The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-03-28

upper berth with him, as a COM
promise.
Going around South Africa, the
ship was wrecked. Somehow Dr..
Dykstra hung onto his baggage, and
it was rescued with him. Thereafter
DR.. DykStra and the potatoes and
the corn were flown across Africa,
across the Middle East, across India
and over the hump to China.
BY the time the potatoes and corn
got to Chungking, they were prob
ably the most expensive potatoes
and corn in the whole world.
ALL GRAND CHAMPION SPUDS
The 1855 popnds of potatoes repre-
sented the grand champion potatoes
Of 81 different varieties raised in the
United States, and the 20 pounds OF
corn were the best hybrid seed corn
that had been grown in the middle
west that year. DR.. Dykstra, who
was a U. S. Department of Agri-
culture specialist at the Beltsville,
Md, experiment station, had taken
this seed stock to China at the re-
quest of the Chinese government to
the United States government for
the loan of an expert who could
give them advice on how to increase
their food supply.
DR.. Dykstra had brought his best
advice with him and he planted his
advice. He harvested two crops,
watching them carefully, noting
how each variety grew, which re-
sisted disease best, which thrived
and gave the greatest yield. Then
he cabled the United States for 100
pounds of four varieties of seed
He'll plant them this spring.
1t may take so or 100 years be-
fore the end or this story can be
written, when the seed has multi
piled by the Nth degree and an eff
fective famine relief crop is avail
able for China's 400 million people.
But the story is begun now as the
perfect example of how for very lit
tie money the relationships between
China and the United States can be
improved through an extension OF
what is now called the good-neigh-
Dor policy, to other than Latin
American countries.
Financed by grants totaling ST.
384,0 from the Presidents emer-
gency funds, this good neighbor aid
to China has been extended ever
since the United States was forced
into the war. Pearl Harbor stranded
some 1900 Chinese students in this
country. Chinese government con-
tributions aided 200 U. S. govern
ment money aided 300 more. These
students will be the seed" who will
take back to China the ideas from
which she has been cut off for the
last five years.
SENT 80 TECHNICAL EXPERTS
That was more or less of a be-
ginning. Six professors of Chinese
universities have been brought to
the United States to spend year
in this country writing books, study
ing U. S. postwar planning and
similar subjects. They will be sue
ceeded by six others, this June.
But China has wanted technical
assistance and has asked for 80 ex-
perts. So far, 81 have been sent -
seven agricultural experts, a long
distance telephone engineer, three
professors of engineering, two serum
and vaccine manufacturers, a steel
producer, machine shop expert,
two managers of small town indus
trial co-ops to aid China's 1000 vii
lage industries, four information
specialists to teach factual report.
ing.
Among the agricultural men there
have been veterinarian, a range
forage man and a stock breeder, to
improve the strain and performance
OF packanimals, including $4,000
camelS on the Chinese-Turkestan
trade route to Central Asia.
1t all comes under the heading of
improving cultural relations by APP
plying the good neighbor policy to
the rest of the world,