Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-03-25 | Page 27 | Tills Soil When out of Trenches

TILLS SOIL WHEN OUf OF TRENCHES British Tommy Utilizes Time on Leave in Digging and Hoeing in Truck Gardens. LOXDON, March 24. The British Tommy, home on leave from trench-digging trench-digging and guarding the line, now passes most of his time digging and hoeing hoe-ing truck gardens in his native land. In doing this he is augmenting tho land army of civilians at home and the thousands of soldiers in training at the various military camps in England who find time, to do their "bit" in the gardens. gar-dens. Throughout the length and breadth of this island, around the military camps, and especially along the railway lines, an Associated Press correspondent has seen well laid-out gardens or allotments. On February 1 there were 25,000 of the plots under' cultivation in this country, thus giving some idea of the speed. with which the people have taken to the spade and plough since the authorities have tried to arouse them to the danger of starvation as threatened by the submarines. sub-marines. The government threatened to commandeer idle land unless it was cultivated. cul-tivated. The result was that farmers everywhere got busy, and there is now very little land "go'ing to waste." On thousands of , acres British Tommies Tom-mies are to be seen' working beside old men, women and children, turning up tho soil aHd getting it ready for the spring planting. Flower beds are barred; only foodstults are to De raisea. In London and other big cities everybody every-body wdio lives near a plot of usable laud has bought seeds. They are assisted assist-ed by the Vacant Allotment society, an organization whose ramifications extend throughout tho island and whose business busi-ness it is to attend to the applications of householders for a plot of ground in which to raise vegetables. The landowners land-owners turn their vacant land over to the society without charge. The society cuts it up into allotments usually about ninety feet square. These can be had by a householder for six months after the duration of the war for the payment of a fee of 5(1 cents or $1 to cover cost of administration. If the householder fails to make the land produce foodstuffs it is taken away from him by the society, which is a semi-government institution, Emphasis is placed on the need for crowing potatoes, of which there is now a great scarcity. '