Great Pieces of Silver - IV
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:40 pm
THE KELLOGG TROPHY
Maker: Tiffany & Co.
$1000 For an Ear of Corn by Joe Mitchell Chapple
The year just closed will be memorable in the history of corn production in the United States. With a crop aggregating over $1,616,000,000 in value, and over 2,668,000,000 bushels, it is no wonder that the American farmer has come to crown this crop as "King Corn." These figures are of more than passing moment in relation to the development of national resources.
In developing the corn products to their present high state of perfection, Professor P. G. Holden and Mr. W. K. Kellogg have been prominent. In connection with his work for the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames, Professor Holden has done much in educating farmers to the importance of the right seed corn, showing that by careful selection the yield per acre could be greatly increased. Experts estimate that the addition of one kernel to each ear of corn would represent a net gain of a million and a half dollars per annum in the value of the corn crop, while one bushel per acre would mean many additional millions of income to the nation, not only to farmers, but to the entire country by increasing the purchasing power of the farmers, who are so largely responsible for the general prosperity.
In the manufacture and distribution of the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flakes, Mr. W. K. Kellogg has given an immense impetus to the corn crop of the United States. Mr. Stanley Clague, of the Clague, Painter & Jones advertising agency, who handles Mr. Kellogg's advertising, arranged for the offer of a grand prize corn trophy, to be awarded to the farmer who should make the best exhibit at the Omaha Corn Exposition in December, 1909. The object was not only to improve the quality of the product, but to increase the number of bushels per acre of the nation's greatest cereal. The rapid increase in production, shown in the statistics of recent years, shows rather the augmentation of the crop per acre, than an increased acreage. Only once in the last seven years has this crop fallen below the billion mark, and this in a budget worthy of the utmost consideration.
The trophy was awarded at Omaha, on the date scheduled, to Fred Palen, of Newton, Indiana, who is now the possessor of the beautiful thousand dollar trophy cup, made by Tiffany, New York; it is one of the most artistic creations ever produced commemorative of any distinctly American achievement. It is fitting that this cup should be awarded to "King Corn," the golden, tasselled maize, sung of by Edna Dean Proctor, whose ode has long been regarded as a national classic. It may be that this latest triumph of the great American crop will result in its being made the national emblem of the United States, as has been so often suggested by Miss Proctor. On the trophy cup is produced in colored metals and enamel the well-known artistic creation "Sweetheart of the Corn." The cup itself is composed of gold and silver, is in the form of a vase and stands three feet high, and Tiffany may well be proud of the handsome design. Out of the tremendous yield of golden corn produced this year on American soil, this one notable prize ear of corn has made history. On this single cob are kernels worth about one dollar each, as there are over a thousand kernels on the prize car. It was indeed a proud moment for Mr Palen when he received the award and his modestly told story of seven years of effort is one of the romances of farming worthy of preservation. His parent stock in growing the prize ear had been Reed's Yellow Dent as the male plant, and the Alexander Gold Standard as the mother plant. The Standard was detasseled the first two years, and this cross produced the seed from which the "World's best ear of corn" has been grown.
The Iowa State Agricultural College, and the various corn expositions held throughout the country have been actively at work in bettering the type of corn grown each year, and the awarding of this trophy will further stimulate effort in this direction. An immense impetus will be given to this phase of agriculture, and this cup is a more remarkable award than any trophies ever awarded for athletic games. It is like ushering in a new era when such a prize is given for a utilitarian purpose, when the American farmer can glory in such trophies. The donor in presenting it has conferred a benefit on the nation at large, that far exceeds in importance prizes which have been given for athletic prowess, and the name of Kellogg will long be honored by corn producers. The basis of national force has to consider the food of the people, and it is believed that the remarkable progress of the American nation is largely due to the fact that corn enters largely into the diet of the people. Indigenous to the soil, corn has become a part of the history of the nation, harking back to the old-time struggle with privations and hostile Indians, on to the time of the Continentals, who lived on parched corn, and the rations provided today for the army in the form of Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes.
