Leslie Martin, age 7, of N. Surrey, B.C., for her question:

Where does chewing gum come from?

A neat little package of chewing gum is made from a recipe and a recipe, of course, calls for several different ingredients. This one calls for sugar to sweeten it and some kind of flavoring to give it a tempting taste. The sugar may come from sugar beets that are grown in many parts of North America or from sugar canes that thrive in the Southland and on the Hawaiian Islands. Fruit and minty flavorings come from plants grown close to home. Some of the tangy flavors come from spicy plants that grow in faraway places around the world.
But the main ingredient in the recipe is the chewy gum that lasts and lasts. It is also a gift from the plant world. It is the milky sap, or chicle, that flows through the trunk of the very special sapodilla tree. This tall tree grows only in certain very warm climates. It is a native tree of the New World. Its favorite coun¬tries are Mexico, British Honduras and Guatemala. The chewy ingredient in your chewing
gum comes from warm, moist regions of Central America.