


Dr. James R. Holbert exhibiting a strain of hybrid corn developed by the Funk Hybrid Corn Research Staff. 
For half of the century since the white man replaced the Indian as the Mississippi Valley’s 
corn farmer, Gene Funk of historic Funk Farms near Bloomington in Illinois has labored 
constantly to improve the corn upon which so many in rural America depend for livelihood. 
He not only originated numerous Funk open pollinated varieties, but he was instrumental 
in interesting Dr. James R. Holbert, one of America’s greatest present day corn scientists, 
in devoting his life to the further improvement of and development of new strains of corn. 
Dr. Jim Holbert has developed more inbreds (the pure family corn strains from which 
modern hybrids are made) now in wide use, than any other 
man. As head of the noted Funk Hybrid Corn Research Staff, 
Dr. Holbert contends that hybrid corn development is still in 
its infancy. On the next pages appears an explanation—prob- 
ably the first of its kind ever presented—of the factors con- 
tributing to outstanding stalk quality based on the work done 
by Dr. Jim Holbert and the Funk Hybrid Corn Research Staff. 
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