Vegetables tor Army

Manawatu Times, Volume 67, Issue 205, 28 August 1942, Page 3

Vegetables tor Army

Two areas within the city boundary, one at West End and the other in Te Awe Awe Street, and aggregating 10 acres, have been taken over by the Department of Agriculture for the growing of vegetables for the Army. Working in co-oper-ation. with the National Service Department, the Department of Agriculture is employing Scheme 13 men, numbering from 15 to 20, according to requirements, on the project. It is estimated that if the 'season is reasonably good the output will ‘approach 100 tons of vegetables, j In Wanganui a similar scheme is under way, and 12 acres are to be brought under cultivation. In Hastings men on Scheme 13 have been employed for a considerable time in growing vegetable seeds and medicinal plants, and in Napier the growing of vegetables has been undertaken on the same lines as in Palmerston North. In Napier a number of citizens have offered the use of vacant sections for the duration of the war in order to assist with the general drive for foodstuffs. For the last six years the average annual consumption of potatoes in New Zealand has been one hundredweight a head, or 21b 2Joz a week. Taking those of tender years as non-users, the average would be nearer 2£lb, and the Army ration of lib a day, which ruled till this week, was greatly in excess of civilian consumption.