IFYE Sees Lots of ‘Bugs’ and Gayly Painted Trucks in Brazil
Editor’s Note: Miss Davida
McCartney, Chester Springs,
Chester County, is an In
ternatonaal Farm Youth Ex
change (IFYE) delegate
assigned to a Youth Development
Project in Sao Paulo, Brazil,
where she is assisting in the
development and expansion of 4-
H type programs. Following is
her report on transportation in
Sao Paulo:
Before I left the States someone
asked me to find if it was true
that when it rained in Sao Paulo
the pedestrians walked across
the roofs of the cars instead of
the streets. I haven’t seen it yet,
but it would be almost possible if
the number of cars and their
closeness in the streets were the
only things to consider.
Sao Paulo is a very
growing city, as indicated by the
traffic problems. The streets are
just as full as in Philadelphia or
New York City, but there must be
twice as many cars because they
are all pint-sized!
It looks like the “bugs” have
taken over the city! There are
Volkswagons, Ford Corcels,
Chevrolet Opalas, and all kinds of
little cars.
The prestigious cars, like Ford
Galaxies, LTD’s, Dodge Darts,
Last year, growers all across the corn belt took us up on our
"Green 'n Easy" fall plowdown .program. Response was so
enthusiastic, we are making the offer again this year
What is "Green 'n Easy?"
Under an Ortho "Green 'n Easy" program for corn, you sun
ply plowdown Ortho Umpel 20-10-10 this fall in the amounts
you determine from exclusive Ortho yield goal formulas
and you'll be through with all of your pre-plant plowdown
of N-P-K a
Follow it up next spring with an at-planting applica-
tion of Ortho Umpel Starter Special You
can apply it as a "dry oop-up" with the seed
at 50 lbs /A and save time and material
handling, while assuring a vigorous start
for your corn crop
What are the chances of nitrogen loss?
Extensive research conducted by corn ex-
perts in every corn-growing state has dem
onstrated time and again that where losses
of fall-applied nitrogen have occurred in
fields suitable for fall plowdown (that is,
other than sandy soils, steep slopes, land
that floods, or organic soils), the maximum
loss has been less than 20%
and larger Chevrolets take up the
space of almost two of the
smaller ones and are very
sparsely scattered in the mass.
Gasoline and autos are quite
expensive in Brazil. The ones
already mentioned are “m
-dustria Brasileira.” The im
ported ones are really out of sight
for most people
The majority of people use
public transportation. The City
has a large bus system and the
fare is just over seven cents per
ride.
A quick glance at the traffic
gives the impression that half the
cars in the streets are taxis. You
don’t usually phone for a taxi,
just go out to the street and stick
out your arm.
We YDP’s have a problem in
using taxis, though. There are
three of us (and we’re not small
people) and usually one more
person to go. It’s rather difficult
for us to fit into a VW with one
front seat removed! It takes a
little longer until a larger (but
still small) taxi comes along, and
even then it’s a squeeze.
A subway is being built in Sao
Paulo, so soon some of the traffic
problem will be relieved. A good
system of buses and trains runs
to the interior.
Once you leave the big city, the
Chcvnn
* Ortho
Chevron Chemical
Company
Smoketown
Ph. 397-3539
Miss Davida McCartney
IFYE Delegate to Brazil
cars are still small but now the
roads are frequented by huge
trucks. The majority of trucks
aren’t tractor trailers, but they
are immense! Some haul cattle,
but most have sides less than two
feet high and are used for
anything you can think of, from
crates of eggs, sacks of coffee,
peanuts, or potatoes, to masses of
humans.
Ortho stands behind its program
If your young growing corn in the fields where you have fol
lowed the Ortho "Green 'n Easy" program, shows nitrogen
deficiency next spring, we'll correct the deficiency by giv
ing you free enough nitrogen to equal 20% uf that which
you applied this fall
Why is Ortho so confident?. . . Unipels!
