Pedigrees Count In Seed Corn 



The Story of the JUorgan-Scott-Cass Hybrid 

 Seed Corn Growers Association 



^^^^^^^OY BURRUS likes to whittle 



/J and think long practical 



^V thoughts. But more than that, 



he likes to push those dreams through to 



sound realities. 



Through his whittling, dreaming and 

 courageous driving ahead, corn growers 

 in Morgan, Scott and Cass counties have 

 available for next spring's planting a 

 supply of locally grown, certified, hy- 

 brid seed corn. They have a choice of 

 twelve varieties that have proved their 

 worth under conditions of soil and 

 weather in that part of the state. 



Three years ago, Roy and Wilbur, his 

 brother, grew a few acres of hybrid 

 which was certified by the Illinois Crop 

 Improvement Association. That started 

 Roy to thinking. Why not have their 

 own seed drier? 



But a drier would run their costs too 

 high. Still if other growers would bring 

 their seed in to be processed the cost 

 could be divided making possible a plant 

 of economical size. 



On August 12, ground was broken on 

 the Burrus farm for the drier and an- 

 other of Roy's dreams was on the way to 

 becoming a reality. Late in September 

 the seed house was ready to take the first 

 2,000-bushel batch of its 10,000-bushel 

 yearly capacity. 



Ready to be dried, sorted, shelled, 

 graded and sacked in the Burrus plant 

 this fall are nearly 10,000 bushels of 

 seed, most of it grown by members of the 

 coofjerative Morgan-Scott-Cass Hybrid 

 Seed Corn Growers Association. All of 

 the corn will be eligible for certification. 

 All of it originated from foundation seed 

 furnished by Illini Corn Hybrids, Inc., a 

 state association of independent seed 

 growers which furnishes members best 

 strains of seed. 



Not all the corn grown by the twelve 

 members of the Morgan-Scott-Cass co-op 

 will be processed in the Burrus plant. 

 Some will pass through the drier on the 

 farm of Otto and Roy Nickel. 



The little cooperative, in which every 

 member is a director, has no dues or 

 membership fees. The only membership 

 requirement is acceptance by the direc- 

 tors. Members own no stock and hire 

 their corn processed in the Burrus and 

 Nickel seed houses. The charge has not 

 been set but will be arrived at through 

 the crop production department of the 

 University of Illinois. 



Although each member can book or- 

 ders for seed, none is expected to mer- 



chandise it. Selling is to be handled en- 

 tirely by the Morgan-Scott Service Com- 

 pany and the Cass Farmers Oil Company. 

 Roy Burrus, in organizing the group, 

 made sure that growers would not be 

 forced to advertise and sell their product 

 in the face of strong competition. Too 

 many independent hybrid growers were 

 left with much of their 1937 output on 



they are buying. I could take you out in 

 the pasture and show you a dandy look- 

 ing roan bull. I could tell you that he 

 is just the animal you need to improve 

 your herd. You might buy him on my 

 recommendation but if you are a live 

 stock man you'd want to know something 

 about his blood lines. 



"With his pedigree you could check 

 his breeding with any other Shorthorn 

 breeder and in that way see that you are 

 getting value received. Or, if he were 

 an aged bull, you would probably like to 

 see some of his calves to see if he would 

 improve your herd. 



"When you buy hybrid corn from an 

 independent grower the pedigree goes 

 with it. There is no secret about the 



•r"S«#» 



ai^raK. 





• ffS f t!S? 



BETTER HYBRID SEED CORN FOR MORGAN, SCOTT 4 CASS COUNTIES 



Above: Burrus' 10,000 bushel seed com processing plant will handle nothing but 

 certified seed ior co-op members. 



Below: Left to right: President Roy Burrus. Wilbur Burrus, Banker A. C. Hart and 

 Corn Grower V. R. McClure inspect a battery of graders that will sort the kernels into 

 convenient sizes ior planting. 



hand this spring simply because they 

 could not devote time to selling it. 



Why all the fuss about forming a co- 

 operative for hybrid seed corn men with 

 so many established seed companies al- 

 ready in the business? 



Let Roy Burrus, president of the co-op, 

 tell you: "Farmers like to know what 



strains it carries. If the grower produced 

 it according to the rules of the Illinois 

 Crop Improvement Association t h e 

 strains will be pure. The bag will bear a 

 tag certifying that the grower followed 

 the rules. 



'Prof. Hackleman, Dr. Woodruff or 

 any one of the plant breeders at the Uni- 



32 



L A. A. RECORD 