It ought to be a matter of pride to the old Hoosier State of Indiana to have won the corn trophy, despite the fact that Illinois, Iowa and other corn states so largely exceed her in corn acreage. The immense quantities of corn grown are, perhaps, never so fully realized as at a corn show, where one passes between row after row of even, beautiful ears, laid in tiers with golden and silver white kernels glistening on the benches. Ear after ear shows itself covered to the very tip of the cob, rounded off with kernels, not a vacant spot appearing to mar its symmetry Corn of every shade of pure white, silvery white, cream color and rich yellow is there, vying one with another in beauty, and reminding the onlooker of pearly teeth showing in the smile that betokens happiness and prosperity. When in Des Moines, a few weeks ago, it was a delight to look upon the wealth of corn products, and I thought it no wonder that the American farmer is today enjoying unexampled prosperity with such a reliable crop as corn serving as the backbone of farm products.
Such manufacturers as Mr Kellogg, by so encouraging the best corn products, are constantly inspiring farmers to give more attention and study to the seed, to consider farming from a scientific standpoint, and to apply energy and intelligence to the increasing of crops just as brains are brought to bear on manufacturing propositions in order to make the most of every opportunity. The farmer is more and more coming to regard the land and the seed as his raw material, and is becoming increasingly ambitious to obtain the best possible results. Up to the last ten years comparatively little attention has been given to the improving of the corn crop, as compared with other products.
What may be done now that corn culture has been taken up seriously, remains to be seen. The Kellogg factories use twelve thousand bushels of corn every day, in making Toasted Corn Flakes for millions of breakfast tables. This use of corn affects not only the future of the farmer of the United States, but will be beneficial to all the people, for there is no civilized nation today that does not use corn and its products in some form. Over sixty thousand dollars in cash and other forms of prizes were awarded to exhibitors at the famous Omaha Corn Show; and with such encouragement given in other states and by manufacturers such as Mr. Kellogg in the future, one may expect to see almost anything in the way of improvement in corn, and Uncle Sam, with his towering cornstalks, may yet improve upon the tales of Jack and the beanstalk or the fairy of the cornstalk with a green silk dress.
Source: National Magazine - Volume 31 - 1909
Trev.
Maker: Tiffany & Co.
$1000 For an Ear of Corn by Joe Mitchell Chapple
The year just closed will be memorable in the history of corn production in the United States. With a crop aggregating over $1,616,000,000 in value, and over 2,668,000,000 bushels, it is no wonder that the American farmer has come to crown this crop as "King Corn." These figures are of more than passing moment in relation to the development of national resources.
In developing the corn products to their present high state of perfection, Professor P. G. Holden and Mr. W. K. Kellogg have been prominent. In connection with his work for the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames, Professor Holden has done much in educating farmers to the importance of the right seed corn, showing that by careful selection the yield per acre could be greatly increased. Experts estimate that the addition of one kernel to each ear of corn would represent a net gain of a million and a half dollars per annum in the value of the corn crop, while one bushel per acre would mean many additional millions of income to the nation, not only to farmers, but to the entire country by increasing the purchasing power of the farmers, who are so largely responsible for the general prosperity.
In the manufacture and distribution of the Kellogg Toasted Corn Flakes, Mr. W. K. Kellogg has given an immense impetus to the corn crop of the United States. Mr. Stanley Clague, of the Clague, Painter & Jones advertising agency, who handles Mr. Kellogg's advertising, arranged for the offer of a grand prize corn trophy, to be awarded to the farmer who should make the best exhibit at the Omaha Corn Exposition in December, 1909. The object was not only to improve the quality of the product, but to increase the number of bushels per acre of the nation's greatest cereal. The rapid increase in production, shown in the statistics of recent years, shows rather the augmentation of the crop per acre, than an increased acreage. Only once in the last seven years has this crop fallen below the billion mark, and this in a budget worthy of the utmost consideration.
