbert with the cooperation of the U. S. D. A. on the Funk Farms since 1918. It described corn as the most important field crop in the United States with value greater than the combined values of wheat, oats, barley, rye, rice, grain sorghums and buckwheat. Beef and pork industries were also de- pendent upon its success. Statements in this bulletin applied chiefly to Dent varieties grown in the Corn Belt. Root rot of corn was re- ported fifteen years previously from southern Ohio, later from Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri and Minnesota. It was found in all the corn growing states 1918-1919, with most extensive destruction in the Corn Belt. Investigations showed that certain fungi, particularly Giberella accervales and Giberella scabinetti ( cause of wheat scab) Revolution in the Corn Fields 385 with certain bacteria were present in the field. These organisms as well as certain molds also occurred in kernels and seedlings on the germinators. The bulletin described symptoms and control methods. While the scientists were writing and convincing the men in the laboratories and colleges, Eugene D. Funk was also carrying his continuing part of the burden. He could talk easily to the farmers. "Corn Disease Investigations" was delivered before the 26th Annual Meeting of the Illinois Farmers Institute in Danville, Illinois, April 23, 1921. Again he referred to 1892, when he first began his investi- gations for the improvement of better corn and farm seeds. He warned in 1921 against 20 percent loss and possibly 50 percent loss in five years unless the diseases in corn were checked. He recalled that "It was in 1913 that our attention was first brought to the realiza- tion that our corn breeding work was being seriously handicapped by some unknown disease, but our records show us clearly that we had more or less of the trouble as far back as 1900." He also traced the history of the Illinois Corn in 1909 and his reference to the ger- minator tests. He again referred to James Holbert's appearance as a summer student in 1913 when he was put to studying the root system which led to the investigation of mold on the germinator. He retold the story of how they had worked three years before they said any- thing. Then came the startling comparisons of 1907 and 1916 tests with smooth corn. As Funk repeated: This gave us conclusive evidence that there was some connection be- tween type of corn and the prevalence of the root disease, as well as a correlation between type and yield. Then came the contact with the U. S. D. A. Here he referred to the Holbert-Hoffer bulletin mentioned above and asked for continued investigation. 14 Questions arose in 1922 over the problem of distributing the funds for the investigation and control of corn diseases. Indiana had re- ceived at first 60 percent of the total and Illinois 30 percent with the other 10 percent scattered among other states. Reports were to be sent in through Purdue University. Comments revealed that "the 30 percent that Illinois received" was being spent largely at Funk Farms and in addition to the appropriation by the department, "it has been estimated that Mr. Funk has contributed about $50,000 a year to the work." 15 Howard Leonard, president of the I. A. A. ex- pressed himself in support of Mr. Funk who thought that no one state should have 60 percent or 30 percent. He preferred an average allowing all states to benefit. Leonard's letter to Secretary Henry C. 386 Seed, Soil and Science Wallace was forwarded to W. A. Taylor, Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry from C. R. Ball, cerealist in charge. 16 The latter's report referred to the experimental work being done in Woodford County, Illinois and to the work of Mr. Mosher, County Advisor. The second part of the report dealt with corn root stalk and ear rot investigations: The prevalence of the corn-rot diseases was first brought to the attention of the Department four years ago by Mr. Eugene D. Funk of Illinois. A prompt appropriation by Congress made it possible to begin work in the summer of 1918. At this time the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station had no pathological investigations under way and had no pathological re- search at a station where both equipped laboratories and men were to be found. The Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station at Lafayette was chosen because like Illinois it is fully central to the Corn Belt, was well equipped for this type of research, was easily accessible from Bloomington, Illinois where it was proposed to carry such investigations as could be ef- fectively conducted there, and because Purdue University, the seat of the Experiment Station, was the alma mater of Mr. James R. Holbert then in charge of Mr. Funk's corn breeding program and since then in charge of the cooperative program in Illinois. 17 Explanations of the fact that the Indiana program was larger in- cluded references to its inclusion of field, greenhouse and laboratory studies. The first allotment of funds was $25,000.00 for the fiscal year of 1919 effective July 1, 1918. This appropriation was continued during the next fiscal year. For 1921 and 1922 it was reduced to $20,000 but was supplemented somewhat from general funds. Amounts for Indiana remained stationery but those for Illinois in- creased. The Illinois Experimental Station became able to participate and some of the equipment for a small laboratory at Bloomington was provided by the Funks. 18 While Funk and Leonard were in Washington, D. C, attending the Agricultural Conference in 1922, January 30th, they also were available for conferences. Funk was shown the material cited above and reportedly was satisfied with the statements. Leonard's first letter was written to Secretary Wallace before Funk returned home. Scientific writing continued. James Holbert was fast making a name for himself in the scientific World. He contributed "Control of Corn Rots by Seed Selection" 1920 in Illinois Circular No. 243; "Early Vigor of Maize Plants and Yield of Grain as Influenced By The Corn Rot, Stalk and Ear Rot Diseases," Journal Agricultural Re- search, 1923. He co-authored in 1925 "Corn Rot, Stalk and Ear Rot Diseases and Their Control Thru Seed Selection and Breeding," Illi- Revolution in the Corn Fields 387 nois Bulletin 255; "Wheat Scab and Corn Root Rot Caused by Gibberella-Saubinette in Relation to Crop Successions" 1924 Jour- nal Agricultural Research; in the same year "The Black Bundle Dis- ease of Corn" and in 1925 "Factors Increasing Lodging in Corn" Illinois Bulletin 266. A. C. Johnson, senior pathologist in cereal disease investigations of the U. S. D. A. by 1925, wrote Funk: Now that the big bulletin (111. Bulletin No. 255) is out we are glad to straighten up and look around and see where we are as we push ahead. Certainly all concerned appreciate very fully the important part that you and your associates have had in the fine progress that has been made. I wish to pass on to you a very sincere appreciation of this. ... It is a pleasure indeed to know that we have had and are having such splendid cooperation in the work. Surely this is what makes for real progress. Jimmy and others have done their part but I do not think it would have been possible to secure the mass of convincing data without your cooperation from the beginning. ... Of course, we all realize that many problems still remain to be investigated and we are glad to have your continued cooperation in the work. 19 Late in 1924 The Seed World quoted a letter in part regarding Eugene Funk written by Dr. W. L. Burlison: He has the ability to recognize fundamental problems, to appreciate the value of their solution and possesses the patience to wait and work for their fundamental solution. He has the ability to evaluate correctly the char- acter of individuals with whom he comes in contact. He has the vision to see beyond immediate difficulties and possesses a strength of character to act wisely and give sound advice, even when it is to his financial dis- advantage. Unselfishness constantly characterized his thoughts and actions. His stability of character is outstanding. His devotion to his family and country is a challenge to the best that is in us. He is a true friend, one who does not desert when trouble comes. He has ever been a champion of truth and justice. Truly he is one of God's noblemen— a man among men. 20 The story of corn progressed. H. A. Wallace informed E. D. on February 17, 1925 of the account of the fifth Iowa Corn Yield Contest taken from Wallace's Farmer of the 15th. Holbert's inbreds as de- veloped from Funks Yellow Dent crossed with Iodent inbreds had produced exceptional results. Wallace added, "I was much interested to note on page seven of your 1925 seed catalogue that you are ex- pecting in 1926 to sell something new in the way of seed corn. This will be a very interesting departure." Wallace then called attention to possibilities of advertising in this paper because they had given more attention to reader interest in the possibilities of crossing in- bred strains than any other farm paper. 