Evening star., 1953-12-13

prO0uctlC1 Lilfougn the LABOR OF eX-
perienced foreign farmers, Venezuela
hopes also to resettle some of her
city dwellers on the rich black soil
Of the hinterlands.
'Formettes' for City Folk
Side by side with standard size
tracts. the Turen authorities have
established smaller training grounds
for non-farmers. These nricropGrcelds
roughly translatable as ''farmette"
are each about IL acres in extent.
They are almost exclusively for
Venezuelans. Only 4 nticroparcelero
out of 2O1 are aliens. compared with
300 foreigners out of 381 farmers
workings full-size plots.
The idea behind the microp1rcelG
is that so or 100 acres is too big a
bite for greenhorn to chew. To
help him get started on the small
plot. government agricultural ex-
perts teach him the elements of
farming and conservation. After a
couple Of years, the nicrOp1rcelero
can trade in his little farm on
bigger one and go into business on
a normal scale.
Fruits and Gorden Truck
AS Turen expands, the emphasis
will be taken off bulk crops, and
il is expected that some farmers will
turn to truck gardening. The rich.
black soil, 20 to go inches deep in
most places and averaging a meter
(40 inches) in thickness, looks as II
i. should support garden truck beau
tifully. Some wives, however-like
the American-born Mrs. Boring
have experimental with such farm
yard crops as radiShes and have
found their growth too rank to suit
city-dwellers tastes. Agricultural
scientists at Turen and Caracas say
this may be due to the fact that
North American seeds will not neces-
sarily do well in South American
soils and climates. Native-developed
seed strains may be the answer.
At Turen, the National Agricul-
tural Institute operates an expert
ment station. something like the
one at Beltsville, Md, but on
smaller scale. Current experiments
there give o clue to the direction
farming in the Turen area can be
expected to take. Several strains
of oranges, for example, are being
tried out there. Lemons, grape
fruit, guavas, avocados, melons and
other fruit crops also are receiving
attention.
The orange which is nearest to
Standardization now is a mutation
of the California navel which does
not rely on well-defined hot and
cold seasons for maturity. While
about as juicy as a California naval
orange, the Turen variety is not so
sweet.
A Better Bonono
Perhaps the best success with
fruit at Turen has been experienced
with the apple and a
small, gourdlike melon with sweet
meat and good shipping durability.
The, apple-banana, so-called be-
cause it has distinct apple flavor,
is shorter and thicker than the va
riety known in the United States.
It's length and circumference are
each about six inches. Picked
green, it undoubtedly would ship
long distances as readily as the
Central American fruit. 1t might be
the answer to the difficulties facing
the United Fruit Company in Qua
temala.
But, though Venezuela may some
day become an exporter of food
stuffs, it will never allow foreign
grower to come in and take over,
as United Fruit did in Guatemala.
It's mineral exploitation laws make
this much clear. In addition, the
agricultural administration keeps
close tab on the transfer Of lands
all purchases and sales Of land at
Turen must be made from or to the
agricultural authorities. At pres
ent, the practical limit of acreage
that any one family may hold
is about 300-roughly half square
mile.
And while a man can get rich on
800 acres of land, he can never get
so rich as to turn the Venezuelan
clock back to the situation that
caused her liberator, Simon Bolivar,
to lead a revolt against the Spanish
landowner government.