They're Growing Spinach in the Kew Gardens

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 13024, 1 May 1940, Page 7

They're Growing Spinach in the Kew Gardens

. n ; e asant. now to relax a little It , al , t i lP ioys of a coming' »® dtk!R !.uesa well known London f ;iri3? ’ '*n-ccpondcnt. to luxuriate in Jim ami fnriiclows that ■ ;;cto,! .uv feminine. Tint, from u , ' jt is not a very long t^L\ t the parks that have w lO ,he pride and joy of pesys l,(U1

vml seen the crocuses, the '■J; or tulips?” used to be the 0< . vc ar But this time it will “j)jd vou see the broad beCO! ! t primrose Hill, and weren’t and lettuces at Hump,!ie;a Jh perfectly marvellous?” J e “capped with the very final ■■Stunning, my clear, but all *“ l ° r (i m y husband tluit, if • he J!n : t Jell the crop of spinach y °' J J Cardens, you haven’t seen at k e " Victory” is the slogan, I Lloyd George has some re‘,’lably salicnt [acts 0,1 U ’ lS SUb " ®‘ t t 0 drive home whenever the opCthe counW- farmers are being Jed to plough up their grasslands, J the Government aims at get- ■ „ 2,000,000 acres under piough. Jvas expected, fresh vegetables ! re very scarce at the moment, although there are adequate supplies of choice varieties canned. Tottenham Council is experimenting in pig-keeping. This works m Mth the general salvage campaign. I„ a broadcast, we were told of how successful this scheme really is. They have about 100 pigs. The matter of household scraps concerns the pigs, and this is specially prepared and made into meal for them. The salvage collectors care for the pigs.

The council has even gone so far as to purchase a special expensive plant for, transforming waste scraps into wholesome meal for animal food Ttiis is to be put on a commercial basis and sold to other pig-keepers. Householders, generally, are asked Id lighted the task of those who are conducting energetic anti-waste campaigns, by sorting, or rather keeping separated their different kinds of refuse. :

All waste materials are thrown 1 on tea moving belt, and salvage collectors rake off all paper, rags, and old cartons for' cleansing, to be made afterwards IhUo cardboard. Metal substances are graded in the same way, as are household scraps. Nothing is destroyed.

Ash and cinders are used by farmers for loosening sticky or heavy soils. •

From this you will see that the war effort on the home front is betas speeded up to great advantage. All of us in England try to be gay, but keeping the chin up isn’t always easy thing, particularly when tee is sustained suspense. But one diiag you never hear is defeatism, fte know we shall win, though the way .may be hard.

have with us the memory last September in Kent. Never “Itell we forget the laboured droning

of military planes very low over the house, and an air raid siren faintly in the distance. White power-puffs of smoke dotted the blue sky around i hem.

In the garden below, the lawns were wet with dew and the early morning air neid the nreiu of roses. From the wide open casement not another house could be seen, for it was the tiny village of Hartley, a name familiar to the people of New South Wales who journey over the Blue Mountains. Only the thatched roof of a barn peeped from a hollow. "We were on high country, surrounded by apple orchards. Tall larches sheltered us on one side. The planes came in with the sun, but failed to penetrate the east coast defences. As they roared over the roof we felt the war was right on top of ns. Details of this raid were never given prominence, mainly because it followed on top of those shatteringfalse alarms of the first day. It was an abortive affair in any case. Panic at such a time was to be avoided at all cost. But the fear of what it might have meant was very sharp to those who saw it.

The fields were filled with hoppickers with their happy children, from the East End, down in Kent for a breath of clean country air. They are very busy people, coming with the entire family, and often, babies* are born in'the hop fields. By the light of the hunter’s moon the grown-ups dance, sing and make merry.

The thought of them that morning, and the possibility of their being sprayed with machine-gun bullets from power-diving planes, was anything but cheerful.