IOMay, 191i).| Army A<iricuHinr. 313 



and vegetables (100 tons a day) that are being raised by the Forces ai 

 Home. Having regard to the difficulties under which the Army carries 

 on its cultivation, these achievements are of no mean order, and the value 

 of the work done is to be measured, not only by the quantity of produce 

 raised, but also by the effect of supplies of fresh vegetables on health, 

 for, as is well knowQ, these foods are T^ature's chief preventive medicine 

 against such diseases of malnutrition as scurvy. 



It is a curious coincidence that the rate of increase in the acreage 

 under Army cultivation during the past two years has been almost iden- 

 tical with the rate of increase of small cultivation by the civilian popu- 

 lation in this country. 



The assistance rendered by the Food Production Department to the 

 Army in all this work cannot be over-estimated, and sincere thanks are 

 due to the officials of that Department, who have been indefatigable m 

 rheir co-operation. 



Examples of Successful Work. — Three examples — of many which 

 might be given — may bp chosen to illustrate the work w^hich is being done 

 by units. 



(1) An officer of the Army Ordnance Corps has 20 men under him; 

 he has rented 1 acre adjoining his camp, and has more than enough 

 vegetables to feed all his men for the vear; he has been growing potatoes, 

 carrots, onions, broad beans, dwarf Deans, runner beans, beet, cabbage, 

 cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, savoy, kale, shallots, leek, peas, 

 turnip, radish, lettuce, marrow, and tomato. 



(2) At a very large hutted camp in the jSTorth of England, every 

 small plot between and around the huts has been dug up and' planted, 

 mostly with potatoes. If it is found that one parade ground less Avould 

 not interfere with training, it is dug up, with pickaxes if necessary. 

 The area of all these plots added together is 200 acres, and, in addition, 

 250 acres adjoining the camp have been taken over and broken up for 

 food production; a hard-heacled Scottish farmer of low medical category 

 manages this considerable farm. 



(3) The third case is that of a commanding offieer who was also a 

 keen farmer, but found himself on impossible farming land; he, there- 

 fore, set to work to make use of the sewage from his camp, and is now 

 growing cabbages on 16 acres of cleverly-irrigated land. 



Akmy Agriculture in the Theatres of War. — So much for the 

 agricultural activities of the Army in the British Isles. It is not con- 

 sidered desirable to give detailed figures of cultivated acreage in the 

 different theatres of war, but in each theatre very large schemes have 

 been and are being undertaken, and as food is j)roduced abroad a corre-^ 

 sponding amount of valuable tonnage is being saved. 



M esopntamia. — ^The largest schemes undertaken by the Army are in 

 Mesopotamia, where, by skilful irrigation, very large areas can be put 

 under cultivation and rnadp to yield results far greater and at less 

 cost than anywhere else in the world. It is estimated that 850,000 acres 

 are now under wheat or barley, and this will be increased to 1,500,000 

 acres in 1919. In 1919, it is estimated that 100,000 tons grain and 

 150,000 tons bhoosa wnll be available f6r the use of the Forces operating 

 in that theatre of war, besides large amounts for the native population. 



