SOUTHERN HORIZONS 



only way to raise living standards substantially and 

 permanently. During the last century, we have regis- 

 tered greater materialistic progress than in all human 

 history because the machine helped us to create a real 

 abundance. That abundance already threatens our sup- 

 plies of irreplaceable metals, gas, oil, and coal. In the 

 coming century, we can continue that progress only by 

 using our materials more intelligently/' 



From there on in, they appraised the pressing prob- 

 lems of those dark depression days in the illuminating 

 light of chemical values. That afternoon the idea of 

 chemurgy was born in Dr. Kale's fertile brain, and out 

 of that discussion popped a question that deeply stirred 

 Herty, both as a Southerner and a chemist. 



Is it possible that cellulose from quick-growing South- 

 ern pine is cheaper than cellulose from cotton? 



Six years afterwards, sitting before the blazing logs 

 on my hearthstone, this patron saint of Southern re- 

 search told me his own answer to this haunting question. 

 In his little Savannah laboratory Herty's epochal experi- 

 ments in pulping and bleaching young pines had come 

 to a triumphant conclusion. At that time the price of 

 cotton had been already pegged for seven years and 

 our cotton exports had been cut in half. Even in 1937 

 this forward-looking Southerner saw quite clearly the 

 role that cotton and pine as cellulose were to play in 

 the work and wealth of the South during the strenuous 



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