New-York tribune., 1919-12-07
Amazon Valley to
\ lave Trade Boom.
/ American Declares
H5 S. Fle,> hing Makes Long
Trip ann Finds Great
Opening for Capital;
Natural Resources Large


PARA. Mouth of Amazon. River, Oct
20 h(By The Associated ~Pl cssl. Bust
mess conditions in the Am szon Valley
Zare beginning to recover FIR ON the dis
U+urbance of commerce caussed by the
WAR. Rubber estate owners and busi-
eness men generally realize that the
<competition of Oriental "p lantation"
Rubber, which has forced TIL e market
priceo ( that article down to about the
Hactual cost of gathering "wild'' Amazon
rubber. is really blessing in disguise.
+ Ssince it IS bringing about che develop
ment of the other natural resources
&Ieft untouched so long as rubber mo-
4nopolized all attention in the valley.
I 4Foodstuffs that used to BIZ imported
from abroad or from other parts OF
Brazil are now being raised locally.
A party headed by Henry s. Fleming,
of New York. which has bee lnvestl-
B eating the commercial possib tlitles OF
4 the Amazon Valley, has returne to this
city after a two months tour OF the
Amazon and some of it's princip; VI afttu-
ents, nearly 5000 miles of rivers' being
3 covered in the course of the tr1rl Mr-
Fleming is receiver of an Am erican
company with extensive docking. ship
yard and navigation property at ara
+; Long Trip Is Made
The main river was ascended for
over 900 miles. as far as Iq,litos,
1 Peru, and also the Javary. Purus,. Ne
4 gro, Xlngu, Moiu. Tocantiins and other
4 rivers, for varying distances. A vast
4 amount of valuable information and
1 data has been gathered as result,
which is being placed free of charge at
the disposal of American manufactur-
ers, importers exporters and others in
4 l. o1oYt Of
Amazon Valley Many inquiries have
recently been made by Americans seek
ing information regarding lands avail
l able for cattle raising, grain growing
and minerals. which indicates an awak-
ening interest in the United States IN
regard to the Amazon country.
According to Mr.. Fleming, the most
encouraging sign noted on the Trip
| was the Increase in the production
of foodstutfs Of all kinds Mandioca
| corn sufar-cane, rice, beans, bananas,
| melons fruits Of many species, and oc-
| casionelly tobacco and cotton, have
| been painted in small patches along the
| river banks near the towns and settle
ments Before the war practically all
foodstuffs had to be imported as the
wages paid rubber gatherers was so
high as to make labor unavailable for
AGRICULTURAL work Most Of this plant
ing is done on the Iow-1ying banks of
rivers, and at least two crops OF corn,
beans. mandioca, etc, are gathered
between floods.
New Trees Being Planted
One OF the staple products most ef-
fected by the rubber boom was cacao
When labor was attracted by. the lure
of high wages, most of the cacao
plantations had to be abandoned; TO-
day they are being cleaned and re
stored and new trees are being planVeo'
Local cotton men are optimistic as
to the future of the Amazon cotton,
which is said to be of excellent quail
ity and long staple.> There are la rye,
immense areas of the Amazon Valley
suitable for cotton growing, and IN
many places. notably Iquitos (Peruy,
Santarem, Monte Allegro, this is now
being produced in increasing guam
titles. Last year was the first that any
concerted effort was made to gro"
cotton, but the idea seems to have
taken on with many land owners.
The Amazon Valley is said to be the
greatest undeveloped region in the
world to-day, on every side there are
natural resources of immense value,
with commercial possibilities, which
are as yet untouched The soil is said
to be extraordinarily fertile. The
forests offer woods in inevhaustible
of rare value. OF vegetable oil nuts. q
tenth part only is known to the outside
wolrd. Resins, gums, spices, medi~
cinal plants, fbres abound, i'll infinite
variety. Kapok grows along the banks
of most of main rivers, but not pound
of it is exported to the United States,
although America imported 100000
pounds last year from far away Java.
There are mineralized areas said to
contain coal, iron, gold, silver and
precious metals of many kinds. They
have not yet been prOspected.
American Trade Sought
Many merchants up river, with whom
The Associated Press CORES spondent
spoke, in Iquitos, Manaos, Fonte Boa,
ltacoatiara, Obidos, Santarem and
Monte Allegro look for close business
relations with the United States. They
point out that foreign financial and
technical assistance and machinery are
necessary to help develop the immense
resources of the valley, and they be-
lieve they are more likely to receive
help from the United tSates than from
any other of the great powers. There
is strongly pro-American feeling in
Brazil
The principal stores in the towns of
Ohidos and Santarem, for instance, are
displaying highly colored posters de-
picting Uncle Sam arrayed in stars and
stripes smoking q certain cigarette of
native manufacture, countented smile
on his genial face. In another store
a shoe made in Brazil had the Ameri
can flag as a trade mark The use of
our flag in such manner would, of