The Wizard and the Prophet2

by Charles C. Mann

  Carrying capacity: Robertson 2012b:339–46; Mallet 2012; Sayre 2008; Kingsland 1995 (1985), chaps. 3–4. The concept originated in Chapman 1928. Leopold’s prime example of carrying capacity, a study of deer, has been heavily criticized (Caughley 1970).

  Vogt and carrying capacity: Sayre 2008:130–32 (“The neo-Malthusian use of carrying capacity appears to have its origins in the book Road to Survival,” 130); Vogt 1948:16–45 (quotes, 16); letter, W. Vogt to A. Leopold, 16 Apr 1947, ALP. Osborn, by contrast, a straight-up Malthusian, warned that overbreeding would overwhelm food and water supplies. To ecologist/activist Garrett Hardin carrying capacity is “central to all discussions of population and environment” (1993:204).

  Malthus’s lack of data on farm production: Author’s conversation, Chaplin. Chaplin covers some of the implications in Chaplin 2006 and Bashford and Chaplin 2015.

  Franklin: Franklin 1755 (similarity of people and plants, 9), 1725.

  “Nature bats last”: Ehrlich 1969:28.

  Odum’s textbook and carrying capacity: Mallet 2012:631–33 (“undergraduates,” 632–33); Odum 1953 (“can occur”, 122).

  Planetary boundaries: Rockström et al. 2009:32 (all quotes); Rockström 2009. A fine popular treatment is Lynas 2011. “be obeyed”: Bacon 1870 (1620):8:68.

  “ecology or conservation”: Vogt 1950.

  Leopold’s death, plans to hire Vogt: Lin 2014:107-11; Meine 2010 (1988):479, 519–20; Letter, S. Leopold to B. Leopold, 24 Apr 1948, ALP.

  Publication of Sand County Almanac: Meine 2013, 2010 (1988):523–27.

  Chapter Three: The Wizard

  Borlaug’s first days in Mexico: VIET2:27, 56; Hesser 2010; Borlaug 1988 (“dreadful mistake,” 24); Bickel 1974:118–19.

  Borlaugs emigrate: Author’s visit, Saude cemetery; Hesser 2010:4–5, 217–19 (Ole and Solveig marriage); VIET1:35, 70; Clodfelter 2006 (1998):35–65 (Dakota war); N. B. Larkin, 1981, Genealogical chart, Borlaug Family Genealogical Material, uarc01014-box01-fdr02, NBUM; Bickel 1974:34–36; RFOI:120; [H.M. Tjernagel]. 1930. Obituary of Ole Borlaug. The Assistant Pastor (Jerico and Saude Lutheran churches), Feb; Flandreau 1900:135–92 (Dakota war); Sogn og Fjordane fylke, Leikanger, Ministerialbok nr. A 6 (1810–1838), Fødte og døpte 1821, p. 128, available at www.arkkiverket.no (Ole’s birth). Thanks to Bruce Lundy for help with Norwegian archives.

  Saude: Author’s visit, interviews; Borlaug interview with Matt Ridley, 27 Dec 04; VIET1:64–65; Hildahl 2001 (church services); Bickel 1974:28–31; S. Swenumson, 1921, Childhood Memories as Written by Rev. Stener Swenumson. Borlaug Family Genealogical Material, uarc01014-box01-fdr02, NBUM; Fairbarn 1919, 1:243–47, 322, 361, 403–4, 434, 437–38, 449–50; United States Bureau of Commerce 1912–14, 2:588, 2:620. My thanks to Matt Ridley for providing me with his interview notes.

  Borlaug’s family: Hesser 2010:7–11; A. S. Borlaug (2006?), Memoir of Ole and Solveig Borlaug, unpub. ms.; Bickel 1974:25 (“Norm boy”); RFOI:119–23; LHNB; Enumeration District 134, New Oregon, Howard, Illinois, 1920 U.S. Census, entries for Nels and Thomas Borlaug, Annie Natvig; Anon. 1915a (plat map of New Oregon), 1915b (plat map of Utica); “A Double Wedding Yesterday,” Cresco Plain Dealer, 15 Aug 1913; Enumeration District 128, New Oregon, Howard, Illinois, 1910 U.S. Census, entries for Nels, Thomas, John Borlaug, Annie Natvig. My thanks to Rollie Natvig for sending me a copy of the Borlaugs’ wedding picture, Anna Sylvia Borlaug’s memoir, and obituaries.

  Borlaug’s birth: Record of Births, No. 3, Howard County, Iowa, filed 10 Apr 1915. Thanks to Jan Wearda for obtaining this record for me.