Ortho Unipels are unlike any other fertilizer on the market
today Umpel pellets are both chemically and physically
uniform No chance for segregation or separation of mgred-
lents because every pellet has the same
size, shape, and density and every pellet
contains the precise ratio of N-P-K guaran
teed And the phosphate is fixation resis
tant So, once across the field does it with
Umpels l
You can't lose!
Protect your fall fertilizing investment
this year with a "Green 'n Easy" fall plow-
down program from your participating
Ortho dealer Visit with him soon and lec.rn
if your fields qualify
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 13,1971
They are used to transport
workers between town and some
of the large farms. At nights or on
the weekends some are used to
transport large numbers of
people to the town for whatever
entertainment there is. Once I
counted almost 40 people that
piled out of one of the smaller
ones to attend a wedding.
Almost all of these trucks have
gayly painted sides and many
have decorated wooden mud
flaps. Some of the decorations
remind me of some of the shapes
used by the Pennsylvania Dutch,
but the total effect isn’t the same.
Bright colors are used for the
usually hand painted designs.
The number of different designs
seems endless.
In the smaller towns there are
always several tractors parked
along the streets. For the
families that have a tractor but
no car, this is often the means of
transportation. Almost every
tractor has a place for a board
seat behind the driver and many
have homemade wooden plat
forms so more people can ride.
It’s not rare to see whole families
aboard their tractors.
One of the most common
vehicles in the interior is the VW
bus or “Kombi”. It can carry lots
of people or lots of produce when
the middle seat is removed.
Even though there seems to be
a great deal of motor traffic, the
horse and burro play an im
portant role. Bread is delivered
either by bicycle or small horse
drawn cart. Even in the
metropolis of Sao Paulo there are
vegetable and other venders that
use horses. In the small towns
there are almost as many horse
drawn as motorized taxis.
Small horses are ridden a lot,
too. They often stand patiently
“parked” along the curb while
the rider is attending to business.
The only big horses I’ve seen
were mounted by Sao Paulo city
police.
Let’s not forget the pedestrian.
Life for him is safer outside the
city of Sao Paulo! In the interior
the peasants without other means
of transportation put lots of
kilometers on their shoes, or just
as often, their flip-flops or bare
feet.
But what I’ll remember most
about the transportation in Brazil
are the masses of pint-sized cars,
the gigantic gayly painted trucks,
and no parking meters to feed
along the streets!
Swanson Joins
Job Program
Arlo G. Swanson has resigned
as deputy secretary of the
Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture to accept a position
in Washington, D.C., State
Agriculture Secretary Jim
McHale announced recently.
Swanson, who joined the
Department last March as
deputy secretary for programs,
will become national director of
the Green Thumb and Green
Light programs founded by the
U.S. Department of Labor and
sponsored by the National
Farmers Union.
The programs operate under a
$7.2 million federal grant and are
aimed at providing meaningful
employment and supplemental
income for older persons largely
in rural areas. Under the Green
Thumb banner, men work on
conservative, beautification and
community betterment projects.
Under the Green Light banner,
women perform such jobs as
clerks, school lunchroom aides
and librarians.
Local municipalities or
organizations contribute 10 per
cent of the local project’s cost
with the balance coming from the
national fund. The program is
operating in 17 states, including
Pennsylvania.
When Swanson joined the
Department he was serving as
vice president and assistant
manager of the Kanabec State
Bank, Mora, Minn. He also had
been state director of the Far
mers Home Administration in
South Dakota.
'Waste' is Twin
Valley YF Topic
Topic at the Twin Valley Young
Farmer Association meeting
November 15 will be “Sewage
and Waste Disposal” with Albert
Trexler of the Berks County Soil
and Water Conservation Service
speaking.
All area farmers are invited to
attend the meeting which begins
at 7:30 p.m. in the vocational
agriculture classroom of the
Twin Valley High School.
A young farmer also will give a
15 minute talk on his farming
program and a discussion of
some things he has done properly
and improperly in his farm
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