12 MAY 1917, Page 12

POTATO CULTIVATION AND THE ARMY. (To THE EDITOR OP THE

" SPECTATOR."'

SAS,—May I venture to put a scheme before your readers which

think, if carried out on a large scale, would add greatly to the nation's food supply? A Colonel of a regiment near here has been making the soldiers save potatoes from their rations, and dig and plant them in the ground near the camp. His one difficulty has been that he was linable to obtain sufficient land for the purpose. May I suggest that if an order were issued from the War Office making it compulsory for every camp to save so many potatoes from their rations during these next few weeks and plant them (giving the C.O.'s compulsory power to rent the necessary grass or other land), it would do more towards winning the war than the few hours' drill which it might be necessary