1056 . GENERAL FARM PROGRAM 



made a thorough search, and it was determined that no such proclama- 

 tion had been issued. 



Mr. Granger. It seems to me that I saw a press release somewhere 

 that the Secretary did ask for an increase in production of tung oil. 



Mr. O'Connor. I think he did ask for it. Maybe it was an un- 

 official proclamation. 



Mr. Pace. If that was true, the Secretary would have had no dis- 

 cretion last year. He would have been required to have supported 

 at 90 percent. He would not have had to ask for it. 



STATEMENT OF MARSHALL BALLARD, JR., TUNG GROWER, OF 



MISSISSIPPI 



Mr. Ballard. I think I can answer that question regarding an 

 incentive payment by saying that for several years dm"ing the war, 

 triple A did grant exceedingly high incentive payments for cover 

 cropping and conservation practices in tung orchards. As a matter 

 of fact, they singled out tung one year and paid an incentive payment 

 as high as $5 per acre. 



Mr. Pace. That did not make that a Steagall commodity, Mr. 

 Ballard. 



Mr. Ballard. I do not say that but they did give the farmer the 

 impression that the Government wanted more tung oil, in addition 

 to which the draft boards all throughout the belt gave tung workers 

 a top priority rating when it came to deferments. 



So that the general impression created there was that the Govern- 

 ment considered it a pretty top notch critical war material. 



Mr. Pace. That is very evident. 



Mr. Granger. That is the question here. 



Mr. Pace. Any fm-ther questions? 



Thank your very much, Mr. O'Connor. 



Mr. Colmer. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, we 

 have Mr. Birkett F. Jordan here, an attorney and tung grower of 

 Gainesville, Fla., and out of deference to the time of the committee 

 he submits his statement for the record. Mr. Jordan has had a 

 great deal of experience in this field. 



Mr. Pace. Will you present it? 



Mr. Jordan. I filed it with the clerk this morning. 



(The information is as follows:) 



Statement of B. F. Jordan 



My name is B. F. Jordan. I am a lawyer from Gainesville, Fla., which is the 

 center of seven tung groves. I also am a stockholder in two tung oil corporations 

 and am an officer in three such corporations. I have been connected with the 

 tung industry for 20 years. 



Tung oil was originally called Chinawood oil and grows wild in China. The 

 first plantings in this country were from nuts imported from China. 



TUNG OIL A CRITICAL MATERIAL IN TIME OF WAR 



During World War II, because of our inabihty to import oil, all of the domestic 

 supply of this oil was commandeered by our Government for use by the armed 

 forces. It had the following war uses: 



1. Used to cover the inside of high octane gas tanks. 



2. Used to insulate electrical coils. 



3. Used as a covering for magnesium parts. 



4. Used in time bombs. 