21 In answer to a request 388 Seed, Soil and Science from the Henry Field Seed Corn Company in Iowa asking for "some of our strains of inbred corn which we have had under test and which represent years of careful study along with many hundreds of thou- sands of field trials," E. D. replied in the negative. He wrote: It is our aim and hope to be able to place the results of this work in the hands of our customers this next year. We are preparing this seed now for this spring's planting but if there is anything to this work of cross- ing on line breeding (and we have fully demonstrated to our satisfaction that there is) we can hardly be expected to pass these 'pure line strains' along even to our best friends and the writer considers Henry Fields one of them. 22 Funk then observed that the only patent that a plant breeder can have is to retain the original strains within his own plantation and distribute the results of the hybrids of crosses to the public. He went on to say that he had distributed during the past twenty-five years different strains of Funks Yellow Dent to thousands who set them- selves up as so-called corn breeders almost immediately. In compe- tition with his own trade they then proceeded to sell "Funk's Seed Corn" at two or three dollars less than he could produce it with his overhead and research expense. He added: After this year we feel that we can possibly protect ourselves and per- haps get back at least some of the hundred thousand dollars or more that we have spent in our research and investigational work. 23 Funk Bros. Seed Co. carried on experiments in "Pure line" breed- ing of corn to be presented to the public in 1926. The Seed Trade News noted that this work had been carried on for the last eight years in an experimental way. Thousands of plants had been selfed and crossed. In order to find one strain with merit it was sometimes necessary to make selections from 50 to 80 thousand individual plants that had been self fertilized. This long time operation required tech- nical skill of a high order with sufficient supply of labor and financial support to carry on the work. Several of these strains had tested yields from 125 to 147/2 bushels per acre on one- to three-acre fields without any fertilizer. Corn growers visited these seed breeding plots October 6, 1925. 24 Kind comments were forthcoming from old friends. Among them P. G. Holden complimented the line of work being done by the company. Funk said he could not accept all of the glory but must refer to the cooperation of many people including Holden. He told his old friend: Revolution in the Corn Fields 389 Since 1915 we have been practically three years ahead of our schedule which you and others helped to plan many years ago. During the last three years we have been checking up and testing in our trial grounds and multiplying plots with the view to next years offering for the first time to the public some real honest to goodness seed corn, such as we have been dreaming and talking about all these many years. H. H. Miller, manager of Funk Bros., returned from an extensive trip through Europe in the fall of 1924. He found in the South Pa- vilion at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, England, a very attractive display of corn. This yellow Dent variety looked so familiar to him that he searched out the representative to learn the origin of the seed. He was surprised to hear that the seed was obtained from Funks in Bloomington, Illinois. The exhibit was strictly Funks Utility Type Corn. 25 About this time, 1926, the speech previously delivered at Danville, "Corn Disease Investigations," was to be revised and reprinted. James Holbert commented: Probably there is no other person living so well qualified to present the early history of corn improvement as Mr. Funk nor is there any one as well qualified to give the broad background from a national standpoint as is Mr. Funk. 26 P. G. Holden, the first manager of the company, wrote an article for the catalogue in 1927, twenty-six years after the original idea of a seed company first crystallized. Holden called attention to Funk's desire to do something of service not only for his own generation but also for those to follow. This, according to Holden's views, he ac- complished by performing a service that no one farmer could offer but one which the combined efforts of the Funk Bros, could attain. The breeding of disease-free and high germinating corn was sorely needed throughout the Corn Belt. Holden added: It was a stupendous task to which Eugene Funk devoted his life, but because it was of such vital importance to the country, it was a task worthy of the man . . . few men have ever given so much of their time and their energy and thought and personal resources to better agricultural condi- tions than has Eugene Funk. 27 Holden beheld in 1926 what he had hardly dared hope that he might ever see— acre after acre of disease free corn and no visible barren stalks. 28 Efforts were made to cement friendly relations between the A. S. T. S. and the Experiment Stations. Funk, as chairman of the Committee on Friendly Relations as well as chairman of the Co- 390 Seed y Soil and Science operative Committee on Agricultural interests for the Farm Seed Association of North America cooperated with his good friend, W. L. Burlison, president of the National Agronomists Association. Forty or fifty attended a two day session in Bloomington to see the corn breeding plots on the Funk Farms and then to Urbana. The Seed World wrote that Mr. Funk had initiated a program capable of pro- ducing better understanding if also carried out in other states. An already serious agricultural situation was complicated by a renewed westward march of the corn borer. Funk informed his friend Samuel Guard of the Breeders Gazette of his inability to forget his irritation of 1917 when he with others attempted to obtain some drastic action by Massachusetts and federal authorities. The pest at the time of its origin in the country was confined to a relatively small territory. Funk remarked that effective action might have been secured with less than a half million dollars. The only accomplishment was the preparation of a report by a few men. Governor Lowden of Illinois sent the State Entomologist, Mr. Flint, and the State Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Adkins, to Massachusetts. An agreement to send help to Massachusetts was refused. As Funk looked back in 1927 he realized that the pest had multiplied and spread over a territory ap- proximately 400 miles by 50 to 100 miles wide, extending from the Atlantic Coast to somewhere in Indiana and southern Ohio. Fifty-five additional counties had become infested in Ohio and Indiana since the previous year. The pest might be exterminated if it only traveled on the ground, but the miller could fly 15-20 miles in a favorable wind. The worm could live under water for at least 40 days. It hiber- nated not only in corn stalks and cobs but on the inside of various weeds and in some instances was found in the bark of trees. An effort was under way to try to keep it out of the Corn Belt as long as possible. Funk stated that the Government was making some tests "but in my opinion they have not gone into the matter in a wholesale way along all the different lines of contact as I think they should." Ten million dollars of the appropriation by Congress went to clean up old corn fields and to pay the farmers who participated for their labor. Only a small sum of the money was used in investi- gations. He was especially interested in the fact that the corn borer had a liking for some and a distaste for other varieties of corn. A certain South American corn was death to the young borer which took to Minnesota No. 13 like a bee to honey. Funk suggested plant- ing this later variety around a 40 acre field thus creating a trap. He was informed that there was no money to obtain a 40 acre field for Revolution in the Corn Fields 391 experimentation. Entomologists were of the opinion that it was nec- essary to learn to live with the borer. As a result the corn breeder was faced with the responsibility of discovering varieties in the Corn Belt that could hold the borer to a minimum degree of infestation. Importing, breeding and liberating enemy wasps and beetles to destroy eggs of the borer was also practiced. Funk continued to be- lieve that the failure to organize in 1917 in addition to the current indifference of the average farmer toward meeting the problem created present difficulties. He pled for action and for a workable agricultural policy. He did not send this information to Sam Guard for publication but to present his views. 29 A week later he read with pleasure of the luncheon of leaders from the Farmers Union, the Grange and the Farm Bureau in Washington relative to a common policy before Congress. He added, "In my humble opinion this is the only way relief can be brought about/' The Daily Drovers Journal called attention in July 1926 to the fact that experimental work in hybrid corn was being carried on in Ne- braska, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee, Louisiana, Indiana, Connecticut and other states. At the Nebraska Experiment Station, Dr. Kiesselbach in a four year test had secured an average of 12 bushels more in yield from a cross than from the original variety. In Iowa the banner trophy in corn yield was given to a corn representing one of these crosses entered by Cassady and Wallace. At Blooming- ton, Illinois as an average for six years, two first generation crosses yielded 109.7 (corrected on the clipping in pencil to 118) bushels per acre as compared to open pollinated nearly disease free corn. The double crosses known as Burr Learning were described as out- standing in yield. 