The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-02-19
CORN BELT DOUBLED.
Discovery of Indian Secret Makes
Corn Raising Profitable in North.

In an interview concerning the re-
search work under his direction, DR..
Clark Wissler, of the Department of
AnthroPology Of the American Museum
of Natural History, gave out several
important facts which again forciblv
indicate that the influence of the Mu-
scum through the work which it is u
dertaking has become of national i'm
loltaaee.
In considering the requirements Of
his department. 10 carry on the field
work and explorations for the ensuing
year, DR.. WISER informed the officials
of the museum that during the past 10
ears $76,970 had been expended in
field work alone, and upon being in
terrogated whether the expenditure of
so large a sum had been worth while.
he replied as follows:
In part answer to these questions,
| would call your attention to two
/ great movements in this country that
/ have received their impetus through
4 The museum 5 field researches in an
thropology, and would cite as the first
instance that OF the discovery Of 4
4 new Indian corn.
! One Of our field men, DR.. Gilbert L.
| Wilson was delegated to collect ma
tcrial and study the agriculture of the
Mandan Indians, who lived far up in
the Dakotas This had established
their villages in the locality long be-
fore Columbus was born. and one OF
their agricultural pursuits was the rails.
ING Of maize. In all of the great states
of the Dakotas, Montana aud Wyom-
ing, the farmers Of today were unable
to raise corn because of the shortness
of the seasons. but investigation
proved that the Mandans did success
fully raise it, and to Or. Wilson was
given the problem. Ascertain how the
Indians did it.. lie found that there
were a few old women who still had
the precious seed and knew how to
raise the corn. Had the investigation
/ been longer delayed, in a few wears
these old women would have been
dead aud the secret lost. Through the
Museum 3 publications the news was
spread professional agriculturists be
came busy, and the name of the
American Museum has been ringing
throughout the great Northwest.
The Dakota Farmer, the greatest
farming paper of this country, states
III Il recent issue Of its publication
that We have doubled the corn belt
and will add billions upon billions 81
dollars to the national wealth. ThinE
of it, billions upon billions that woull
have been lost to the nation if we hh(
mot spent a paltry 5000 for feel,
e work, of which sum less than 5000
0 went into this one project.
The next great movement is tn
5 interest which the musuem authori
b ties have been able to arouse IN til
American manufacturer OF textiles
i that from its great collections 1t ha
; been possible to institute the neN
u American decorative art. What start
! Cd this great movements The answer
" the work Of a member of our researc
/ staff, NJ. ID. G. Crawford, textile eH
: pert, who has given his time and SCI
, vices gratuitouslv. But the 1867
- expended in field collecting made hi
! work possible Every one of our tiel
= men before starting on his expeditio
>, has been instructed to gather authenti
type designs from our vast vanishin
= Indian tribes. On the contrary othc
museums did not so instruct the
: collectors, but sent them after wha
:. they called rare things The resu
|: is that nowhere other than in ii
|: American Museum is it possible to fin
/: workable collection in native ar
/: You ask Why workable2 and tt
/: answer is because our men studied tt
/: art III the field, thay made contribl
tions to science, and the collection
!: stand for something real. 1t was tn
|: real work that rescued the right thing
|: from oblivion.
/: who can estimate the capital tn;
!: the great textile and other industri
/: Will invest in this movement? |
1: quire of the leaders of these industri
!: whore the thing started and the
|: answer is in the American Museum
!: Natural History. These are the "
/: most striking results of our recent T
/: search work. There are others, but v
/: feel that these two important finds a
I; profitable beyond estimation in dolla
/: because they affect and reach t
/: lives and well-being of our people al
~ the nation at large