The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1917-04-20
BRITISH, FRENCH, BELGIAns
ALL FILLING SOIL
Soldiers In Eastern and Northeastern
France Engage in the Reconquest of
Large Tracts of Territory: Restoring
Lands 10 Cultivation; Older Men
Unable to Properly Handle the I'm
pIements That Make Earth Blossom
With the Grain
From Thursdays Daily.

French Front, March 25.-[Cor-
respondence of the Associated Press. ]
The beginning of spring this year
has produced the spectacle of thou
sands of soldiers of the French army,
together with their comrades of the
British and Belgian armes, forsake-
ing the rifle, the bayonet, the hand
grenade and the machine gun to
take in hand temporarily the hoe, the
spade the harrow and the plough in
many of the districts of Eastern and
Northeastern France.
The reconquest of large tracts of
territory from the Germans and the
return of the civilian inhabitants from
the places where they had taken re-
fuge confronted the authorities with
the problem of restoring these lands
to cultivation. Farming Implements
TO the value of hundreds of thou
sands of dollars, it was found it had
beeen damaged since the beginning OF
the war in what is known as the
zone Of the armies" The young peas
ants were all serving in the ranks
and the older men, even with the aid
of the women and children, were I'M
able to fill their places for the proper
cultivation of the land.
Army in the Breach
The army decided to step into the
breach The greatest proportion of
the soldiers in the French ranks
come from the peasant or farming
class. 1t was therefore an easy task
to find capable hands. The organ
ization was more difficult, but coord-
ination between the civil and military
A military officer with agricultural
experience was appointed by each
army to consult with the perfects of
the departments in which the troops
were stationed and to find out what
work was to be done and how many
hands were required to do it.
The zone occupied by each army
was sub-divided into small districts,
each containing about twenty five
villages or hamlets. The command
ing officer of the troops stationed in
each district was directed to get into
touch with the civil official and place
at his disposal as many men as are
needed or can be spared for agri-
cultural labor. --.
The Repair Shops
The artillery and engineering re-
pair shops of the army were ordered
to mend damaged farm implements
and replace missing parts, and army
farriers to shoe free of charge all
horses working on the land. The re-
suit Of these arrangements is that,
almost up to the fireing line, all
available land in France is now in
cultivation, and soldiers in uniform,
whenever they can be spared from
the trench and dugouts and their
main task of destroying the Germans
work cheerfully with the women,
children and older men behind the
lines. The system has been extended
to that part of the line-150 miles in
length-held by the British and Bel
gian, but here the task is a more
difficult one, as most of the northern
allies are in civil life, engaged in in
dustrial work in the cities. The Can
adams and Australians, however
have been of immence assistance in
restoring French land to productive
ness