FRESH VEGETABLES

Waikato Times, Volume 129, Issue 21549, 11 October 1941, Page 4

FRESH VEGETABLES

AIR FORCE MESS OWN SUPPLIES GROWN “DIGGING FOR VICTORY” LONDON, Sept. 4 Between spells of strafing Nazi bases in Europe, Britain’s airmen are growing vegetables for their own messes. They are using American seeds, for a quarter of the consignment of vegetable seeds sent to Britain under the “Bundles for Britain” plan was allocated to the Royal Air Force. One Fighter Command station near London, nest of Spitfire and Hurricane raiders, has ten acres of “waste” land under cultivation and another three or four acres are being sewn with winter vegetables. The men there have planted 30,000 lettuces, 2500 tomato plants, 5000 cabbages, 2000 brussels sprouts, as well as acres of peas, beans and potatoes. This station is meeting Britain’s onion shortage with half an acre of onions. All Voluntary Work The gardening movement is part of a plan by which Royal Rir Force stations throughout Britain will have fresh vegetables for their messes from spare corners of their airfields. The Air Council have appointed a gardening expert, Mr A. H. Whyte, Horticultural Adviser to the Air Ministry, and it is his job to work in liaison with catering officers and County Agricultural Officers. He supervises questions of implements, seeds and fertilisers, and gives advice on cropping in relation to differing conditions of soil and climate. The gardening work carried out by the airmen is quite voitintary, but, ss the average Britisher is a keen gardener, there is no/shortage of willing hands. The Vegetables grown are normally sold fcb stations’ messes at current pricqgf Amateur Gardeners Respond Britain’s amateur gardeners are also responding to the “Dig for Victory” drive by growing on their I, garden allotments vegetables to the value of £20,000,000 per year. In addition, hundreds of tons of vegetables are being grown on railway embankments throughout the country. The Southern Railway alone have 13,000 allotments covering an area of 600 acres. Even densely populated London has found room for over 38,000 allotments. while in the famous parks of the Metropolis an additional 350 acres are being farmed for food crops and 600 acres set aside for sheep grazing. County Council Farm London’s railwaymen aie cultivating 2700 of these allotments, covering 100 acres, while other workers of the London Passenger Transport Board have dug up 36 acres from which they hope to get 400 tons of potatoes. They are also working 120 acres of market garden land at London's chief bus depot. Altogether apart from this, the London County Council is now farming 4000 acres in the City’s Green Belt and today the citizens of London own 15,000 head of pedigree cattle, 3000 pigs, 7000 head of poultry and 550 sheep. Last year the City's farms had a record production of 360,000 eggs. 550,000 gallons of milk, 351 tons of meal. 1668 tons of vegetables and 81 tons of fruit.