Evening star., 1943-02-14
Nationwide Campaign
For Land Army Will
Begin This Month
Wickurd PIuns TO Recruit
Volunteer Corps for
Purt-Time Service

Secretary of Agriculture Wickaro
announced yesterday the depart
ment would inaugurate a nation
wide campaign late this month to
enlist 100000 urban residents, high
school students, unemployed farm
laborers and workers employed in
non-essential activities. in United
States Crop Corps" to help meet
farm labor shortages.
The farm labor shortage was said
by the Secretary to constitute a
serious threat to food production.
Recruiting of volunteers will be
carried on in towns and cities by
the United States Employment
Service and in rural counties by
the Agricultural Extension Service,
Mr. Wickard said.
Coincident with Secretary Wick
ards announcement, Agriculture
Department State directors met in
Baltimore to discuss basis plans for
farm labor recruitment in II East
ern Seaboard States.
Patriotism Motive.
Urban residents will be asked to
agree, in advance of the planting
and harvesting seasons. to work a
certain number of week days, week
ends or evenings. Volunteers, Mr.
Wickard said, will be people in
spired by patriotic motives and the
desire to see that a local crop is not
lost by lack of labor"
In addition to urban volunteers,
the department is counting on being
able to recruit 275,000 seasonal
agricultural workers who normally
move from one crop area to another
to do harvesting work, but who do
not have transportation facilities,
because of gasoline and tire short
ages. The department will provide
such workers with transportation.
The department plans also to i'm
port upwards of $4,000 farm workers
from Mexico to help with produc-
ton of cotton, sugar beets, vegetable
end citrus fruit crops in Southern
and Western States.
Proposed Crop Increases.
Notwithstanding last years bumper
crops the Victory food program this
year calls for the following sub
stantial increases, department Off
Gals pointed out:
Milk, 2 per cent; all meats, Is per
cent; hogs, 81 per cent; lard, SO
per cent. cattle and calves, 7 per
cent: chicken, 28 per cent; eggs,
5 per cent; potatoes, II per cent;
corn, per cent; wheat, 4 per cent;
peanut acreage, 40 per cent; COM
mercial truck crops, 2 per cent;
beans, 81 per cent, and peas, 25 per
cent.
These 1943 goals must be reached,
the Department of Agriculture es-
Inmates, in order that we may be
able to feed our armed forces, ci-
villain population and our allies.
In the next few weeks farmers in
Virginia and Maryland and through
out the country, will sign produc-
ton pledges and simultaneously
make known the number of workers
on hand and additional workers
needed.
Last year apple crops rotted on
trees and ground in Virginia or
caards for the lack of apple pickers.
The Agriculture Department hopes,
insofar as the area surrounding
Washington is concerned, to recruit
emergency harvest workers from
among the army of Government en-
ployes.
The Office of Education is mobil-
izing 650.000 non-farm high school
youths A Womens Land Army
branch of the crop corps, composed
of non-farm women interested in
serving regularly as farm workers,
will be developed by the extension
service in cooperation with other
agencies.