The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1940-11-01

$500, 900 to finance the agriculture
department in sending rubber spe-
cialists to the South American re-
public to encourage gum tree plant
ing and the collection Of the much
desired goo that they exude when
tapped, just as maple trees leak
sap here at home.
AS a matter of fact, rubber trees
grow wild up the Amazon, but the
cultivated ones are more produc-
tive.
The departments representatives
already are on their way. How.
ever, the mission is extremely be-
lated. 1t also will take lot more
than 100000 to make a success
OF the enterprise.
Henry Ford had the inspiration
away ahead of congress and the
agriculture department. It's been
known for good many years that
the upper Amazon region is a rub
Der country. Long before the last
World war attempts were made to
exploit 1t as such. In those days,
though, there wasn't the demand
for rubber that exists at present.
Furthermore the gum has to be
brought down the Amazon and
there weren't the river boats to at
tend to the Job. Consequently the
early prospectors ultimately gave
up in despair.
Ford Pioneers
Il was a short while after the
1e14-1s conflict when Henry Ford's
representatives arrived on the
scene. On my way up the coast
from Buenos Aires l stopped at
the Brazilian port Of Para or Be-
lem Otis known by two names),
at the Amazon's mouth, and met
several Of them there. They were
going upstream soon. to stake out
a plantation according to the terms
OF a concession Henry had obtained
from the government at Rio de
Janeiro.
It's slow work chewing out a
plantation in that equatorial jungle
and it took Henry quite an inter-
val to get his tame rubber trees
a-growing. understand it will
be a couple OF years yet before
they'll be oozing gum satisfactor-
lily. But they say he has 5000. 900
trees.
Anyway. Ford has some fore
thought. He's miles ahead OF con-
gress and the agriculture depart
ment.
The other day the Metals Re-
serve corporation Ia subsidiary OF
the RFC) closed a deal to get a
large part of Bolivia's tin ore for
the United States. tin ore being
another commodity that we require
but can't produce domestically.
Tin, of course. doesn't have to
be cultivated, like tame rubber
trees. 1t simply has to be dug up
and that doesn't take as long a
time as 1t takes trees to grow. The
only drawback TO the tin decker is
that we haven't the smelters to
treat the raw ore. Heretofore
England has taken most OF b.
livia 5 tin ore. the English have
smelted it and we've bought the
smelted product from them. It
seems ridiculous that we haven't
provided our own smelling facii.
ties. enabling US to take the ore di.
rect It's the case. nevertheless.
It's queer that Henry Ford didn't
think of tin at the same time he
thought Of rubber. But he didn't,
though I'd. imagine he'd need tin
in his business. too.
All-Water Route
One item in rubbers favor Is
that the gum can be brought right
out Of the jungle to the edge OF
the Amazon. hoated down to the
Atlantic and brought up the coast
by water to the United States
liquid transportation all the way.
Bolivia, on the other hand. has
to ship its tin ore overland to tide
water. via Peru. Chile. or the al
most impossible distance across
Brazil, for Bolivia's as inland a
country as Switzerland. And over
land transportation pretty priml.