30 The chief problem confronting the scientist by 1926 was to ac- quaint the farmer with the news. James Holbert consented to give a series of interviews to Curtis S. Bill appearing in the Daily Bulletin in Bloomington, Illinois. Here the readers came to understand some- thing of the work and the philosophy as it was expressed by the rising young scientist hard at work in the fields and laboratory. As the acknowledged authority in the United States on corn diseases he headed up the cooperating group of scientists working under his supervision. As a scientist and a humanist his dominant interest after corn was the welfare of his fellow men. Holbert was all the more impressed with the similarity between the problems that had to be solved for corn and those that arose to confront human beings. He felt that seeing and understanding these parallels enabled him to 392 Seed, Soil and Science make these scientific explanations clear to both agronomists and to farmers. He also found constant use in Sunday School talks and other kinds of lectures for illustrations from the conduct of corn under varying conditions. Thus the best qualified scientist in the United States regarding corn disease began to talk about these scientific im- provements to his neighbors. The F-l strains on the U. S. experi- ment plots on the E. D. Funk farms were described as producing the best corn in the world. "Jim" Holbert believed that corn men had to crawl in this business of corn improvement before they could walk. Now with ten years of controlling two good strains of corn crossed to produce the F-l strain, they could now walk. Along the way during that decade they had learned that some strains would produce a good crop only in a good season when planted on a large scale. This meant there was something wrong with the root systems so the long process had to be retraced, constantly looking for corn that would stand up under all conditions. 31 Holbert was greatly impressed with the cooperative effort put forth by such men as Dr. C. R. Ball then cerealist in charge of the United States Office of Cereal Investigations and of Dr. W. L. Burlison, head of the Agronomy Department in the University of Illinois. Opportunities to perfect results came with testing in twenty localities in Illinois with F-l corn. He said: Sometimes, I feel that so many men are contributing that a fellow has no right to put his name to a statement concerning the work of all these men. . . . There is no one man developed corn that stands rigorous tests. There are no self-made men in the world, except in a very relative sense. The only real progress is where a group has cooperated. He emphasized the fact that in the development of the F-l strain, students of genetics, agronomy, chemistry, geology, physiology, pathology and many other branches of science had contributed. Many of these men had submerged themselves in the picture in order that the great idea could be worked out. 32 One of the most interesting inventions was Holbert's "pulling- machine" to test the strength of corn. This was a derrick moved down the corn row. Holbert found a close correlation between the amount of resistance and the strength of a stalk in wind storms. 33 He pre- dicted that this method of breeding corn might produce strains of corn more resistant to injury from the corn borer. 34 He also pointed out that persons could pull up certain stalks with ease, but when they tried to pull up one of another line it was too difficult. The pull- ing machine test revealed that only a 100 pound pull would uproot Revolution in the Corn Fields 393 the average hill of one strain, whereas a 600 pound pull was required to uproot the hill of another strain. 35 This knowledge resulted in hybrids with better standability from these better strains. Significant experiments continued under the direction of James Holbert. He and his assistants at the U. S. D. A. Station on Funk Farms acquired data that enabled them to lift the curtain of ig- norance so long covering the secrets of the improvement of corn. Complete answers have not yet been discovered. These beginnings, however, are indeed milestones in the history of the development of hybrid corn. Early in the 1920's Dr. C. S. Reddy was working at the Federal Field Station at Funk Farms helping to investigate Stewart's wilt disease of sweet corn. He told the story himself January 7, 1955 as follows: We had re-isolated the pathogen which causes this disease and were using a hypodermic needle to cross inoculate the pure cultures of the or- ganism from sweet, dent and flint corn into sweet corn plants, exactly where and when we wanted to determine whether they were the same in identity. He referred to fifteen or twenty dent corn inbreds developed by Jim Holbert given artificial inoculations for some seedling blight diseases. Some resisted. The new organism was introduced into these dent corn inbreds. Several hundred dent inbred plants were eventually iso- lated. This was probably the first time such a technique was used un- der field conditions on dent corn. Some of Holberts inbreds shriveled up and died. Others kept growing. Dr. Reddy continued: Jim and I reasoned that if we already had one inbred that was known to be almost immune to one important corn stalk disease certainly we could find others. We went further in our reasoning. One of the inbreds that was positively ruined by this disease was very resistant to ear rots, and these two inbreds combined to make a very attractive, useful size ear. So we began to speculate on the possibilities of finding segregates out of this cross that combined a high degree of resistance to both a stalk disease and a destructive ear rot disease. 36 This effort helped to accelerate the discovery of protection against many other corn diseases. James Holbert planted in 1929 a number of corn hybrids in the center of an open-pollinated hundred acre field, upon advice from W. P. Flint, entomologist at the University of Illinois. These two men had high hopes that the inbreds would be safe from the second brood of chinch bugs. The bugs found some inbreds, however, before they 394 Seed, Soil and Science attacked the open pollinated corn. More significant was the fact that there were some inbreds untouched. The experiment was repeated during the following year. Holbert and his assistants then began to breed bug-resistant lines into their experimental hybrids. Big yields of sound corn on standing stalks resulted. It was later discovered that several resistant hybrids were necessary because no one resistant hybrid could cover all corn growing areas where chinch bugs were numerous. Richard Best, president of Columbiana Seed Company, an associate of Funk Bros. Seed Co., finds the resulting hybrids espe- cially valuable in southern Illinois and in Missouri where chinch bugs once held away in the corn fields. 37 Two important subjects of investigation in addition to the studies in control of root, stalk and ear rot diseases carried on in the 1920's by Dr. James Holbert during his association with the United States Department of Agriculture's station located on the Funk Farms were cold resistance and seed treatment. Studies in cold resistance were undertaken in 1928-31. They re- vealed that corn grown on soil rich in plant food was more resistant to cold. Intelligent soil-improvement programs would help to reduce this hazard. 38 During a symposium on the general subject of temperature and life, James B. Dickson of the University of Wis- consin and Dr. James Holbert at a meeting of the Society of Naturalists in Nashville, Tennessee, December 30, 1927 read a paper entitled "Relation of Temperature to the Development of Disease in Plants." 39 At a meeting of the Society of Agronomists in 1925 they had previously presented their conclusions regarding the in- fluence of temperature upon metabolism and disease resistance in selfed lines of corn. 40 This problem of cold resistance was investigated in an interesting experiment carried on at Research Acres when movable frost-making chambers were set over corn plants. Each refrigerator chamber with electric power units, coils and controls weighed more than two tons, had the capacity for removing the same amount of heat as 1,600 pounds of melting ice in 24 hours. Equipment was provided for mov- ing and operating the apparatus to various locations in the field. Dr. W. L. Burlison, head of the Agronomy Department in the University of Illinois, worked closely with James Holbert on this experiment. Professor Burlison generally telephoned his observations from inside the chamber to Holbert who recorded the data and handled the temperature control panel at the field station on the Funk Farms. About midnight temperatures were dropped to the usual levels for Revolution in the Corn Fields 395 early spring and fall nights. Dr. Burlison observed the immediate effect of cold on different corn plants. Some twisted and shook. When the leaves became transparent, the corn would not recover. Other corn which retained its green color but did not resume growth when the temperature rose was marked for future experimentation. Dr. Burlison remarked that in these studies corn was found that could be "knocked out" at temperatures of from 40 to 45 degrees. A few plants could survive below freezing temperature for a few hours and then resume growth in a normal way under normal temperatures. Accord- ing to Dr. Burlison, it was James R. Holbert who used these findings to develop hybrids with cold resistant germ plasm eventually pro- ducing commercial hybrids for wide distribution in the Corn Belt. These hybrids also retained balance in other qualities producing high yields. 