BARLEY FOR BREAD.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 31, 16 November 1943, Page 4

BARLEY FOR BREAD.

HELPED BY AMERICAN ARMY. GUN TRACTORS HAUL ROLLERS. LONDON. American gun tractors have helped to grow barley in Britain for our bread. Less than a furlong from Fred Darling’s racing stables at Beckhampton, in Wiltshire, a large notice stands on the downland. It says: “Cropped by the combined efforts of the Witlshire War Agricultural Committee and the United States Army.” The strip of downland had never before been cultivated It was too steep for horses and was thought to be of poor quality.

Traclc-laying tractors were delivered to the agricultural committee. It decided to “conscript” this land and force it to do something for the country. Having ploughed it, the tractors were sent elsewhere in the country where they were badly needed. “Can I Help You?” Then came the day when the barley which had been sown was sadly in need of rolling. But there were no tractors to do the job.

An American officer commanding a nearby unit saw the trouble for himself. He phoned the agricultural committee. “I have just had some gun caterpillars delivered for training purposes,” he said. “Can I help you with them?” The offer was accepted. When they were not hauling guns American soldiers used the tractors to haul land-rolls. Now the land promises to yield up to twelve sacks of barley an for our bread.