EARLIER YEARS 



ment of four distinct strains of corn corresponding to the selec- 

 tion of the seed. 



Doctor Hopkins described this work in his bulletin entitled, 

 "The Improvement in the Chemical Composition of the Corn 

 Kernel," giving the results of the first two generations, which 

 had been completed at that time. This work has been con- 

 tinued up to the present time so that now there are unbroken 

 pedigree records running back thru twenty-three consecutive 

 generations, thus constituting the longest continued corn- 

 breeding experiments in existence. The progress has been 

 such that it may be stated that starting with a single ordinary 

 variety of corn in 1896, it has been possible, thru this method 

 of selection and breeding, to produce four distinct kinds of corn 

 with respect to composition, so that now one strain is twice 

 as rich in protein as another, and another strain is now five 

 times as rich in oil as its corresponding opposite. 



In the year 1900 Doctor Hopkins obtained a leave of ab- 

 sence to study and travel in Europe. The main portion of this 

 time he spent at the University of Gottingen with the re- 

 nowned chemist Tollens, working on the chemistry of the 

 carbohydrates. Upon his return he came into the position of 

 Professor of Agronomy. It was then that he began his investi- 

 gations in soil fertility, and as he became more and more en- 

 grossed in this subject, and as administrative duties connected 

 with affairs of a growing department multiplied, he was 

 obliged to gradually relinquish his activities in these other 

 lines of which I have attempted to speak. 



The point that I should like to emphasize in this brief re- 

 view is the substantial character of the research work of this 

 great scientist. Thoroness and accuracy characterized all these 

 investigations, and it was these qualities that Doctor Hopkins 

 injected into his subsequent work on soils and that have made 

 his teachings command the respect and confidence of scientists 

 and farmers alike. It is more of this substantial kind of in- 

 vestigation that agriculture needs for its future development. 



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