41 These findings were published in a U. S. D. A. circular in 1933. 42 Other combinations and some commercial varieties with- stood temperatures below 32 degrees for six hours and a few hybrids survived temperatures at 28 degrees. These experiments were re- ported by W. L. Burlison and J. R. Holbert in Phytopathology during 1929 and 1931. They noted that "Progeny studies in the field of yellow dent corn plants" from mature seed unexposed and exposed ten hours to the three successive temperatures of 32, 23 and 14 degrees F. in these field refrigeration chambers during the fall of 1929 showed injury. They saw marked differences between different inbred and crossbred strains. Application of phosphate to soils prior to planting increased cold resistance of young plants. 43 A great chapter in hybrid corn was in the making as a result of these cold resistance studies. As the two authors later stated in U. S. D. A. Circular 285, "The economic advantage of resistance to injury from exposure to untimely chilling and freezing temperatures prior to maturity of the corn is very great." 44 Members of the Agricultural Committee of the Chicago Associa- tion of Commerce visited the Funk Farms to observe their experi- mental work. They were particularly interested in the electrically operated freezing chamber to produce low temperatures for testing first resistance of inbreds and hybrids. Clifford Gregory of The Prairie Farmer, Oswald of the Seed World and L. M. Smith of the Grain World arranged for a delegation September 18th from Chi- cago. Funk asked Henry Ramsey to advise members of the Chicago Board of Trade to accompany the group. The president of the Chi- cago & Alton Railroad overheard the conversation regarding plans and offered to bring them to Bloomington himself in a private car. 45 396 Seed, Soil and Science Similar experiments were performed later on young seedling plants in the spring to determine reaction to cold and resistance to wet weather occurring in early planted corn. This information proved valuable in future production of fast early starting hybrids. About 1930 Dr. James Holbert and corn breeders working with him sought certain inbred strains of corn to resist earworms. The next step was to combine earworm-resistant inbreds with others. New hybrids for different corn growing areas were thus developed. G-90 became one of the hybrids that few earworms bothered. The earworm can be a menace all the way from the Sugar Belt to the northern Corn Belt as well as in the western and eastern Corn Belts. Therefore re- search and seed foundation teams for Funk Bros. Seed Co. constantly seek improved hybrids with earworm resistance. 46 Proper treatment for corn seed also interested James Holbert. He discovered early that a solution of mercuric chloride for this purpose reduced vigor and did not aid in the increase of yield or quality in corn. When organic mercury compounds were introduced from Germany after World War I for seed treatment, Dr. Holbert pro- ceeded with caution. The first of these, Upsulum, revived his faith in organic mercury compounds. Dust treatments of this compound soon replaced the older procedure of soaking in water solution. At this point the Du Ponts became interested in the problem. Dr. Engleman, known for his work along these lines in Germany, was brought to this country with an assignment from Du Pont to find a better prod- uct. This activity led to the eventual introduction of Semesan, Jr. It is believed that the first field trials after these compounds were introduced following World War I were undertaken on the Funk Farms. Dr. C. S. Reddy and Dr. J. R. Holbert were deeply interested in these activities. Before satisfactory seed treatments were available such diseases as Diplodia and Giberella caused great loss for the young seedlings in the spring. Pithium was the most difficult of the soil borne diseases to combat. Effective seed treatment aids in pro- tecting the bred-in benefits of hybrid corn. 47 The results of these experiments helped to influence the Du Ponts to proceed with the development of seed corn treatments. They be- came one of the first leaders in the production of seed treatments through their Chemical Division. Again Research Acres was a prov- ing ground. Relationship with the Du Ponts continued over the years. Direct challenges to improve corn often came to Dr. Holbert from various sections of the United States. One of these came from Frank Scully of the Scully estate north of Springfield. His request crystal- Revolution in the Corn Fields 397 lized the demands of many farmers in the corn growing areas south of Indianapolis, Peoria, Des Moines or Omaha. All efforts had failed to produce a hybrid to excel open pollinates in that territory. The re- quired "dream hybrid" should be later in maturity, resist chinch bugs, endure drouth and grow a better stalk than had been formerly known in these sections. James Holbert regarded these requests as assign- ments. He considered this a real job that had to be done. He mapped a bold new approach to the problem. Up to that time it had been an accepted policy that corn for given areas must be developed from local or native strains. Dr. Jim instructed his staff to assemble inbreds from widely separated areas. This was indeed a new method. One of these inbreds with high yield and late maturity was developed from an open pollinated variety from Pennsylvania. A Kansas inbred contributed high drouth and heat resistance. Another came from a late Funk Yellow Dent variety. A fourth was derived from an Indian corn with good ear and fine stalk qualities. Out of these blends came first the single crosses and then the final double cross. Thus an "experimental" hybrid was born. The extensive Funks G nationwide research program enabled ex- perimental Funk hybrids to survive many tests in one season in the Funk proving grounds year after year across the nation. Funks G-94 was one result, a popular hybrid from the valleys of Colorado to the Maryland shore. This same approach has been the pattern for the development of many outstanding G Hybrids. 48 Comparable stories can be told for the North Central states where hybrids from four famous open pollinated strains including one from Funk's Yellow Dent, one from Reid's Yellow Dent and two others from widely used Iowa open pollinates produced a result containing the good qualities preserved by more than a century of corn selec- tion. 49 It has been said that corn growing in many of the northern areas and in high altitude regions might be compared to a hundred yard dash. Professor Ed Walters, corn extension agronomist at Pennsyl- vania State College, challenged the Funks to produce a hybrid as rapid starting and fast drying as early Butler strains from which the inbreds were derived. These inbreds went into hybrid combina- tion with other Funk pure lines. Some of these originated in the Dakotas and in Minnesota. Corn history was in the making in the proving plots of Funks national research program. Demands for improved hybrids in different parts of the country continued. H. H. Miller in conversation with an experiment station 398 Seed, Soil and Science worker in the south heard the following: "If you want to breed a hybrid for the South, with better shuck coverage and acceptable weevil resistance, here's something to start on. Tell Jim Holbert to get busy/' The speaker pushed an ear of corn across the desk. It put weevil resistance into G-70 hybrid combinations. The product was G-714. Similar progress was reported for the Southwest where Texas and Oklahoma lacked good hybrid corn. Dry weather and insects were the enemies in these parts of the country. Funk's network of research concentrated on solving this problem. New inbreds were isolated from native southern and southwestern open pollinated strains. Thou- sands of different experimental hybrids were developed in combina- tions with other pure lines. Funk's G-711 came out of pure lines from Texas Sure Cropper, Furgeson's Yellow Dent and the famous Kansas Sunflower. This hybrid was also useful in Missouri, Arkansas, Ten- nessee, Kentucky and southeastern Virginia. 50 During the decade of the forties the nationwide G-Hybrid proving plots took some of the gamble out of corn growing. Across and up and down the country, thousands of these plots were designed to cover the entire range of growing conditions. The farmer no longer had to experiment with the variations in weather, soil, insect and disease conditions for himself. Funk Bros, undertook this responsi- bility in securing proof of performance and adaptation of the com- pany's products. Research became the key to better hybrids. Many people believe that hot weather is hard on man and dog but good for corn. Everett Mitchell has remarked that the corn might ob- ject to this statement if it could be heard. Excessively high tempera- ture, like too low temperature, has adverse effect on the corn plant. James Holbert began his heat resistant studies in 1934, a very hot summer. He stated: In this particular location we did have adequate soil moisture. As the temperature passed 90 in our first test plots, I began to see dead flecks of white in the leaves of some corn plants. Then, in a few days the whole leaf might turn yellowish or even die. Some other plants would do fine until the thermometer would hit 95. At 98 a great number of the early hybrids would break down. You could see big changes in them within the space of a single hour. 51 Some strains die in the heat; others sit and wait, then possibly grow again; others continue growth through the heat. It became apparent that higher heat tolerance could be bred into good hybrids along Revolution in the Corn Fields 399 with resistance to cold. Proper balance was the essence of success in the breeding of good hybrids. 