Corporations: Green, Yellow & Gold

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Texas Gala. The mainstay of Deere's business is still the tractor, which accounts for 40% of sales. Three years ago, feeling that the modern farmer needed something better than the two-cylinder "poppin' Johnny" tractors it had been making for 37 years. Deere closed down its plants for six months and retooled for a completely new line of four-and six-cylinder tractors. Forgetting its usual conservatism, the company introduced the new line at a Texas gala that featured a diamond-studded tractor in a NeimanMarcus window adorned by a model in spangled coveralls. The tractors even have a posture seat designed by Dr. Janet Travell, President Kennedy's back expert. President Hewitt's life down on the farm (on the banks of the Rock River) is not exactly typical of his customers' way of life. He and his wife raise 130 Arabian horses, love to ride and sail, get away to Europe for at least two months almost every year. A trim and distinguished-looking man who likes expensive suits and first-class living, Hewitt collects art and is hipped on architecture. The company's new headquarters, designed by the late architect Eero Saarinen, is a striking seven-story steel-and-glass building set on a lake—gouged out by tractors.