  Henry’s home: Author’s visit, Saude. I thank Mark Johnson of the Borlaug Foundation for showing me the home. The foursquare style: Gowans 1986:84–93.

  Isolation of Saude: VIET1:26–28 (“to the world”); Cresco Plain Dealer, 9 Jul 1915 (Nels as subscriber).

  Saude school: Author’s visit, Saude; VIET1:36–40 (“corn grows!” 37; “nearly died,” 40); AOA; Bickel 1974:21–25; RFOI 21–23; U.S. Department of Commerce 1921–23, 3:324 (racial statistics). The Borlaug Foundation has moved the school, New Oregon Township No. 8, from its original location to the Borlaug homestead.

  Work, hoeing thistles, maize harvest: Borlaug interview with Matt Ridley, 27 Dec 04; VIET1: 59–60, 68–69, 74–75, 95 (“horror”). Hoeing Canadian thistles could not be avoided; Iowa banned them as a noxious weed in 1868.

  Vietmeyer biography (footnote): Some original manuscripts available at TAMU/C (e.g., N. Vietmeyer, 2002, “Hunger Fighter,” typescript, Dallas Home Records, Box 6, FF1–3; N. Vietmeyer, 1998, “Hunger Fighter,” Dallas Home Records, Box 10, FF2; [N. Vietmeyer?], 1996, Working Outline, Professional Memoirs, Norman E. Borlaug, typescript, Texas A&M Office Records [1], Box 10, FF33; Memorandum of Understanding, 12 Aug 1996, idem).

  Borlaug and education: Author’s interview, Borlaug, 1998 (perspiration vs. inspiration); Hesser 2010:8; VIET1:35–37; RHOI:122.

  Sina pushes high school: VIET1:79–84; Northwestern University. 1949. Ninety-first Annual Commencement (program), 56 (Sina higher ed); W. Libbey, ed., The Tack (Cresco, IA: Cresco High School, 1926), 14 (Sina graduation).

  Fordson tractor: VIET1:94–98 (“and night,” “from servitude”); Wik 1973 (1972):82–102 (“free man,” 101).

  Cresco: Author’s visit; vintage photographs in author’s possession. Population figures from Iowa State Data Center (iowadatacenter.org).

  Borlaug’s athletic career: Detailed in M. Todd, ed. 1932. The Spartan (Cresco, IA: Cresco High School), 13, 34, 42, 44, 48; G. Baker, ed. 1931. The Spartan (Cresco, IA: Cresco High School), 12 (Bartelma hired), 79; W. Hoopman, ed. 1930. The Spartan (Cresco, IA: Cresco High School), 49. See also Hesser 2010:8; VIET1:35–37, 62 (radio), 86–88; Anonymous 1984:16; Chapman 1981; RFOI:122; LHNB (“my objective”, radio) .

  Bartelma: Author’s visit, Cresco; Borlaug interview with Matt Ridley, 27 Dec 04; LHNB; RFOI:126; Anonymous 1984:2, 15–23; Bickel 1974:44–45 (“to compete”). Teachers College is now the University of Northern Iowa.

  Champlin: G. Hess, ed., The Spartan (Cresco, IA: Cresco High School, 1933), 10, 23; Baker, G., ed. 1931. idem, 80; K. Baker, ed., The Tack (Cresco, IA: Cresco High School, 1928), 15, 38, 52–54, 58–60, 84–85, 89–90. Champlin would work as a marketer at General Mills; he is credited with coining the name Cheerios.

  Borlaug’s departure: LHNB (“State Teachers”); Vietmeyer, N. 1983. Mr. Wheat. unpub. ms., arc01014-box01-fdr11, NBUM; Bickel 1974:49–50; RFOI:125 (“from Friday”); “Many Students Leave Homes in Cresco for Colleges, Universities,” Mason City Globe Gazette, 27 Sept 1933.

  Admissions test: University Calendar, Bulletin of the University of Minnesota 36:3–4 (10 Oct 1933). Because the test was on 24 September, it seems likely that the riot occurred on the weekend of 16–17 September, during the Chicago milk strike.

  Midwest dairy unrest: White 2015, chap. 2; Block 2009, esp. 143–45; Lorence 1988 (Wisconsin fights); Skocpol and Finegold 1982 (New Deal programs); Perkins 1965; Hoglund 1961 (prices, 24–25); Dileva 1954 (Iowa role); Jesness et al. 1936 (milk prices in Minneapolis, Tables 4, 5, 10); Murphy et al. 1935, esp. 12–15; Byers 1934. Also useful: Czaplicki 2007 (rise of pasteurization); United States Department of Agriculture 1933.