52 During the drouth year of 1936 cornfields received little rain from May to August. The thermometer rose to 114 degrees. At this time 100 bushel corn yields on field ov farm basis was unusual, but James Holbert and Al Lang of the University of Illinois Soils Department undertook an assignment on the G. J. Mecherle farm operated by Walter Meers near Bloomington, Illinois. A thirteen acre field was chosen for the test. Improved drainage and additional fertilizer were recommended. For two weeks from July 3, the heat in Bloomington ranged between 102 and 114 without rain. But the Walter Meers field of hybrids was always green. The heat subsided a little but drouth and relatively high temperatures continued to mid-August when the rains came. These hybrids came through with their drouth resistance qualities showing. One hybrid yielded 121 bushels. The official yield for the field was 101.3 bushels. 53 One hundred bushel yields on a field or farm basis were almost unheard of at this time. The G. J. Mecherle story of thick planting on balanced high fertility on well drained soil with high temperatures without rain signalled a new day in corn growing. 54 James Holbert was once embarrassed by a comment from his banker friend, Grover Helm of Bloomington. Helm had compared an early, slow starting hybrid to the advance made by open pollinated corn. Holbert knew he had a real assignment. He produced and bred into his hybrids qualities of early, rapid starting and continued growth, described as sustained rapid growth. 55 Paul Stewart of Waterloo, Nebraska, an agronomist for Funk's G hybrids recalled Ed. Magill who about 1918 tried out a mechanical picker which he had seen at the Nebraska State Fair. It worked best when three mules and three big Percherons were fresh early in the day. It was hybrid corn that made mechanical corn picking a practi- cal undertaking. Dr. T. A. Kiesselbach of the University of Nebraska has been reported as saying: "Holbert's old A. by L. was the first hybrid corn that really brought home to us the great possibilities of hybrid corn. It yielded well and it stood up so much better than our open pollinated corn that it was just in a class by itself." From that time the possibility of a successful mechanical picker was as- sured. 56 Eugene D. Funk, as has been noted, became interested in the mechanical corn picker before the First World War. E. L. Oheim, a vice president for Deere & Company declared that they worked 400 Seed, Soil and Science hard to produce mechanical corn pickers in the 1920's but not until hybrid corn did they come into widespread use in 1930. He said: "In Iowa and Illinois where hybrids were first available, only about one acre in ten was harvested with pickers in 1930. Five years later, machines were used to pick about one acre out of seven. But by 1945 seven acres out of ten were picked mechanically ." As wartime short- ages lessened they came into greater demand. Good standability in corn, meaning good stalks and roots, contributed to getting the corn up off the ground. Time is saved; picking takes only ten days or two weeks. Investment in horses was no longer a necessity for the corn producer. 57 The hybrid corn industry at Funk Bros, in Bloomington reclaimed Dr. Holbert in 1937 after his experience in charge of the federal corn experiment plots located on the Funk Farms. The Pantagraph noted that "his connection with the United States department started when Mr. Funk succeeded in interesting the department in a study of corn diseases and methods of avoiding their damage. He provided the land for the study and space in the seed house here for headquarters and 'loaned' Dr. Holbert to the department to conduct the studies/' 58 Dr. Holbert became vice president of Funk Bros, in charge of the corn breeding program. With the gradual acceptance by farmers of this new hybrid corn, a new and larger drying and processing plant was established on the E. D. Funk Farm in 1935-36. The following year the company leased the Sutton and Ains worth buildings in Mason City, Illinois, purchas- ing the latter in 1936. During the same year property of the Bloom- ington Canning Company on Division Street in Normal, Illinois was acquired. Additional office space was provided when the new office building was constructed in 1937-38. During 1938-40 new prop- erties were acquired in Iowa and in 1941 a complete corn drying and processing plant was established at Belle Plaine, Iowa. 59 The development and the increase in the demand for hybrid corn paralleled the years of the Surplus. There was consequently con- sistent effort to discover new uses for absorbing the excess produc- tion. Eugene D. Funk, Sr. and James Gray attended meetings held in Detroit, Michigan in 1935 composed of farm, science and industrial representatives (see chapter XXVI). Winter Research Acres in southern Florida are planted before Thanksgiving. Inbred lines from hybrids are ready for detasseling the following January. The seed is harvested and dried in April, then sent to the home office for distribution to field laboratories in the Revolution in the Corn Fields 401 Corn Belt. Time is thus gained in producing and testing new germ plasm. 60 The counties of Essex and Kent across from Detroit in eastern Ontario are excellent farming areas. A shorter growing season to the east and northeast near Ottawa demanded early maturing hybrids. Over the years Funks G Hybrids have met the needs of Canadian farmers helping to carry the Corn Belt north among the lakes and pine tree county. 61 Hybrid corn also invaded the South. By March 7, 1954 it was esti- mated that 50 percent of the corn acreage in the South would be planted with hybrid corn. Twenty-five percent more of the farmers showed an interest in the product. Acreage controls for cotton re- leased more acres for corn. Realization that corn and forage crops could go along together was an advantage. As a result new hybrids were constantly being developed for the South. The livestock in- dustry was also possible of increase in this section of the country with increased use of hybrid corn. 62 Great achievements in production of Funks G Hybrids in the south take one back to the interest shown by Eugene D. Funk, Sr. when he took his National Corn Show to Columbia, South Carolina and to Dallas, Texas. A farm near Canton, Mississippi owned by Funk's former general manager, H. H. Miller, who envisioned expansion in the South, was also a nucleus of activity in the early years. 63 A significant result in the world of corn production occurred in October 1955 when Lamar Ratliff, in his mid-teens, living in Prentiss County, Mississippi, became the first in recorded history to harvest more than 300 bushels of corn per acre. The official yield was 304.38 bushels of Funks G Hybrid G-711. Wheeler McMillen's prediction became a reality. Gene Funk's recognition of the opportunities for improvement of corn in the South as early as the first decade of the twentieth century and Holbert's scientific "know-how" contributed to this epoch-making event. This kind of news in domestic and foreign accounts brought acclaim to American farm youth and American agricultural skill. 64 When James Holbert was working with the U. S. D. A. he carried on his experiments in part at the Funk Farms. Some activities were carried on in the State of Illinois and outside the Corn Belt. Holbert stated: "Prior to my time in the Corn Belt, there were no corn breeders in the sense that we think of them now. I relied, of course, on the works of Dr. E. M. East and Dr. G. H. Shull." He also stated 402 Seed, Soil and Science that the hybrids developed by East in Connecticut were not success- ful in the Corn Belt: "They did not yield as much as the good old va- rieties because they did not have bred into them the disease and insect resistance required to make good, and that is why it was necessary to start over again." When asked if he started with the principles of these men, Holbert replied: "I started with their principles but not their germ plasm." He also believed that others worked on hybrid corn, "But as far as I know, in the first ten or fifteen years, I was the principal one working on disease resistance," when he was an em- ployee of the U. S. D. A. and studying on Funk Farms. In regard to aid from others Holbert stated: I do not know that I solicited the aid and assistance of others in doing the breeding work. I did solicit their aid in advertising the results of the breeding work but not their assistance in the breeding work. There is quite an important distinction there. He also stated that there were a number of inbreds developed as the result of his work with the U. S. D. A. that were distributed to all of the land grant colleges requesting them and also to commercial breeders. In 1930 there was a policy of free exchange between the different land grant colleges and the commercial companies. It was impossible to keep these results secret since he was a federal em- ployee. 