TRAVELLING MISSION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 5, Issue 39, 13 April 1942, Page 6

TRAVELLING MISSION

ALL THE GARDEN IN A THREETON VAN Cabbages and onions made of fibre are items in a unique mission which hity set out to show the people of England how they may' successfully dig for victory. It gives a complete demonstration of food production, from the sowing, of the seed to the bottling of the crop. In the centre of the exl»ibi- , tion is the Magic Carpet on which i the increasing multitude of those ' who have taken up gardening for the war are shown how to sow seeds, • apply the right fertilisers with ef--5 feet, and earth up the crops (it is at this point that the imitation plants play their part). Fruit is not neglected. There is a detailed timetable for planting. Fruit trees are sprayed; fruit diseases diagnosed; pruning correctly done. Women's Institutes show it in bottles preserved or made into jams And jellies. In test tubes are the pests of vegetables and fruit—the whole tribe of Slugs,, wireworms and leather jackets. On shelves apples, onions and other produce are shown stored as they ought to be. There is a travelling library of books on gardening with experts to explain what is not clear. The whole exhibition packs up into a single three-ton van. There are two of these, one of them now toui'ing the North, the other the Midlands and the South. It is Engy land's first mission to gardeners and 0 the Ministry of Agriculture is sure < a that it will make many converts to n Increase this year's crop of vegetables and fruit.