MS ROOSEVELT GIVES BEANS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 05, Issue 48, 4 May 1942, Page 2

MS ROOSEVELT GIVES BEANS

OLETTUCE, PEAS, CABBAGES, LEEKS AND SPROUTS 'I'll is is liif in (Mi [11 when tin* seeds r*o in. fn vijlaiie {'aniens uj> and down Kng'and the planting ol' 50.(HK) special pa.'kets of them is about lo bo gin. They are a gift from Mrs Roosevelt, sponsor of the "American Seeds for British Soil"- movement—-vege-table seeds of course and chosen to come up in rotation, from earty (Continued in nexL column).

I spring lettuce to late winter sprouts. The Women's Institutes of England are already handling three tons of them (with more to follow 7 ). Last year they distributed ne< less than 17 ions of seeds from the United States. In addition to that splendid bit of generosity, L'.S.A. sent 300 bags of superphosphate each holding iOOIbs of the fertiliser, and 500 canning and sealing machines for storing the fruit gathered by the Institutes. The women preserved 4,-hSO.OOOIbs of fruit and vegetables last year. They and the children and grownup evacuees also ransacked the countryside fer the leaves of the foxglove and raspberry, stinging nettles, dandelions and other plants svhich were dried in the autumn and are now with the herbalists. Digitalin for heart disease is got from the foxglove leaves and the nettles are effective in cases of high blood pressure. The women are organising a similar collection this summer and they are hoping too to organise meals l'or school children in the remoter parts of the countryside.