ACREAGE INCREASE DUE TO WOMEN'S LABOR "Much of the increased cultivation has been done by women, we are told, and Mr. Prothero, the British Minister of Agriculture, had a cheerful picture to paint when appealing for recruits for 'the Women's Land Army.' As reported by the London _Morning Post_ his speech ran: "'Today (1918) the acreage under wheat, barley, and oats is the highest ever recorded in the history of our agriculture. That is one of the finest achievements of the war. In the same period the number of allotments has been increased by 800,000, which means something like 800,000 tons of produce raised additionally a big saving in transport, and an improvement socially and morally. This advance has been effected in spite of the fact that there are 500,000 fewer laborers on the land. It is because of that decrease of labor that the appeal is being made for more women. I do not believe that any assembly of British farmers will hold back men who can possibly be spared when the alternative is our troops being driven back by overwhelming numbers and butchered on the beach by German guns. The promise of the harvest is not yet fulfilled, and there is much to be done. Women's work on the land is a vital necessity. I know the work they are asked to do is hard, bringing with it discomforts, and, comparatively speaking, is poorly paid. Life on the land is not luxurious, but it brings health with it, and the women have the conviction that they are doing something in one of the most important fields to make victory sure.'" EVIDENCES OF FOOD SHORTAGE One of the by-products of the food situation in England was the suffering occasioned by the scanty food supply on the canine population of the island. The London _Times_ of June, 1918, contained the following pathetic paragraph: "Considerable alarm has been caused among dog owners by the intimation that stocks of biscuits are practically exhausted. Not only is this the case, but the prospects of more flour being released for their manufacture are also remote unless some action is taken by the government to insure further importations of low-grade flours suitable for the purpose. "The state of things is undoubtedly acute. Until the food economy campaign set in early last year most households provided enough waste to feed a dog, and where more than one was kept butchers' offals could be had for a few pence. These sources of supply having now vanished, much ingenuity will have to be exercised in order to preserve the family friend and guard from extinction. Blood, steamed until it is of a solid consistency, fish heads, and the heads of poultry offer some alternatives. Rice, oatmeal, and other cereal products may not be used.