  Chicago milk strike: “Appeal to State Police for Guard in Milk Strike,” Brainerd (MN) Daily Dispatch, 15 Sep 1933; “Violence Flares in Illinois Milk Strike,” Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, 16 Sep 1933; United Press International, “Milk Strike Ends in Chicago Area,” Moorhead (WI) Daily News, 19 Sep 1933.

  Minneapolis riot: VIET1:125–34; AOA; Norman Borlaug, interview with Mary Gray Davidson, Common Ground (Program 9732), 12 Aug 1997, commongroundradio.org (“triggered it”); LHNB; Bickel 1974:55–58.

  Initial struggles at Minnesota: Borlaug interview with Matt Ridley, 27 Dec 04; VIET1:123–25, 137–38; LHNB (“liked the outdoors”); RFOI: 128–29; Bickel 1974:58–62.

  Minnesota vs. Wisconsin program: Green 2006; Miller 2003; Miller and Lewis 1999; Chapman 1935:xiii, 10, 14, 69–73; Unive
rsity of Minnesota. 1934. Bulletin 46:112–14 (curriculum); Leopold 1933; Leopold 1991 (1941):181–92. Gifford Pinchot is credited with establishing the first U.S. forestry program, at Yale, in 1900. Cornell set up a program in 1898, but disbanded it in 1903.

  Off-campus jobs: VIET1:138–46 (“was gone,” 145); RFOI: 126–28; LHNB (“little better”).

  Margaret Gibson and family: VIET1:135–36, 144; L. D. Wilson, 2009, “Medford,” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, available at www.okhistory.org; Bickel 1974:53–54; “Four All-American Gridders Playing with Red Jackets,” Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisc.), 24 Oct 1930; “George Gibson Is Elected Captain of Gopher Eleven,” Brainerd (MN) Daily Dispatch, 8 Dec 1927; Enumeration District 68, Fayette Township, Seneca, NY, 1910 U.S. Census, entry for Thomas R. Gibson; Archives of Ontario, Registrations of Marriages, RG 80-5-0-317, MS-932 (1903), No. 20331; Enumeration District 90, Town of Romulus, Seneca, NY, 1900 U.S. Census, entry for Robert Gibson; Enumeration District 162, Romulus, Seneca, NY, 1880 U.S. Census, entry for Robert Gibson; Town of Romulus, Seneca, NY, 1870 U.S. Census, entry for Robert Gibson.

  Marriage, loss of job: VIET1:200–02; Hesser 2010:23–25; Bickel 1974:82–83; Hennepin County (Minn.), Marriage License and Certificate, Norman E. Borlaug to Margaret G. Gibson, No. 200-277, recorded 6 Nov 1937.

  “Dr. Stakman”: RFOI: 131 (last sentence rearranged for clarity).

  Stakman: Borlaug interview with Matt Ridley, 27 Dec 04 (attending lecture); Dworkin 2009:19–22; Perkins 1997:89–91; Christensen 1992; Stakman oral history interview with Pauline Madow, 29 May–6 June 1970, RG 13, Oral Histories, Boxes 9–11, RFA; Stakman 1937:117 (“essential branches”).

  Rust history: Kislev 1982; Carefoot and Sprott 1969 (1967):41–47; Theophrastus 1916: 2:201–3. Several rust species exist and rust can also strike oats, barley, and rye, but because stem rust and wheat are the most economically important I concentrate on them.

  Stem-rust spores: Anikster et al. 2005:480 (size); Carefoot and Sprott 1969 (1967):39 (“the universe”); Stakman 1957:261 (50 trillion).

  Stem-rust life-cycle: Leonard and Szabo 2005; Roelfs et al. 1992 (jam, 92); Petersen 1974.

  1916 epidemic: Campbell and Long 2001:19; U.S. Senate 1922:11–12.

  Barberry eradication: Dworkin 2009:19–22; Dubin and Brennan 2009; Campbell and Long 2001 (“pro-German,” “alien,” 26–27; “rustbuster” 29); Leonard 2001; Perkins 1997:89–92; Roelfs 1982; Large 1946 (1940):366–70; E. C. Stakman, 1935 “A Review of the Aims, Accomplishments and Objectives of the Barberry Eradication Program,” Cereal Rust Laboratory Records, typescript, uarc00037-box15-fdr31, University of Minnesota Archives; Stakman and Fletcher 1930 (1927); Stakman 1923 (1919) (“outlaw,” “it is,” 3–4); Beeson 1923 (“menace,” 2); “News of the Nursery Trade,” Florists’ Review, 27 Jun 1918.

  Thatcher: Kolmer et al. 2011; Hayes et al. 1936.

