Evening star., 1942-08-13
BY DAVID M. NICHOL,


Foreisn Correspondent Of The Star ant
Chicago Daily News.
MAIDSTONE, England. -- Eng.
lands millions must eat: they alst
must Use the precious shipping
space which once brought them fooe
for other vital purposes. The resul,
has been an appeal to England.
farmers to raise more and more te
fight the battle against Hitler In the
wheatfields and orchards In thi,
garden section Of England.
Your correspondent has Just con-
f,rmed that this appeal has beer
answered. During a tour of Kent
with county agricultural authorities
we obtained a first-hand picture OF
the actual operations OF the govern
ment's plan for increased produc-
tion.
Under authority granted to county
war agricultural committees, farms
have been taken over from tenants
who were unable. because of indo-
lence, lack OF capital. advanced age,
or any one OF variety of other
reasons. to make them as fully
productive as they might be.
In some places, farms are assigned
to new tenants who meet the COM
mittee's approval; in others, they
are farmed by professional man.
, ayers, often college trained agri-
cultural experts OF course, this
system could lead to tragic abuses.
But there Is no evidence that it has
done so.
Star Performer in Program.
Kent County admittedly Is one Of
the star performers in this pro-
gram and it Is not perhaps fair to
set the Kent committees work up
rs average or typical.
The operation of unproductive
holdings comprises only small part
OF the committees activities. but
overseeing this phase and all the
others Is A Central Executive Com
mittee, chosen from men with the
respect and confidence of the people
of the county. One man in each
county secretly was assigned the
task of organizing these groups in
the summer before the war began
and set about to do the job.
Kent's chairman was and is Lord
CORVALLIS, a Quiet-spoken, earnest
man, who chose as his co-Workers
the county's most successful farm
ers. men who have proved they can
make their land produce. The
county is divided into six regions
for administrative purposes and
some 40 farmers in each of these
areas serve on regional committees.
Many of them devote long hours to
the work yet none Is paid more than
actual travelling expenses.
Members Of the Regional Commit
tees, familiar with every inch OF
their neighboring territories, report
their condition, give advice where
a little advice will help a conscien-
tious farmer to improve his crops,
arrange for extra labor and ma
chinery where it is required and for
which the committee is repaid either
In cash or in produce. The more
drastic step of taking over the prop
erty when it is found to be neces-
sary is initiated by the Regional
Committee.
Farm Finally Taken Over.
One OF the farms visited during
the tour was an excellent example
Of the committees work. On one
side of the lane was a lovely Kentish
farm cottage with its dark-stained.
second floor, external timbering
hundreds of years old. Across the
lane was a modern, well-eQuipped
dairy barn, but the tenant had kept
only a few cattle. Nearby was a CO.
operative dairy which would have
made the disposal of his maximum
produce easy.
The tenant had been urged to
stock his farm to capacity. He
agreed, but did nothing about it. He
was offered a loan to make the pur-
chase of more cattle possible. His
reply was that he did not need the
money, that he had sufficient capi-
tai of his own. Only when every
other measure had failed did the
county committee move. The farm
was taken over near the end of
March. BY early summer it had
36 more pure-bred cattle producing
milk for England's citizens.
Labor is tremendous problem.
and the committees of England
have tried desperately to meet the
farm labor requirements without
taking men from other industries or
from the armed forces. Men occa-
sionally are released from military
duty for emergency work during
harvest seasons. Members OF the
womens land army, organized un-
der the Ministry OF Agriculture, are
playing q big role. There are more
than 1900 Of them in Kent alone.
Girls Drive Tractors.
At one place we saw these girls
who have signed on for the dura.
ton. learning to drive American
made tractors. sent here under
lease lend to permit English fac
tories to be devoted to other needs
At another Z crew of six. headed by
. peacetime ballet dancer with 4
non -com's rank. was handling the
entire threshing on one Of the farms
without any male assistance.
Equally encouraging Is the small