65 By the time Holbert returned to Funk Bros, there were three com- panies, De Kalb, Pioneer and Lester Pfister besides Northrup King with research staffs of their own. 66 When Holbert returned to Funk Bros, in 1937 there was a free exchange of material, but in 1957 there was not. It became increasingly significant to understand that when Holbert left the U. S. D. A. anybody who had the same inbreds and seeds that he had could have used them as a starting point. But they would not necessarily be the same two years from that time because they are not stable entities. Holbert also pointed out that there is a world of difference be- tween "exchange of experiences" among scientists and "exchange of seeds." This meant that "germ plasm" is not exchanged but that re- lating experiences in production of the product might be told. Holbert also has explained that some of the experiment stations in more recent years have decided not to try to develop new inbreds in corn because the hybrid seed corn research program was being so well handled by private companies. 67 Holbert pointed out that in his work with the U. S. D. A. he had Revolution in the Corn Fields 403 called in all the different strains of hybrids. He, St. John of De Kalb and later Baker of Pioneer found differences in yields for those that looked alike. He added: What I know now is that these inbreds are living biological entities which do change according to the way they are taken care of and handled, and the fact that they do go by some name on paper does not mean any- thing in regard to their performance. 68 He also pointed out that the continuing research problem was essential because market demands shifted continuously; germ plasm shifts and the competitive situation changes. Actually in 1956 Funk Bros, did not produce any of the same hybrids as in 1942 or 1938. In- sect population and disease conditions also affected the need for new hybrids. 69 When asked if Funk Bros, used the hybrid lines developed at the time of U. S. D. A. work, Holbert in 1956 answered: "We do not. We would not be in business if we had not developed some better ones." When asked if Funk Bros, used any hybrids made available by agri- cultural stations or land grant colleges, he answered: "We do not. We do make use of all the inbreds released and test them out to determine if they will make a contribution. For several years we have not been able to use the releases until we have crossed them over and reworked them." 70 Funk Bros. Seed Co. is regarded as one of the four largest com- panies in hybrid seed corn operations. Others are DeKalb, Pioneer and Pfister Associate Growers. These companies all operate in dif- ferent patterns of organization from Funk Bros. 71 The research department maintained by Funk Bros, was estab- lished in 1956 to include over twelve college graduates trained in research and foundation seed production relating specifically to hybrid corn. Some of the salesmen and other personnel are also chiefly trained in research and devote part time to the work. These number about twenty. If those who plant, harvest and record ob- servations are included, the total would be more than one hundred. 72 Shifting agricultural production has been a factor in the hybrid seed corn business of Funk Bros. Only 143,000 acres were estimated as planted with hybrid seed corn in 1933 of 110 million acres of corn in the United States. Twenty-five years later, 89.2 percent of corn planted on 81,799,000 acres was hybrid corn. Reduced acreages brought increases in other crops. Some acreages have been converted to roads, airfields, home and industrial sites. In these twenty-three years there was an increase of nearly a billion bushels of corn. 73 CHAPTER XXVIII Consistently Good, Year After Year A circular in 1936 announced that hybrid corn at Funk Bros, had definitely passed the trial or experimental stage. Hybrids were available for corn producers in almost all locations in the Corn Belt. A summary of yields for Funk's Hybrids contrasted with those of open pollinated varieties in 1933 and 1934 showed increase to favor the hybrids of 8.3 bushels per acre in 1933 and 12.5 bushels per acre in 1934. Funk's Hybrids yielded in 1934, a drouth year, only 12 bushels average less than in 1933 while the open pollinated varie- ties 1 yielded 16 bushels less. Funk's Hybrids gave a better account of themselves in this unfavorable season than the open pollinated varieties. R. J. Laible wrote in The Furrow, 1936, published by Deere and Company of Moline, Illinois, that "out of the worst drouth in the history of America's Corn Belt comes one welcome discovery which may, in the years to come, repay farmers many times over the losses they suffered in 1936." Slowly it was learned that hybrid corn pro- duced a satisfactory crop during a drouth where ordinary open pol- linated corn failed. It appeared certain that hybrids would outyield ordinary corn. Dr. James Holbert of Funk Bros, reported that he was emphasizing not only yield but also ability to stand up well, quality of grain, drouth resistance, cold resistance and resistance to grasshopper at- tacks. Results of 1935 were summarized in a Bulletin issued by the Illinois Farmers Institute, Springfield. 2 Mr. Laible also warned against accepting all hybrids. Some were poor and were offered by unscrupulous sellers. In such cases farmers were better off with a good variety of open pollinated corn. 3 Expansion in the business of a seed company would thereby be slow. Additional acreages of foundation seed would be an expensive item. Commercial production of hybrid seed corn demanded capital, risk and vision. Adoption of an Associate Grower system solved the problem of retaining the foundation seed as the property of Funk Bros. Seed Co. 4 Early agreements were only verbal with a definite Memorandum of 404 Consistently Good, Year after Year 405 Agreement formulated in 1937. During the first few years everyone in this new enterprise cautiously felt his way. Farmers were tradi- tionally proud of their own corn. Before the farmer would buy hybrid seed corn he must be informed of its advantages. Salesmen spoke of this new "good corn" but the higher prices of the hybrids contrasted to those of the open pollinated became a deterrent to sales. Open- pollinated corn sold from $3.50 to $5.50 per bushel, and seed could be stored for the next planting. Hybrid seed corn was priced as high as $15.00 per bushel, and must be purchased every year. 5 A glance at the list of Associate Growers reveals their location dur- ing 1930-40 as chiefly in Illinois where the Funks were already well known. Whenever the Funks stepped into a new area they always started in a relatively small local region with a good growing season. This selected area could in turn serve surrounding areas as demand grew. Almost immediately they concentrated on securing the best adapted germ plasm for the specific area, in order to cross it with available good germ plasm. 6 When Claire V. Golden graduated from Iowa State College, he was in his own words "something of a young crusader," who thought it might be possible to change the world. Through the influence of the farm adviser in Rock Island county, Palmer Edgerton, he took what seed corn he had and sent it down to James Holbert in 1919 at the U. S. D. A. station on the Funk Farms. He received one peck out of 25 bushels. This peck was known as Utility Type corn or Disease Free corn. Golden, who lived at Cordova, Illinois came to know the professors at the University of Illinois who were interested in experi- mentation and became acquainted with Eugene Funk and Earl Sieveking. As he recalls the story, Mr. Funk and James Holbert came to his farm about 1928 looking for someone to produce seed corn. When E. D. Sr. looked at the countryside he wondered where any- one could produce corn in this part of the country. 7 Time proved that the combination of the enthusiasm of a Claire Golden, the scientific knowledge of James Holbert and the experience and integrity of Eugene Funk could produce desired results. Claire Golden produced seven acres of hybrid corn in 1930 according to Funk Bros, records and later in 1933 became the first of many successful Associate Pro- ducers in the Funk System. E. D. Sr. wrote to his friend, J. L. McKeighan of Yates City, Illinois during April 1934 that the demand for hybrid corn was in- creasing and that its future seemed assured. He informed J. L. Mc- Keighan that Funk Bros, had spent several years testing the adapta- 406 Seed, Soil and Science bility of different hybrids in various sections of the state. Funk had reached the place where he was considering the advisability of plac- ing with some friends a few of these strains of hybrids at strategic points on a cooperative basis. He asked for a conference with J. L. to determine whether or not he would be interested in working with the Funk organization. Eugene Funk saw that: There will be a period during the next few years when some so called corn breeder (?) will attempt to take advantage and put out Hybrid corn regardless of its adaptability. 