the cast so much they forgot their lines because they feared his shotgun was loaded. He gave up acting.
George W. Krug, Sr.
George was born January 21, 1879 on the old Krug home place in Panola Township, the son of parents who were among our early settlers. On March 4, 1904 he married Louisa Bayer of Minonk. He lived his entire life on his farm.
In 1906 he began experimenting with seed corn, but he was seeking neither fame nor fortune. All he wanted was better corn for his 100-acre farm. He was such a modest man that he never displayed his corn at the county fair, perhaps because he didn't realize how good it was until he entered it in the county farm bureau yield test in 1919, and topped the field in 1920 and 1921 among 118 growers who entered these tests.
Mr. M. L. Moser of the Farm Bureau gave him much encouragement, because his corn had smooth kernels, a high protein and oil content and a low percentage of starch. His corn became known as the Krug utility-type corn, and as Krug Corn became famous. It was eagerly sought by farmers throughout the United States, and was shipped to South Africa, Romania and Argentina. It became the most widely-used open-pollinated corn in our area, beating all others on average yield by 6.6 bushels per acre. In 1926 Lester Pfister entered Krug corn in the Iowa yield tests and came away with top honors.
George started his seed line by mixing two strains called Improved World's Fair and Iowa Gold Mine with a couple of bushels of good-looking seed which he purchased at a farm sale; some think the latter was Reid's Yellow Dent. Weight, luster, smoothness and freedom from excessive starch were qualities George considered. At picking time, he made selections only from good standing stalks, choosing ears usually about four feet off the ground. He culled the seed in the winter, at first shelling all selected ears by hand.
Many persons finally grew and sold Krug Seed Corn, but George Krug did not collect a royalty from any of those using his name in producing "Krug Corn." George was a charter member of the Woodford County Farm Bureau. He died of a heart attack on July 25, 1942.
Dr. John S. Kyser
John Kyser was born in El Paso September 18, 1900, the son of John H. and Bessie (Shuman) Kyser. He attended El Paso schools, received his A. B. degree at the University of Michigan, and his Ph. D. at Louisiana State University. His graduate studying embraced two years at the University of Chicago, and in addition he studied at the University of California and at Germany's renowned Heidelberg University. John's formal academic training has been supplemented in a practical manner, since he has held positions with Marshall Field & Company, the United Fruit Company, the Pacific- Northwest Fruit Producers, and the Hudson Motor Car Company. His travels have
Page 276
Go to previous page Go to next page Go to El Paso Story gateway page