Osage tree plaque texts

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N.099: Plaque "A" is puzzle Plaque 1
Corn has been cultivated in Ohio for approximately 1800 years It was
known to the prehistoric Native American [Hopewell] peoples AD 100
500 and was grown in large quantities by the later Fort Ancient Indians
AD 10001550 Prehistoric and historic Native Americans combined
plantings of corn beans squash and gourds in their [fields] and small
garden plots Two important varieties of corn were Northern flint corn
which had 16 to 20 rows of [round] kernels on long thin cobs and Southern
gourdseed corn which had short [stubby] ears with up to 32 rows of
kernels By the mid1700s Native Americans in Ohio grew great quantities
of corn often in larger fields Particularly along the Scioto and Miami
River Valleys it was not uncommon to see thousands of acres of cornfields
The Wyandot Indians who are known to have camped on the Indian Run
just north of Dublin village were prominent among the historic Native
Americans cultivators of corn

N.096: Plaque "B" is puzzle Plaque 2
Farming was central to the economy [of] this region from the time of
the first European settlers in the late 1700s Early settlers cleared land
on which to live and farm and corn was their most important crop
They grew corn in much the same way Native Americans had for centuries
Most corn was consumed by the farm families and their livestock but
some surplus corn was sold to distilleries which were established throughout
Ohio by the early 1800s As the population grew so did the amount of
corn raised and by 1850 Ohio led the country in corn production Franklin
County was among the top corn producing regions in the state for many
decades and the family farms that surrounded the mercantile village
of Dublin contributed to this productivity As recently as 1965 Frantz
[Rings] Sawmill Case Brandt Tuttle Avery and Post roads were all
flanked by cornfields In the 1990s Ohio still ranks as one of the nations
largest producers of corn

N.093: Plaque "C" is puzzle Plaque 3
The Osage orange trees on this site are remnants of a tree row typical
of those which once extended for miles along the edge of farm fields
in [Dublin] The Osage orange or Maclura pomifera is a member of the
Mulberry family and it is native to midwestern North America Its
common name refers to the Osage [Indians] of Arkansas and Missouri
who used the dense orange wood to make bows and tomahawks Early
farmers often planted the Osage orange as fencing along fields and property
lines because its irregular thorny branches quickly grew to form a secure
boundary These hedge rows also provided refuge for birds and small
animals The fruit of the Osage orange is the size of a [softba] and
chartreuse green in color with a bumpy surface texture like brains It
is widely known as a natural repellent for roaches spiders and other
insects

N.087: Plaque "D" is puzzle Plaque 4
Hybridization revolutionized the production of corn in North America and worldwide
in the 20th century Crosspollination two distinct varieties of corn or other plants
can result in hybrids that are stronger and more resistant to drought and disease
and that produce higher yields than either parent variety Native Americans and
early settlers had experimented with many ways to improve corn but the first commercial
hybrid corn was not produced until 1918 The breakthrough came when American
agricultural researchers crossed the offspring of two hybrid strains to create a double
cross hybrid They learned to control pollination by placing paper bags on corn
ears and tassels removing them only to pollinate the plants by hand Like most
corn grown in the 1990s the variety depicted here is a doublecross hybrid called
Corn Belt dent corn which has between 14 and 22 rows of yellow kernels and a
small dimple or dent on the end of the kernels The basic parents of dent corn
are Northern flint corn and Southern gourdseed corn Sam Frantz who farmed this
site from 1985 to 1963 was well known for his development of hybrid corn seeds
He worked with The Ohio State University of corn hybridization projects and served
on the United States Department of Agriculture Seed Advisory Committee

N.082: Plaque "E" is puzzle Plaque 5
Construction and development have transformed Dublin and its environs
over the past three decades Into the 1960s much of the land around Dublin
was agricultural Sam and Eulalia Frantz moved to this site in 1935 and
lived there until 1963 Sam [farmed] the land and Eulalia was always working
with him Both were from families that had been early settlers in the area
The Frantz family came to Dublin in 1828 and Eulalia Billingsley was
from a long [line] [of] farmers in Washington Township The Frantz farm was
sold in 1968 Only a few years later in the mid1970s three major projects
marked a turning point in the history of land use in Dublin The completion
of the northwest link in the I270 outerbelt and the development of Muirfield
Village and the Ashland Chemical Research Center set the stage for Dublins
metamorphosis from a farm village to a suburban residential community
and corporate office center