European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 26, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Victim of its own Success up by Robert Lee Zimmer " associated press f Page 14 the stars and stripes rom Aztec to High Loch Corn s past is a mystery and is Leturc a Challenge. The nutritious Gram Hal sustained native americans for con Murtos became Ito highly Prowicz commercial Corn that fed a hungry world in the 20th Colury now Parli Fly a victim onis own Success Corn is being crammed into storage bins at the Rato o billions it unwonted bushels a year the Supply of the Golden Grain is simply increasing taster than the. Demand Good gosh we be ust got so much Corn on hand says John Pellet who Aims 750 acres at Chesterfield. To the Only hmm that is saving us now is the government Larm support payments but Yuu d much Zalner have a Raal customer for your Corn than grow in Lor government  Corn yield a in Iho untied states have increased dramatically with biotechnology and there is no end in sight says Hal Smedly. Director of Market development Lor the National com growers associate. But the modern technology that created successful Corn based sweeteners and alcohol May Oiler More Relief. Corn now is being converted into Industrial chemicals thai can do everything from melting ice on roads to helping steering wheels pop out of holds. We Farmers can produce so much we re so Good at growing Corn Hal i am convinced we cannot push it All through feeding livestock says Pellet who s excited about the new High Lech possibilities. But they Are a far cry from Corn s traditional use As food. We know now that it was the Basic Ood Plant of All of the advanced cultures and civilizations at the new  Harvard botanist Paul Mangelsdorf wrote in his 1974 Book Corn us origin � Volution and improvement. The indians of North America the highly civilized Maya of Central America the warlike aztecs of Mexico and he incas of Peru All looked to comic Rahejr daily bread according to Mangelsdorf. George Sprague a University of Illinois Corn breeder says there is a consensus that Corn was a new world crop but beyond thai its history gala quite vague the origin of Corn is lost in Antiquity and we re left to speculation he says. Theories an the genetic origin of the Corn Plant vary. But the absence of any historical reference to Maize before 1492 suggests thai Columbus discovered it in the new world and took in Back to Europe. In two generations this wonder crop spread around the world. Fields now Are harvested somewhere every month of the year. In North America the indians brought Corn in from the wild and noticed that kernels that acc Dently fell into fertilized soil near their dwellings grew Well. Soon they planted Corn sometimes put fish in the ground As fertilizer removed competing vegetation and replanted seed irom the Besl yielding plants. The crop provided them Wilh roasting ears Cornmeal to mix with vegetables and meat and even Popcorn the indians did quite 0 remarkable of Breeding Corn says Sprague. The while Man came and inherited a domesticated crop along with the production practices of the  in the Early 1700s. American settlers planted two types Olcorn together and produced a Cross that