8 J. L. McKeighan answered in the affirmative. E. D. Sr. then ex- plained some of his ideas, referring to the fact that for the past year corn had been produced in cooperation with Claire Golden. Funk supplied the foundation stocks for planting the field. For compensa- tion Funk received a percentage of the gross sales from hybrid corn produced from this field. 9 McKeighan's early Golden Dent was known for many years dating back over a half century to a yellow corn brought about 1850 from Ohio to Fulton County, Illinois. It was grown there for years by farmers including James McKeighan, who moved to Knox County, Illinois in 1855. This improved corn became widely known as Mc- Keighan's Yellow Dent from his Willow Run Farm. Inbreeding was thought to decrease yields. As early as 1905 McKeighan had grown, bred and sold a pure bred seed corn. 10 He also followed the ear to row system. McKeighan's booklet for 1925 pointed out that Reid's Yellow Dent was his choice as McKeighan's ideal of a type of corn closely resembling what was then called Utility Type. McKeighan advertised his improved strain of Reid's Yellow Dent as this Utility Type Corn with considerable recognition 1921-24. 11 McKeighan obtained from Funk three bushels of 176A in the ear in 1918. It stood up better than the average corn. Finally he discarded everything for this. Both Claire Golden and J. L. McKeighan remembered Eugene D. Funk, Sr. for his ability to judge men. They held him in high esteem and were proud to be associated with the calibre of men chosen as the Funk Associate Growers, who were men of proven integrity. They were long friends of Eugene D. Funk, Sr. They knew him and he knew them. Many of them were competitors in the open pol- linated days who respected the business ability and the name of Funk in the seed business. John T. Smith and Sons of Tolono, Illinois became an Associate in Consistently Good, Year after Year 407 1934. John T. Smith first sold seed corn in 1898 as a large farm operator and early soybean seed enthusiast. Smith was a contempo- rary of Eugene D. Funk, Sr. He became interested in hybrid corn through contact with the University of Illinois and by observing Funk Bros, demonstrations. The territory included Champaign and Douglas Counties and the south half of Piatt. Richard Best who managed the farm for Edward G. Boyle at Columbiana near Eldred in Greene County, Illinois during the early twenties became one of the early Associates in 1936. Boyle, a well known Chicago attorney developed river bottom land along the Illinois. He has been described as one who did a pioneer's work in 15 years instead of 100. The river valley at Columbiana is wide, lo- cated about thirty miles north of the mouth of the Illinois river. Boyle was a purchaser of Funk's corn as early as 1910. He was a good friend of Eugene Funk, Sr. and helped him reorganize the company. The two men were opposite in temperament but both ac- complished a great deal. Boyle thought of Funk as the Dean of Seedsmen, a man who had given his skill back to agriculture along with some good money. Richard Best had a seed business and as manager for Mr. Boyle came to know the Funks. They sold 176 A, Funks 329 and other varieties in the earlv days. Boyle's railroad from Eldred to Boyle near Columbiana put the place on the map. Best experimented with the inbreeding and crossing of corn in 1930. 12 During the 22 years of association with the Funk System he has ex- panded the area served by the Columbiana Company until it is one of the largest of the associates. His knowledge of the hybrid seed corn business has enabled him to contribute constructively at all levels in the operations. 13 O. J. Sommer of Pekin, Illinois planted his first breeding plot in 1910. For some 15 years while working with various lines of corn he visited Funk Bros, at Bloomington. Consultation with James Holbert and Dr. CM. Wood worth of the University of Illinois convinced Sommer that certain detectable characteristics of an ear of corn could be associated with better performance in the field. He was one of a group formulating the Utility Corn Score Card. This card enumerated numerically characteristics and was first tried out at Galesburg in January 1921. This Galesburg Utility Show marked the discard of the old rough show corn type of ear, and of the old type show card. Sommer's corn received first and second place at this show. The next annual state show at Urbana in 1922 was judged on this basis of germinating ten kernels for ten day test. By this method their true 408 Seed, Soil and Science resistance to disease could be evaluated. Sommer 's corn again was awarded first place, sweepstakes and Grand Champion for the state. 14 O. J. became the first president of the Illinois Crop Improvement Association in 1923. 15 Twelve years later E. D. Funk, R. J. Laible, Sieveking and J. R. Holbert visited the Sommer Bros. Company. Their object was to interest Sommer in becoming a cooperative hybrid corn grower. It was agreed to participate on 40 acres in 1936. In order to meet the agreement it was necessary for Sommer to give up all his breeding work carried on since 1909. 16 Sommer's Yellow Dent was by this time recognized by the College of Agriculture in the University of Illinois as a distinct variety. 17 During the following year, 1935, the Fred McCulloch Seed Farms at Belle Plaine, Iowa joined the Funk organization. McCulloch, a personal friend of E. D. Sr., established an outstanding open pollinated variety widely used in Iowa. His loyalty and knowledge of Funk leadership during the early years was not forgotten by the Funk family. The J. C. Robinson Seed Company of Waterloo, Nebraska, with some 1500 acres located in the Elkhorn Valley, became associated in 1935. E. T. Robinson was a past president of the A. S. T. A. in addition to serving the Nebraska area for Funks, and the Robinson Seed Company was well known for their vine seed business, with branches in Colorado and California. The following year, 1936, Claude W. Thorp and Sons of Clinton, Illinois, well known in De Witt County, joined with Funks. As early as 1920 Claude had produced open pollinated seed corn. They serviced De Witt County, the southern half of Logan and the northern half of Macon and Piatt. Expansion continued in Illinois during 1937. Located in central Illinois with a sales area in part of Marshall, Putnam, Peoria, Stark and Fulton counties, Harold and George Shissler brought their seed company into the Funk Associate program. They had produced open pollinated varieties for years and had ear tested corn for disease re- sistant strains prior to hybrid corn production. In later years they also cooperated with the field seed department at Funk Bros. The Swansons near Galesburg, Illinois as early as 1929 and 1930 con- ducted strip tests in conjunction with Dr. Holbert and their county agents in relation to seed treatment and hybrid corn. The Swansons, who belonged to a family of Knox County pioneers, also joined the Funk System in 1937. Near St. Francisville, Arthur and Clarence Akin were outstanding farmers in southeastern Illinois. They pro- duced Funks 176A in 1935. They operated about 4,500 acres in Lawrence County, serving as Funk Associates in 1937, Richland, Consistently Good, Year after Year 409 Wabash, Edwards and parts of Crawford. S. B. Moore, of Humboldt, Illinois, a well known farmer in Coles County, also joined the Funk Associates during the same year. Other Illinois companies joining the Funk Associate group in 1937 included Condon Bros, of Rockford. Leonard Condon also a past president of the A. S. T. A. brought an old established seed firm into the organization. Corn Belt Hatcheries of Kankakee, Joliet and Wat- seka operated by the Roth family of Gibson City, Illinois, also joined in the same year. Waldo Roth, husband of Ruth Funk, was in charge of the Kankakee branch. Another old friend of E. D. Funk, Frank Garwood and Sons of Stonington, Illinois, with some 500 acres in Christian County, became associated during the same year. In neighboring Indiana, Ray Cannell of Knightstown, who was a tenant of Prof. Hackleman of the Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Illinois, became an Associate in 1937. Funk's Hybrids were developed in the eastern part of the United States along with Blakeford Farms, Inc. of Queenstown, Maryland, owned by George Moffett of Corn Products Refining Co. Funk's Hybrid Corn showed superiority over local corn in that area during 1935. It was first used in Maryland in 1930. George Moffett contacted E. D. Funk, Sr. and James Holbert in 1936. James Moffett, his son, believed that Corn Products should devote more of its time to developing its raw ma- terial, corn. Trial plantings on the Blakeford farm occurred in 1937 when an agreement was arranged. Test plots were then set up in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and North Carolina. 18 It was also in 1937 that the company decided to reorganize the personnel. At this time, James Holbert returned from his long affilia- tion since 1918 with the U. S. D. A. During this time his headquarters remained in Bloomington, Illinois. After this valuable experience his return to Funk Bros, was significant. The board of directors was in- creased from three to five, with J. R. Holbert and LaFayette Funk as the two new members. At this time, H. H. Miller resigned as vice president but continued as general manager. Holbert became vice president and corn breeder; E. D. Funk, Jr. was named office man- ager; R. J. Laible became agricultural adviser; LaFayette Funk was manager of the company department of farm crops; E. G. Sieveking manager of the department of soils; Theodore Funk was farm man- ager; Harold Goodwin was field seeds manager and Paul Funk, field seeds salesman. A new processing plant was placed in operation on the Funk Farms in December 1936. 