TULSA - I love a good cornfield. I'm Missouri-raised, and the Show-Me State grows a good deal of the stuff. I also cut my journalist's teeth in Springfield, Ill., amid the tall cornfields (and rambunctious politics) of central Illinois. There, I even grew some stalks in my backyard.
I also am a fan of the film "Field of Dreams" and Stephen King's book, "The Starnd." Both use cornfields as metaphorical landscapes for life's bigger questions.
So when Maggie Bonanomi, author of her latest Kansas City Star book Nature’s Offerings stopped in the other day to drop off her book's projects to display at Fall Market this week, I showed more than the usual interest.
Sygenta Quilt signThat's because Maggie - who lives a rural existence outside Lexington, Mo. - handed me a photograph she took showing one of those metal signs on green posts staked between highway and cornfield identifying what kind of seed or pesticide was used on that patch of ground.
"Syngenta Quilt," the sign said.
Syngenta, if you don’t know, is a Swiss agriculture-chemical company.
Huh? What does a cornfield and "Syngenta Quilt" have to do with each other?
Of course, there's a long connection between farming and quilts. That's certainly true for us at Kansas City Star Quilts. Many of you know the history … that many farmers' wives throughout the Midwest would send in their favorite patterns to have them published in The Star and our old Weekly Star Farmer.
But this seemed a stretch.
In fact, Syngenta not only has embraced the "Quilt" name as a brand for one of its chemical concoctions, it's even had it trademarked! It owns the name.
Even more interesting is that Syngenta Quilt is a fungicide. Not some new-fangled corn seed capable of growing 20-foot tall stalks – something more worthy of quilting's love of the garden.
No, Quilt's task is more base than that. A fungicide prevents the growth of plant-destroying fungi. In this case, it's a combination of two Syngenta fungicides – Quadris and Tilt.
Get it? "Qu…ilt." That's it … that's how Syngenta arrived at Quilt.
Based on Syngenta's product description, this is powerful stuff: "Quilt offers two modes of action for unparalleled protectant, curative and eradicant activity against many troublesome diseases."
(Do farmers really talk like that these days? "Hi, dear. I've been on the Back 40 spreading dual-mode protectant, curative and eradicant. What's for supper?")
Now, I don't quarrel with the need for fungicides, though I – like many consumers – wonder sometimes about the safety of the many and varied chemicals used on fields in the name of higher yields.
But that's a topic for another day. The fact here is that Syngenta's Quilt has absolutely nothing to do with quilting. Sure, a clever ad man might attempt a connection.
"Apply Quilt on your fields today – just like you spread grandma's quilt at night. You'll sleep better because of it!"
Okay, a Mad Man I'm not.
But Syngenta hasn't taken that step in its promotion. So the product name is a mere contrivance.
So what do you quilters think? Are you ready to yield the "Quilt" name to Syngenta? True, there's probably not much to do about it. But still …
Me? I'm going to find virtue in the corn … one ear at a time. And try hard not to think about fungicides.
By the way, I'm on the road to Houston, en route to Fall Market. I saw many a cornfield on the highway yesterday before stopping last night at daughter Meghan's place in Tulsa. We visited this cool organic Mexican restaurant downtown. Good!
We ate corn chips.
Doug Weaver is the publisher of Kansas City Star Quilts.
