War Tasks of the Farmers
Agriculture must now rank with munition-making as a war-time industry, and skilled men employed on the land are doing essential war work. The Minister of Agriculture demands that an additional r,soo,000 acres of land should be brought under the plough in the coming year, and county executive committees, supported by district committees whose members know the local conditions, are already getting to work to see what farmers can do individually and in co-operation. There are some 5o,000 tractors available for breaking up the ground ; it is necessary that mechanical resources should be pooled, man-power economised, and all serviceable land made use of to its utmost capacity. Now is the time for laying the plans for a record harvest next year, and it is encouraging to know that the local organisa- tions are already getting under way. Corn, of course, is not the only food-stuff whose production must be increased. Food has to be grown for the cattle, and from the dairy farms we shall require more milk and butter. The potato shortage in the last War will not have been forgotten, and every countryman with a garden can make some contri- bution by growing more potatoes and other vegetables. A great effort is needed in which the Ministry of Agriculture, the county and district committees, and the individual pro- ducers all have a part to play.
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