
This is an example of the stand-' 
ability for which Funk’s G- b 
Hybrids are famous throughout 
the Corn Belt. This picture was 
taken in a field of Funk’s G-114 
in Cook County just north of 
Chicago on March 5, 1944. 
The stalks had withstood fall 
and winter storms and protected 
the ears so that there was no_ = | 
noticeable loss in grain quality. 

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HOW INSECTS, DISEASES AND EVEN WEEDS 
CAUSE STALK AND STANDABILITY PROBLEMS 
HINCH BUGS and many other 
insect enemies... leaf blight and 
numerous other corn diseases . . . impoverished 
soil and even weeds—these all affect stalk quality, 
directly or indirectly, by cutting down the sup- 
ply of glucose necessary to develop strong stalks. 
For example, the chinch bug punctures the 
hard stalk surface and sucks out the sweet glu- 
cose being moved down to nourish the roots. The 
roots are starved and cannot gather the water 
and minerals which are needed for the glucose 
‘factory’? in the leaves. 
As we have seen, the ear’s needs 
come first—so the stalk may suffer. 

This accounts for the many broken stalks under 
chinch bug attack, although the corn yield may 
be near normal. Modern Funk’s G-Hybrids 
adapted to chinch bug areas have marked resist- 
ance to this insect (see photograph on this page). 
Leaf blight is a disease which affects stalk 
quality by killing the leaves in which glucose is 
made, thus reducing the glucose output. If blight 
develops slowly, the corn yield may not be as 
severely affected as standability—because the 
ears, of course, have priority over the stalks on 
the failing supply of glucose. 
The quality of corn stalks may depend some- 
what on the number of weeds which escape the 
cultivator. Growing weeds, like corn plants, take 
moisture and plant food found in the soil. In a 
hot, dry season, moisture shortage is apt to be 
acute. If weeds steal water and soil nutrients, 
then the corn plant can’t make sufficient glucose 
to meet the needs of ear, stalk and roots. 
Corn borers tunnel into the stalk and disrupt 
movement of water and glucose, adversely affect- 
ing the glucose supply. Too, in heavy infesta- 
tion, corn borers often weaken the stalk so 
greatly that it is easily broken by wind. 
Some modern hybrids have the unusual ability 
to make certain protective substances which 
“cork off” the stalk areas damaged by corn 
borers, preventing the spread of stalk rot infec- 
tions which quickly enter the stalk through the 
corn borers’ holes. Like every other substance 
manufactured in the corn plant, these precious 
protective materials are made from glucose. So 
an adequate supply of glucose, as the corn plant 
approaches final maturity, is necessary if the 
hybrid is to make these protective substances 
that enable it to produce a heavy yield of corn 
on stalks that can stand—in spite of a serious 
attack by corn borers. 