  Wallace visits Mexico, advocates for assistance: Olsson 2013:202–14; Cullather 2010:54–59; Culver and Hyde 2001, esp. 246–51; W. C. Cobb, 1956, “The Historical Backgrounds of the Mexican Agricultural Program,” typescript, RG 1.2, Ser. 323, Box 9, Folder 62, RFA, esp. II-1–3, 11; Crabb 1947: chaps. 7, 10; Wallace 1941; Alexander 1940 (diets).

  Foundation beginning: Chernow 2004 (1998): 550–83; Farley 2004; Fosdick 1988.

  Foundation’s leeriness, Wallace presses, General Education Board: Olsson 2013:64–71, 182–200; Harwood 2009:387–88; W. C. Cobb, 1956, “The Historical Backgrounds of the Mexican Agricultural Program,” typescript, RG 1.2, Ser. 323, Box 9, Folder 62, RFA (“could be done”); General Education Board 1916 (1915). Additionally contributing to the foundation’s leeriness was that the GEB had been attacked as a Rockefeller plot, and barred by Congress from working with the government. The GEB, founded in 1902, preceded the foundation.

  Sauer and Mexican maize: Letter, Carl Sauer to Joseph Willits, 5(?) Feb 1941, RG 1.2, Ser. 323, Box 10, Folder 63, RFA (all quotes). I have put his argument in contemporary terms. For a fuller description of maize’s cultural diversity, see Mann 2004 and references therein.

  Stakman and Mexican rust: Dworkin 2009:22–24 (Stakman Mexico visits); Stakman et al. 1940 (Mexico as rust reservoir).

  Maize, population figures: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática 2015, Cuadro 9.27 (maize); Mendoza García and Tapia Colocia 2010, Chart 1 (pop.); Cotter 1994:235–38 (maize imports); Wylie 1941, Table 1 (maize from U.S.). For 1920 maize figures, see the discussion in the 2000 version of the INEGI report. See also Myren 1969:439–40.

  Bradfield, Mangelsdorf, and Stakman report: Survey Commission. 1941. Agricultural Conditions and Problems in Mexico: Report of the Survey Commission of The Rockefeller Foundation. RG 1.1, Ser. 323, Box 1, Folder 2, RFA (“judicious advice,” 14); idem. 1941. Summary of Recommendations. RG 1.2, Ser. 323, Box 10, Folder 63; idem. 1941. Rockefeller Foundation’s Survey of Agriculture in Mexico. RG 1.1, Ser. 323, Box 11, Folder 70 (“pitifully low”).

  Ecological consequences of land reform: González 2006; Dwyer 2002 (U.S. anger); Sonnenfeld 1992: esp. 31–32; Esteva 1983:266; Yates 1981:48 (2.5 million acres); Venezian and Gamble 1969:54–62 (50 million acres). Further pushing environmental degradation, many ejidos could not obtain credit to buy fertilizer, irrigation equipment, or better farm tools, because the new National Bank of Ejidal Credit was undercapitalized (Olsson 2013:332–33).

  Harrar: McKelvey 1987.

  Mexican Agricultural Program begins: Waterhouse 2013:18–29, 98–109; Olsson 2013:215–32; Harwood 2009:392–93; Perkins 1997:106–15; Fitzgerald 1986:459–64; Baum 1986:5–7; Hewitt de Alcántara 1978:33–37; Anon., 1978, “Chronology of the Development of CIMMYT,” uarc01014-box33-fdr34, NBUM; W. C. Cobb, 1956, “The Historical Backgrounds of the Mexican Agricultural Program,” RG 1.2, Ser. 323, Box 9, Folder 62, RFA, esp. II-3–11; F. B. Hanson, diary, 4 March, 10–11 Jul, 10–12 Aug 1942, RG 12, F-L, Box 194, Reel M, Han 3, Frame 585, RFA (Stakman and Harrar appointments); letter, R. Fosdick to J. A. Ferrell, et. al., 31 Oct 1941, RG 1.1, Series 323, Box 11, Folder 72, RFA; Ferrell, J. A. 1941. Memorandum, Vice President Wallace, RBF and JAF, Regarding Mexico, Its Problems and Remedies, 3 Feb. RG 1.1, Ser. 323, Box 1, Folder 2, RFA; Letter, H. A. Wallace to R. E. Fosdick, 13 May 1941, RG 1.1, Ser. 323, Box 12, Folder 79, RFA. Wallace’s intervention was decisive; Rockefeller president Raymond Fosdick quoted his views almost word for word in staff meetings (minutes from staff conference, 18 Feb 1941, RG 1.2, Ser. 323, Box 10, Folder 63, RFA). Stakman’s War Emergency Committee work is detailed in Box 13, Folders 1, 3–8, 11, 20–22, Stakman papers, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

  U.S.-Mexico relations: Dwyer 2002; Schuler 1998:155–98.

