Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-04-23
GERMAN ARMIES
FARMING INVADED
LANDS Of FRENCH
More Than $4,000 Acres Under
Cultivation in District
Around Sedan.
YIELDS PRODUCED
Efficiency Of Methods shown-Dairy
Operated by Troops-f Peace
Comes, Civilians Will Get
the Crops.
BY F. N. GAILOR.
Tn tho Nayv Vork World

BY F. n. GAILoR.
In the New York World.
Bergen-Op.Zoom.--In answer to q
question l had asked one of the off.
GERS ct Sedan about the German gov.
eminent taking all the supplies Of
flour into it's own hands, I was told
that the Germans had no fear Of run
ming short of food, and that they
thought the idea of the allies being
able to starve them out was absurd.
For instance" one of the officers said
to me, ito show You how We Germans
look ahead, we have below heretmore
than $4,000 acres of land under cult.
walton In wheat and potatoes. W.
hope that the civilians will gather
this crop and that the war will be
over by the time Of the harvest, but
II it is not the army will reap the
benefit"
Two or three days later I was taken
over the army farm" by the little fat
major who has organized and directed
the work. He was the bandmaster
rather than the military type of Ger.
man and had been the manager of a
large estate in Pomerania. Talk Of
the trenches left him cold, but at q
mention Of the farm or its affairs he
became another person. His small
black eyes twinkled, his fifty years
seemed to become twenty-five, and he
went into e~cstasies over the improve
ments Germany, and especially Pom.
erania, had introduced in harvesting
machinery, fertilization or potatoes.
As we rode along in a military auto
mobile from Sedar to Rethel, he kept
telling me Of the primitive agricul.
tural methods he had found when the
German army first entered that coun.
try.
Planter 10 Rewarded.
"They don't know how it Is to use
what they have got" he kept saying
as he pointed to a manure pile in
front Of a cottage door or a clump Of
trees standing in the middle Of q field.
"They lose one-half of the fertilizing
power by not having pits, and they do
not know forestry at all. You should
see Pomerania."
In the buttonhole Of his tunic he
wore the black ribbon with two white
stripes which represents the Iron
Cross, and I asked him IL he had ever
been in the trenches. mo-" was the
answer, "but I planted these fields
and so increased the prospects for
food. 1t was taken as q mark of dis
tinguished service to the fatherland
and my general recommended me for
the honor. The order is for distin.
guished service Of any kind. Ger.
many rewards its workers as we'll as
its fighters, and the fighters depend
on the workers for their living, as
they must have food. I know farm.
ing, so l am used for that. Germany
never wastes its opportunities
When we had passed Rethel and
gone south about six miles, we turned
east along the southern boundary Of
the 75,000.acre farm that the soldiers
of the Third German army are work.
Ing. We passed many fields where
the soldiers and civilians were work.
Ing side by side, some where a soldier
was driving an army horse and often
an army cart, and a civilian was walk.
Ing alongside, spreading the manure
with a pitchfork. l asked some Of
these civilians If the Germans were
forcing them to work. They all said
no, but that unless they used the army
horses for their carts and blowing
they had no means of preparing the
ground for planting.
I was told that the soldiers were
all doing this during their five days
rest from the trenches. "They like it
because it gives them something to
think about besides the war and the
fighting" !
Competition tn Cultivation.
Many Of the men Of the army had
been farmers In North Germany, and
one Of the officers said: "They can
fight, but they would rather farm"
I was shown pieces Of land that
had been cultivated in competition
between different regiments. One
battalion Of a regiment is resting
while the other is in the trenches, SO
that about half are working all the
time. These fields had the %reg.:nental
flags flying and their owners had
fled from that part Of the country
so that no civilians had had anything
to do with preparing the land.
At the time when I was taken over
the work plowing was still going on,
but all the ground was to be planted
by the middle Of March. The crops
we're potatoes and wheat. The first
potatoes will be ready in June and
the first wheat later on in the au.
tumn. I asked the major if he expect
ed to be in that country when the
crops came in. "Oh, no." he said, I'VE
don't expect to have an army hsre
then. We hope that the war will be
over and the civilians can have the
full benefit of our work"
The land that the army 10 culta-