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Show Cinchona Grove in Guatemala Godsend New Source of Quinine for U. S. and Its Allies. WASHINGTON. Cinchona trees at El Porvenir, a 17,000-acre plantation planta-tion on the slopes of an extinct volcano vol-cano in western Guatemala, provide a fresh source of quinine for the United Nations. It would be a dream come true for President Justo Rufino Barrios if he were alive today. He started the plantation some 60 years back in an effort to develop and diversify his country's economy. But the Dutch in the East Indies grew cinchona more cheaply than President Barrios could, and El Porvenir Por-venir which means "the future" grew rank and untended. The cinchona cin-chona trees were being used for firewood fire-wood and fence posts. Then Japan captured the world's supply of quinine in the Dutch East Indies. Cinchona production for quinine qui-nine became of great importance again In Latin America, where it originated. El Porvenir is the largest single concentrated source of quinine known in the Western hemisphere. Aerial surveys indicate that it has enough cinchona trees to provide an estimated 25 per cent of our supply of quinine for the next few years. The Guatemalan source is particularly partic-ularly handy because the bark can be shipped overland to the United States for processing. Contracts have been signed through the Board of Economic Warfare War-fare with the Guatemalan government govern-ment whereby the entire output becomes be-comes available to the United States. With thousands of troops fighting in tropical areas where malaria is a constant threat, the needs for quinine qui-nine are extensive. |