!!. J. Congress, Senate. Committee on military your [GUAYULE RUBBER] HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS SEVENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON S. 2152 A BILL TO PROVIDE FOR THE PLANTING OF 45,000 ACRES 66613 DECEMBER 10, 1941 Printed for the use of the Committee on Military Affairs UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1941 STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MATERIALS [GUAYULE RUBBER] WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1941 UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON MILITARY AFFAIRS, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 2:30 p. m., pursuant to call, in the committee room, the Capitol, Senator Austin and Senator Robert R. Reynolds (chairman) presiding, to consider the rubber situation. (The bill S. 2152, subsequently introduced by Mr. Downey on December 22, 1941, follows:) [S. 2152, 77th Cong., 1st sess.] A BILL To provide for the planting of forty-five thousand acres of guayule in order to make available a domestic source of crude rubber for emergency and defense uses Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter called the "Secretary") is authorized (1) To acquire by purchase, license, or other agreement the right to operate under patents, now held by the Intercontinental Rubber Company or any of its subsidiaries, relating to the planting of guayule or the extraction of rubber therefrom, and to acquire such properties, processes, records, and data as are necessary to such operation; (2) To plant, or contract for the planting of, not in excess of forty-five thousand acres of guayule in areas in the United States where the best growth and yields may be expected in order to maintain a nucleus planting of guayule to serve as a domestic source of crude rubber as well as of planting material for use in further expanding guayule planting to meet emergency needs of the United States for crude rubber; to establish and maintain nurseries to provide seedlings for field plants; and to purchase necessary equipment and facilities; (3) To acquire by purchase, lease, or other agreement rights to land for the purpose of making plantings of guayule; to make surveys, directly or through appropriate Government agencies, of areas in the United States where guayule might be grown; and to establish and maintain records indicating areas to which guayule cultivation could be extended for emergency production; (4) To construct, operate, or contract for the operation of, factories for the extraction of rubber from guayule; and to purchase, operate, and maintain equipment for the harvesting, storing, transporting, and complete processing of guayule; (5) To conduct studies, in which he may cooperate with any other public or private agency, designed to increase the yield of guayule by breeding or by selection, and to improve planting methods; to make surveys of areas suitable for cultivating guayule; to make experimental plantings; and to conduct agronomic tests; (6) To conduct tests, in which he may cooperate with any other public or private agency, to determine the qualities of rubber manufactured from guayule, and to determine the most favorable methods of compounding and using guayule in rubber manufacturing processes; (7) To improve methods of processing guayule and to obtain and hold patents on such new processes; and (8) To sell guayule or rubber processed from guayule and to use funds so obtained in replanting and maintaining an area of forty-five thousand acres of guayule inside the United States. 1 |