SOUTHERN HORIZONS 



from any chemical or physical changes. Simple, isn't 

 it? The wonder is, nobody ever thought of it before." 



"But we did have another good idea," continued Col- 

 ledge. "We had to devise some method of classifying 

 crude gum on the spot in grades acceptable to both 

 the collectors as sellers and to ourselves as buyers. 

 When brought in to us now, gum is divided in four 

 grades and dumped into the proper one of four big 

 mixing vats. This rough but satisfactory selection into 

 four lots and mixing large quantities to average out 

 quality is one of the real tricks of our trade." 



Later we went out into the plant. The gum was 

 pouring in at the beginning of the season, and I saw 

 those four lots of thick, gray syrup, full of twigs and bark 

 and pine needles, being scooped up in a half-ton 

 clamshell bucket, swung overhead, and dumped into 

 the storage tanks. 



"We had some lucky breaks," admitted Colledge. 

 "In a booming market we might never have gotten 

 enough gum to start. The wood-rosin people also helped 

 us by example and their accumulated knowledge. Last, 

 we were helped greatly by the Commodity Credit Cor- 

 poration, which was persuaded to finance the crop by 

 paying the collectors for their gum as we took it in. 

 We guaranteed Commodity Credit Corporation against 

 loss through improper manufacturing or grading, and 

 the fact that these loans have been repaid proves that 



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