  Maize as focus: Olsson 2013:239–40, 255–73, 279–81; Harwood 2009:391–92; Matchett 2006:360–62; Secretaria de Agricultura 1946:93; Survey Commission. 1941. Agricultural Conditions and Problems in Mexico: Report of the Survey Commission of The Rockefeller Foundation. RG 1.1, Ser. 323, Box 1, Folder 2, RFA (focus on maize); Summary of the Survey Commission’s report, 4 Dec 1941, RG 1.1, Ser. 323, Box 11, Folder 70, RFA. The deemphasis on wheat, compared to later writings, is reflected in the foundation’s annual reports (e.g., Rockefeller Foundation 1946:160–62; 1945:21–24, 167–69; 1944:170–71).

  Multiple goals of Rockefeller program: Lance Thurner, pers. comm.; Waterhouse 2013:98–99; Singh et al. 1994:19–20 (Stakman focus on stem rust); E. J. Wellhausen oral history interview with William C. Cobb, 28 Jun–19 Oct 1966, RG 13, Oral Histories, Box 25, Folders 1–2, RFA; Advisory Committee for Agricultural Activities. 1951 (21 Jun). The World Food Problem, Agriculture, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Typescript, RG 3, Ser. 915, Box 3, Folder 23 (“deliver more”).

  Failure of maize program: Olsson 2013:299–310; Harwood 2009:398–400; Matchett 2006 (“parties involved,” 365); Fitzgerald 1986:465–67; Aboites et al. 1999 (Mexican researchers’ beliefs); Cotter 1994 (demand for science); Myren 1969; E. J. Wellhausen, oral history interview with William C. Cobb, 28 Jun–19 Oct 1966, RG 13,
Oral Histories, Box 25, Folders 1–2, RFA (political utility of hybrid maize); Stakman, E. C. 1948. Report of Mexican Trip with Confidential Supplement Regarding Mexican Agricultural Program. RG 1.2, Series 323, Box 10, Folder 60, RFA (foundation frustration with Mexican officials).

  Borlaug and Stakman: VIET1:216–33 (eye damage, 218; “fire and light,” 233); Bickel 1974:86–89 (“my boy” 88); Borlaug 1941.

  Borlaug’s coursework, thesis: Borlaug 1945; Transcript File No. 103665 (Dest. 239359), University of Minnesota Registrar’s office. I am grateful to Barb Yungers for sending me Borlaug’s academic records.

  DuPont job, arrival in Delaware: VIET1: 235–36; Bickel 1974:89–91.

  Borlaug and DDT (footnote): Russell, pers. comm.; Russell 2001:86, 124–48; Kinkela 2011: chap. 1; Perkins 1978; Borlaug 1972; Borlaug. 1973? DDT and Common Sense. Typescript, TAMU/C 002/003[1]009; Knipling 1945. DDT was developed in the 1930s, after a Geigy researcher accidentally discovered its properties. (The researcher, Paul Hermann Müller, received a Nobel Prize in 1948.) Geigy tried to market DDT in the U.S., only to have its U.S. subsidiary decide in early 1941 that it couldn’t compete against existing insecticides like pyrethrum. Pyrethrum was extracted from chrysanthemum blossoms grown in Asia. When Japanese conquests cut off the Asian chrysanthemum supply, the U.S. military, which feared the loss of troops to insect-borne diseases, directed Agriculture Department researchers to look for a substitute. In November 1942 Geigy sent over samples of DDT, which the government tested, obtaining favorable results. DuPont refused to make DDT unless Geigy gave up its patent rights; strong-armed, the Swiss company caved in; DuPont made a lot of money.

  Borlaug takes on Mexico: VIET1:251–55, 2:23; Bickel 1974:91–92, 96–100; RFOI 138–39; Harrar travel diary, 17 Feb 1942, RG 1.2, Ser.464, Box 1, FF3, RFA; Diary, F. B. Hanson, 7 Apr 1942, RG 1.1, Ser. 205, Box 12, FF179, RFA.

  Initial MAP staff: Rockefeller Foundation 1944:170–71; Harrar diary, 25 Feb 1944, RG 12.2, Ser. 1.1, Box 18, FF 45, RFA (Colwell); Letter, C. Sauer to J. Willits, 23 Aug 1943, RG 1.1, Ser. 323, Box 1, FF 6, RFA (Wellhauser).