ept
away from his district without being sure that it will be of any
benefit to himself and his family; when, in addition, the father or
sons of the households lie buried by the Yser, the Somme, the Meuse
or the Drina, it is impossible for the authorities to inspire any
enthusiasm for life, let alone war, even among so docile a people
as those they deal with.

* * * * *

With regard to the other crops, rye is good; beets look good, but
are believed to be deficient in sugar owing to the absence of South
American fertilisers; wheat is fairly good; oats extremely good,
and barley also excellent. The Germans have boasted to the neutral
visitor that their artificial nitrates are just as good fertilisers
as those imported from South America. It is true that they do very
well for most crops when the weather is damp. But beets, strangely
enough, require the genuine Chilean saltpetre to produce their
maximum of sugar. The failure to get this, plus the use of sugar
in munition making, accounts for the dearth of that commodity among
the civilian population.

In order that nothing shall be wasted, the Government decreed this
year that the public should be allowed to scavenge the fields after
the harvest had been gathered, and this was a source of some
benefit to those residing near the great centres of population.

Schoolmasters were also ordered to teach the children the need of
gathering every sort of berry and nut.

Passing along an English hedgerow the other day, and seeing it
still covered with withered blackberries, I compared them with the
bare brambles which I saw in Germany from which all berries have
gone to help the great jam-making business which is to eke out the
gradually decreasing butter and margarine supply. Sickness and
death have resulted from mistakes made, not only in gathering
berries, but in gathering mushrooms and other fungi, which have
been keenly sought.

It is safe to say that the Germans are leaving no stone unturned to
avoid the starvation of the Seven Years' War. The ingenuity of the
chemists in producing substitutes was never greater. One of the
most disagreeable foods I have tasted was bread made of straw.
Countless experiments have been made in the last year to adapt
straw to the human stomach, but although something resembling bread
has been produced, it contains almost no nourishment and results in
illness.

People who reside in the cities and carefully