The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1915-04-15


were Belgian, French and many OF
| them American. The officers told me
that they had been left in. the fields
| by the French soldiers at ascertained
distances apart SO that the artillery
or aeroplanes making them out from
above as they were lying In the fields
and seeing soldiers near them could
get the range for the guns. The Ger
mans said that they soon "got wise"
to this system. and thereafter the
soldiers Stunned the plows as = they
| were signs OF the plague.
Many Motor Plows.
On the. way back to Sedan they
showed us some OF the Is motor plows
which the Third army has in opera
ton, and told me that more were be-
ing sent on from Germany every day.
They still did not have sufficient ma
chimes for the number of men that
they were able to- spare for the work.
/ was told that the army farther west
had 35 Of these plows at work during
the month Of February, SO / judged
| that extensive agricultural work was
| going on there as well. The plows are
| of German manufacture. They were
using six pillow points on the machines
| that | examined, and / was told that
! the engines were of Is horse power
They could prepare about ten acres
of land day with one of these plows,
and all the soldiers who were used
| for this work had had experience be-
fore they joined the army, so that
they were proficient and able to work
rapidly.
When we reached Sedan 1t was
afternoon milking time, and ] went
over the army dairies with the major
who was in charge. I could not help
wishing that this farming and this
dairying, SO perfectly organized and
carried out by the soldiers, was the
real object for which the German
army was trained and disciplined. The
dairy at Sedan was the former stable
of a French regiment OF cuirassiera.
but the Germans had put ID concrefs
floors and partitions where none had
existed In the old days.
The large shedlike structure which
had been the regfmentai riding school
| had been turned into the army butcher
| shop. and $50 animals were butchered
there every day for the use Of the
| men in and around Sedan. The
| butchering for the men In the trenches
goes on nearer the lines, where the
/ transportation is easier and the meat
/ fresher when 1t arrives to be prepared
| for the men under fire.
Run Model Dairy.
In the dairy there were some three
hundred cows-Swiss, Holsteins ana
/ even Jerseys-that had been taken
| from the country around Sedan. The
major showed me these cows that
were giving milk for the sick and
/ wounded In Sedan and then took me
to a peasants stable and showed me
hM cattle. Even the majors enthusi-
! asm could not exaggerate the superb
ority of the army cows and their sur
roundings as far as cleanliness and
| general hygiene were concerned.
Some of our cows were just like
| these two months ago." he said, and
/ you see what our methods have done
here. We have doubled the quantity
/ of milk that the native cows give and
| we will also double the amount OF
| wheat that their land will raise, II
our army has to stay here long enough
/ for us to gather In the crops
! From conversations had with the
/ officers, gathered that this work in
/ northern France is only an example
of what is going on all over the terri
tory occupied by the German army.
| The army IN Flanders is cultivating
on an even more extensive scale than
! that in France. In Belgium the sol
diers chartered I'm the small towns
i are overseeing the work OF the peas
ants and themselves cultivating the
land that has been deserted. do not
think became pro-German on that
trip over the army farm. but was
| convinced that with the policy OF
i starvation alone, the allies would take
| a long time to win this war.
That these men actively engaged IN
the fighting and SO near the center
OF operations, are taking such thought
for the future, argues that those LETT
| at home in Germany with nothing
ia do but think Of supporting their
armies are being even more careful
to make every acre count in the final
decision. ~ ys
|