Skip to main content
Go back

Jack Dichson’s Corn Field

Black and white photograph of a corn field. A man and his bicycle are on the road beside the field.

Image courtesy of The Agassiz-Harrison Historical Society.

Jack Dichson checking on the growth progress of his corn, 1950s. Research over the past century has helped to develop different varieties of corn that are used for different purposes. Scientists and farmers have continued the work that began over 8,000 years ago when corn was developed by indigenous peoples of Central America through the artificial selection of an annual grass known as teosinte. The seeds from the plants that produced the largest cobs, and likely the sweetest flavour, were collected and planted.