The trophy was awarded at Omaha, on the date scheduled, to Fred Palen, of Newton, Indiana, who is now the possessor of the beautiful thousand dollar trophy cup, made by Tiffany, New York; it is one of the most artistic creations ever produced commemorative of any distinctly American achievement. It is fitting that this cup should be awarded to "King Corn," the golden, tasselled maize, sung of by Edna Dean Proctor, whose ode has long been regarded as a national classic. It may be that this latest triumph of the great American crop will result in its being made the national emblem of the United States, as has been so often suggested by Miss Proctor. On the trophy cup is produced in colored metals and enamel the well-known artistic creation "Sweetheart of the Corn." The cup itself is composed of gold and silver, is in the form of a vase and stands three feet high, and Tiffany may well be proud of the handsome design. Out of the tremendous yield of golden corn produced this year on American soil, this one notable prize ear of corn has made history. On this single cob are kernels worth about one dollar each, as there are over a thousand kernels on the prize car. It was indeed a proud moment for Mr Palen when he received the award and his modestly told story of seven years of effort is one of the romances of farming worthy of preservation. His parent stock in growing the prize ear had been Reed's Yellow Dent as the male plant, and the Alexander Gold Standard as the mother plant. The Standard was detasseled the first two years, and this cross produced the seed from which the "World's best ear of corn" has been grown.
The Iowa State Agricultural College, and the various corn expositions held throughout the country have been actively at work in bettering the type of corn grown each year, and the awarding of this trophy will further stimulate effort in this direction. An immense impetus will be given to this phase of agriculture, and this cup is a more remarkable award than any trophies ever awarded for athletic games. It is like ushering in a new era when such a prize is given for a utilitarian purpose, when the American farmer can glory in such trophies. The donor in presenting it has conferred a benefit on the nation at large, that far exceeds in importance prizes which have been given for athletic prowess, and the name of Kellogg will long be honored by corn producers. The basis of national force has to consider the food of the people, and it is believed that the remarkable progress of the American nation is largely due to the fact that corn enters largely into the diet of the people. Indigenous to the soil, corn has become a part of the history of the nation, harking back to the old-time struggle with privations and hostile Indians, on to the time of the Continentals, who lived on parched corn, and the rations provided today for the army in the form of Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes.
It ought to be a matter of pride to the old Hoosier State of Indiana to have won the corn trophy, despite the fact that Illinois, Iowa and other corn states so largely exceed her in corn acreage. The immense quantities of corn grown are, perhaps, never so fully realized as at a corn show, where one passes between row after row of even, beautiful ears, laid in tiers with golden and silver white kernels glistening on the benches. Ear after ear shows itself covered to the very tip of the cob, rounded off with kernels, not a vacant spot appearing to mar its symmetry Corn of every shade of pure white, silvery white, cream color and rich yellow is there, vying one with another in beauty, and reminding the onlooker of pearly teeth showing in the smile that betokens happiness and prosperity. When in Des Moines, a few weeks ago, it was a delight to look upon the wealth of corn products, and I thought it no wonder that the American farmer is today enjoying unexampled prosperity with such a reliable crop as corn serving as the backbone of farm products.
Such manufacturers as Mr Kellogg, by so encouraging the best corn products, are constantly inspiring farmers to give more attention and study to the seed, to consider farming from a scientific standpoint, and to apply energy and intelligence to the increasing of crops just as brains are brought to bear on manufacturing propositions in order to make the most of every opportunity. The farmer is more and more coming to regard the land and the seed as his raw material, and is becoming increasingly ambitious to obtain the best possible results. Up to the last ten years comparatively little attention has been given to the improving of the corn crop, as compared with other products.
What may be done now that corn culture has been taken up seriously, remains to be seen. The Kellogg factories use twelve thousand bushels of corn every day, in making Toasted Corn Flakes for millions of breakfast tables. This use of corn affects not only the future of the farmer of the United States, but will be beneficial to all the people, for there is no civilized nation today that does not use corn and its products in some form. Over sixty thousand dollars in cash and other forms of prizes were awarded to exhibitors at the famous Omaha Corn Show; and with such encouragement given in other states and by manufacturers such as Mr. Kellogg in the future, one may expect to see almost anything in the way of improvement in corn, and Uncle Sam, with his towering cornstalks, may yet improve upon the tales of Jack and the beanstalk or the fairy of the cornstalk with a green silk dress.
Source: National Magazine - Volume 31 - 1909
Trev.
