The “chemurgy” movement (1935-1941) champions him for his work anticipating their attempts to replace hydrocarbons as raw materials for industry with farm-grown carbohydrates. Chemurgist Henry Ford holds Carver in high regard and consults with him at every opportunity (1937 on).
The reporter’s talk with Carver went much deeper than a chat, to the heart of Carver’s chemurgic vision. “God has ordained,” Carver told him, “that there should never be any want, any poverty of any kind. All we have to do is follow His guidance and find His secrets. It’s all so simple, if we could only understand.” “Will the time ever come,” the reporter asked, “when there will be plenty for everybody?” “Yes, yes,” said Carver with eager intensity. “There will come a day when, out of the soil, we will make our houses, our clothes, our automobiles—everything on earth we need. Plant chemistry is just at its beginnings. We have only opened a crack in the door… If wars are caused by the lack of things, there will be no more wars, because the earth will pour forth plenty for everybody. There will be no such a thing as a have-not nation. Mr. Ford understands that.”
The industrialist, with all his worldly powers,
craved visits from the man who talked with flowers.
