Evening star., 1925-02-24
RUSSIA IN GREAT
NEED0F TRACTORS
Russian Bear Now Striving
Hard to Climb Back Into
World Wheat Pit.
BY j. C. ROYLE.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

NEW YORK, February 24.-The
Russian bear is striving with might
and main to climb back into the
world wheat pit. According to the
research department of the National
Association of Farm Equipment Man
ufacturers, the Soviet government is
attempting to bring this about by
teaching the red army to farm with
American tractors
Russia formerly was the greatest
grain exporting country in the world.
In 1910 she exported 222, 1872, 900 bush
els of wheat and increased this to
223,776,090 bushels in 1911. In addi-
ton, she formerly turned out annu-
| ally about S00,000,000 bushels of rye
and shipped more than half OF IL.
Russia has soil suitable for wheat
growing, and farmers who under
stand wheat production. II she can
get tractorlzed machinery and men
| to teach practical farm engineering,
| she will Immediately pull back into
| the permanent exporting grain class.
Credit Is Stumbling Block.
| About all that is standing in the
| way of such accomplishment, ma
chinery manufacturers say, is lack of
| credit.
Give the Soviet government suf-
hclent credit to finance her tractor
iHSu machinery pldnS, prominent
official of one of the largest farm
machinery manufacturing companies,
who has just returned from Russia,
said today, "and she could take the
entire output of every American
tractor factory for a year" He esti-
mates that such a demand would in
volve between 100000 and 5000
farm tractors. and in the hands of
operators who knew both wheat
n nd
| put upward of 150,000,000 acres in
grain and bring Russia back to pre-
war production.
c. o. ID. Methods Used.
AS far as the United States man.
ufacturers are concerned" said an Of
fetal of the research department.
export business with Soviet Russia
Is strictly on C. o. D., New York
basis. Losses in Russia to American
equipment manufacturers since 1914
are roughly put at 100000
The vice president of one great
company making threshing machines
declares that $2000,000 of his COM
panyS funds shriveled up when
paper rubles lost their value.
bale OF these rubles formerly worth
S2,OOOOOO, now lies in a dusty bundle
! in a New York warehouse In plants.
warehouses and machinery, one great
| hrm is said to have marked some
S2O,OOO,OO off it's books as a result of
developments in Russia Another
concern missed 100000 in cash which
was on deposit in Moscow bank
when the Lenin regime came in.
Consequently American manufactur-
| ers are watching Russia closely and
waiting for return to sanity before
| extending credit.
Modern Farming Necessary.
| Russia simply must have tractors
| when she starts in producing grain
| again, for her horses are long since
/ dead of starvation, disease or old age
| or have been eaten by their former
| owners. When she equips her farms
! with tractors working in farming
units, as she has started to do
! through the Friends of Soviet Russia
| organization units, she will jump to
/ a modern farming system at a single
| bound, and the effect will be felt in
every wheat market of the world"
The Friends of Soviet Russia units
were organized in 1921, by former
| Russians who had come to America
| and had learned American farm
methods. They returned to Russia
with modern equipment such as trac-
| tors, plows, tillage tools and grain
| drills and quickly gained the support
! of the Soviet officials by demonstrat-
| ing the efficiency of American farm
| equipment in breaking up large
| estates and seeding them to wheat.
Want Tractors for Tanks.
The high army officials saw in the
| work of these units the possibility of
| teaching the army engineer tractor
| handling for both farm and war pur-
poses. The largest type of tractors.
| they saw, could be used for peaceful
wheat production twice a year and
| then could again don their armor
| and become army tanks. The officials
| declare the army can be made self
| feeding by having the men raise
| wheat and potatoes for a couple of
months at a time and utilize the
| remainder of the year for military
| duties and training.
As one competent tractor engineer
| can do the work of twenty or more
| hand workers under the old peasant
| system of farming in Russia, the
saving of man power has a tremen-
| dous appeal to the Soviet leaders.