19 The Associate Growers system had increased to sixteen by 1938. 410 Seed, Soil and Science These growers might well have been competitors because many had well established clientele. Contracts with Funks required them to pro- duce hybrid corn exclusively from foundation seed stock supplied by the Funks. They were required to advertise Funks G Hybrid Seed Corn, devoting one side of the seed corn bag to the Funk name. The growers at this time paid Funk Bros. Seed Co. a required percentage of gross sales. 20 The corn sales organization in 1938 was divided into two groups. There were many dealers located in the State of Illinois who had done business with the Funks over a long period of time. A second group was described at that time as "Community Agents." There were 48 in Indiana, 66 in Iowa, 106 in Illinois and 8 in other states or a total of 228. Funk Hybrids were showing well in perform- ance tests in Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. R. J. Laible pointed out that the first real sales effort for Funks G occurred in 1937. 21 It is apparent that Funks G Hybrid organization grew rapidly in the five years from 1935 to 1940. Although the center of operations was in Illinois, Associates were located in Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Maryland. 22 The Peppard Seed Company of Kansas City, Missouri, long estab- lished in the West became an Associate in 1939. As one of the larger wholesale handlers of blue grass and alfalfa seed they were able to service Kansas, Western Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas with Funks G Hybrid. Their long association with Funk Bros, in field seed opera- tions resulted in mutual confidence before the hybrid corn era. Be- cause of their extensive corn growing areas, expansion was rapid with ever present problems of finding adapted resistant Hybrids to com- bat the hot winds, drought and insect damage in the Southwest. 23 A. H. Hoffman & Company, established in 1899 at Landisville, Penn- sylvania, also joined with the Funk organization in 1939. When E. D. Funk, Sr. visited this section he was amazed by the amounts of corn produced by the many religious sects in that area. This company serviced the northeastern part of the United States for Funks. During the next decade of the 1940's James Grant & Son at Cottam, Ontario, Canada were established as Associates in 1943. They helped to push the Corn Belt north and eastward. They had worked with open pollinated seed as early as 1915 and with hand selection of ear types for many years. In 1931 they received the highest reward at the Provincial Seed Show. They service all of Canada with grain corn growing areas chiefly in the provinces around Ontario and Quebec where the climate is tempered by the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. They find adapted hybrids significant in extending Consistently Good, Year after Year 411 the Corn Belt northward. Peterson-Biddick of Wadena, Minnesota found the same situation true in that state where they also contributed to the great expansion of the Corn Belt. They became an associate in 1943. During the same year the Louisiana Seed Company was incorpo- rated as an Associate in one of the important corn growing areas of the south near Alexandria, Louisiana. Funks recognized the great significance of corn in the economy in the South. The expansion of the Corn Belt north and south was made possible by scientific research producing adapted hybrids for given areas. The Wisconsin Seed Company, a group of certified seed producers located at Spring Green and operating a retail seed business, joined the Funk program in 1949. They now serve all the corn growing areas in that state. Other Associates operating during the 1940's were R. E. Lambert & Sons of Darlington, Alabama; H. H. Miller Farms of Madison Station, Mississippi; and McNair Yield Tested Company of Laurinburg, North Carolina. 24 There were 26 processing centers by 1947 with 40 seed produc- tion areas and dozens of warehouses scattered across the nation from the Atlantic Coast to the Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes. The Funks G Hybrids were advertised in 1947 as fast starting, resistant to insects, disease, heat and drought with superior standability, easy husking, high quality for feeding or market and high yields. 25 Agricultural Laboratories, located in Columbus, Ohio joined the Associate Group during 1951. They were designated as Ag-Lab Prod- ucts, Inc. in 1954, serving the state of Ohio. During the decade of the fifties adjustments were made whereby some associates expanded territory to include new plants. This was especially true of Columbi- ana Seed Co. 26 and Louisiana Seed Company. A glance at the roster of Associates in the appendix reveals the fact that many continue under their original founders. These com- panies are all well established and strategically located within their areas. Their founders and present managers were either well known to E. D. Funk, Sr., to James Holbert or to the Funk Bros, now in charge of the company. Eugene D. Funk, Sr. presided April 20, 1938 over what he called "the first annual meeting of our cooperators." Although there had been a meeting the previous year, scarcely anyone had formulated definite ideas of procedure at that time. He continued: It is this very organization which we have tried to perfect which has brought realization to a dream some of us have had for several years. Just 412 Seed, Soil and Science how to perfect it depends entirely upon the personnel. I am expecting it to become one great big family. We started out to select and choose each of you to build our own family. It got around some way that we are taking on cooperators and we have had a 'heck' of a time making excuses for not taking on any more than we needed. The original concept behind the growth of the Associate system was well described by Mr. Funk when he stressed the following points before this group (1) it is up to us to work together, (2) to feel that we are one family, ( 3 ) to feel that we have a common interest, (4) that we can trust each other absolutely, (5) and above all to work together to produce the best seed corn that can be produced. He closed with these words of warning: "If we cannot do these things we have no business trying to undertake this work/' There are other indications of the basic philosophy in the Funk leadership and guidance of the seed company: You men understand corn breeding and production and merchandising and just what we are aiming to do. We will make mistakes of course. We are human just like everybody else. But we are going to be honest and correct these mistakes when brought to our attention and found out. I don't want to preach in any sense of the word except that as time goes on we must learn from each other— to take advice and to give advice. Don't hesitate at any time to bring your troubles to us, and we will bring ours to you. By such united efforts I feel confident that our program is abso- lutely sound. We have a future before us that is unlimited in scope; the size of our business will depend entirely upon our ability to put it over. The Associates met at Funk Farms, August 5, 1939 on the site of the old Government Plots. Eugene D., as he looked up at the Osage orange hedge at Research Acres, told the story of when his Father LaFayette set out the trees. Fourteen inch holes were already dug, and the youngster, (E. D., Sr.) trying to help, fell headfirst into one of the holes. LaFayette said, "Yes, the 'brat/ always wanting to do something. Ill give him something to do all right when he gets old enough/' E. D., Sr. remarked that he had "been a loafer ever since." 27 When Eugene, Sr., returned from Florida in April 1940 he attended the meeting of the Associates, declaring that he was mighty glad to get back home. He described some of the corn "down there" as knee high with some plants ready to tassel within ten days or two weeks. 28 Problems of price always confronted the producers. E. D. had his own ideas on this subject and did not hesitate to express himself: We have led this corn business for 50 years. Funk Brothers have always had the highest price on seed corn. When we are selling corn at $5.00 a bushel, our competitors were selling at $3.00 or $4.50 a bushel. We are Funk's G Hybrid Associate Producers and Funk Bros. Seed Co. Clarence Akin & Sons, St. Francisville, 111. Columbiana Seed Co., Eldred, 111. Frank S. Garwood & Sons, Stonington, 111. Golden Seed Co., Cordova, 111. McKeighan Seed Co., Yates City, 111 Shissler Seed Co., Elmwood, 111. Smith Seed Co., Tolono, 111. Sommer Bros. Seed Co., Pekin, 111. Swanson Seed Farms, Galesburg, 111. C. W. Thorp & Sons Seed Co., Clinton, 111. Funk Bros. Seed Co., Bloomington, 111. Ti g r-i § £ H ™ •s? •Si of ° ""I §** ii r2 ^^ « s «£ r'ctf r 2 o o^ U a " d u £ -a § 03 a> o a; ^ IS 0) to on h-i O W^j as ■-£ s « 3 o o o a !h <-tH >1 n> pq « o *t n 1 § S Pn § fe Ph O w u U 13 Q Q W W PS C/1 ft en B PS «s PQ u M Q Z «3 ■7 U> *<